The Bernard Lee Poker Show 12-11: 2019 WSOP champs Phil Hui, David “ODB” Baker

Bernard Lee
Contributor

In this episode of The Bernard Lee Poker Show on the PokerNews Podcast Network, Bernard Lee interviews two players who previously won a World Series of Poker bracelet, but captured their second WSOP bracelet during the 2019 series.

During the first part of the show, Bernard speaks with Phil Hui, the winner of the 2019 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Phil discusses how thrilled he was to win this prestigious event and how spherical it was to have his girlfriend and fellow professional poker player, Loni Harwood, on the rail for his win.

During the second half of the show, Bernard interviews David Baker, who captured the $1,500 limit hold’em event. After David discusses his tournament run, ODB also discusses his participation and influence on revising the structures for mixed bracelet events at the 2019 WSOP.

Show Time Stamps

0:00Welcome to The Bernard Lee Poker Show as this week’s guests will be Phil Hui, 2019 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship (PPC) winner and David Baker, 2019 WSOP $1,500 limit hold’em champion.
0:10Bernard reviews the WSOP Main Event, which was the second-largest in history, concludes this week.
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5:03Bernard welcomes Phil Hui to the show.
5:46Phil joins the show.
6:05Phil is still in shock after his win in the $50,000 PPC. “It doesn’t feel real…When I get back home and get to watch the videos, maybe it will feel real.”
6:33Phil explains how important this specific event means to him. “For me, it’s the biggest tournament of the year. It’s the most important to me. Definitely.”
8:03Phil understood the media focus on Phil Ivey as Phil has always been a huge Fan of Ivey. “He’s one of my idols. I’m a big fan. I can’t blame the poker world wanting Phil Ivey to win. It was okay with me. I’m good with that.”
10:22Phil discusses an incredible 2-7 triple draw hand between Josh Arieh and Bryce Yockey. “His hand to start couldn’t even beat Bryce’s…It was pretty crazy.”
13:28Phil discusses his explains how he chooses his schedule during the WSOP. “I think I’m above average in all the games. I wasn’t really comfortable playing 2-7 heads-up I’m not very versed…My plan was to play less aggressive in the big bet games…I felt more comfortable in the H.O.R.S.E games as opposed to playing no-limit hold’em versus Phil Ivey or Jason Mercier.”
16:55Phil recalls being all-in on Day 4 and doubling up a couple times to get back into the tournament. “I got down to 70,000 chips with 8,000 big blind.”
19:25Phil explains how the rotation of games was determined by WSOP.
21:32Phil discusses his goal of winning WSOP Player of the Year (POY) and going to WSOP Europe.
25:16Phil discusses the support and special relationship he has with his girlfriend, fellow professional poker player and two-time WSOP bracelet winner in her own right, Loni Harwood. “She has one more ring than me though…I can’t tell her enough how much she means to me. She’s the world. I can’t do any of this without her. She’s my best friend. She’s my support system.”
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28:35Bernard continues his show with David Baker, the 2019 WSOP $1,500 limit hold’em winner.
29:07David "ODB" Baker joins the show.
29:55David describes how he feels about his 2019 run. “Best year of my life. Yeah, it’s exciting. These things are never easy to win and every time you get those opportunities, they’re precious and you never know when they are going to come again.”
30:40David describes how he felt just missing a bracelet finishing in 3rd place in the $10,000 Seven Stud Championship earlier in the summer and winning this one. “This one if I lost, I would have been devastated. I was firmly in control of this one the whole way and I was just not going to let it slip away.”
35:07David discusses why he really wanted to win another bracelet. “It’s not a secret how much I love the World Series (of Poker). I wear my heart on my sleeve and I put it all out there. When I win, it’s extra special and when I lose, it hurts even more…At the end of your career, you’re only measured by a few things and one of them is bracelets. I wanted to be measured as one of the elites and one of the best to ever play. And you can’t be close to being in the conversation if you don’t have multiple bracelets. I’m not stopping at two. I’d like to win more.”
36:55David discusses his goal of winning WSOP Player of the Year (POY) and going to WSOP Europe and the possibility of winning the poker Triple Crown in one calendar year. “My goal coming into the year was to contend for Player of the Year.”
38:57David “ODB” (stands for Original David Baker) explains how players sometimes mix up his and David “Bakes” Baker’s results and names.
40:48David explains his suggestions and rationales with the structure changes in the WSOP limit bracelets events that many players are pleased with.

Let us know what you think of the show - tweet about the podcast using #BernardLeePokerShow, and be sure to follow @BernardLeePoker on Twitter or Instagram.

You can follow Phil Hui on Twitter @KingPhui.

You can follow DavidBaker on Twitter @audavidb.

The Bernard Lee Poker Show is now available on iTunes.

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