The Grid is a 169 episode poker hand scavenger hunt hosted by chess champion and PokerStars pro Jennifer Shahade. Jen interviews poker players about dramatic hands they’ve played, aiming to fill out all 169 possible starting poker hands, from the worst, seven-deuce offsuit to the best, pocket aces.
The Grid 067 ft. Yosha Iglesias – Ace-King Offsuit.
Aug 08, 2022
Show notes
Yosha Iglesias, a poker player, chess master and coach, enters the GRID to talk about a long-awaited hand to be clicked off the GRID: Ace-King offsuit. She throws us back to the boom days of poker in France, where she found herself as a chipleader in an MTT at her college bar. In a dramatic three-bet pot with a crush, her talent for poker intersected with romance, giving us some unique insight into the term “sapiosexual.”
Yosha was also a guest on Jennifer’s award-winning podcast, Ladies Knight. On that show, she spoke about her work as a chess composer as well as her journey to coming out as a transgender woman. We include a brief, but very moving excerpt on the GRID. Yosha also shared some great news since the recording of the US Chess Women podcast: The French Chess Federation change its policies, and Yosha, along with two other transgender women are now eligible for French women’s events.
Now that Yosha has covered Ace-King Offsuit, there are 102 combos left on the GRID.
The Grid 066.6 Bonus Episode ft. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
Jul 14, 2022
Show notes
In a bonus episode of the GRID, Jennifer brings in her friend, best-selling author Seth Stephens-Davidowitz to talk about his new book, “Don’t Trust Your Gut: Using Data To get What You Really Want in Life.”. Seth is also the author of “Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are” and an amateur poker player. He has familial ties to the professional game: his brother Noah was a poker pro and journalist (of Subject: Poker) in the boom days.
Seth talks about his own poker game, and how the concept of range helped him understand how rare it is to pin people down to a specific hand. He also talks about a recent trip to Las Vegas, which made him realize that advanced poker strategies like mixing, are often inapplicable to tipsy Saturday night cash games. He extrapolates that to life, questioning whether we sometimes over-complicate our quest to get what we want.
Seth and Jennifer talk about the role of luck in poker and life, and the importance of getting lots of volume in, whether from a poker player, an artist looking to get exposure for their work or even in the dating pool.
They also talk about Seth’s work on data and happiness, and how poker might rank among other top activities, like sex, 80 degree weather, and proximity to nature.
The Grid 066.5 ft. Angela Jordison – Ace-Eight Suited.
Jun 24, 2022
Show notes
Angela Jordison enters the GRID, to discuss a sizzling hand she played against World Champion Greg “Fossilman” Raymer at the 2021 WSOP Senior’s Event.Angela raised in early position with ace-eight suited, and called a three-bet from Raymer on the button. When the flop came out beautifully, three-eight-ace with two clubs, Jordison check raised. They saw another eight on the turn, bringing in the club flush draw—and more importantly, giving Angela a full house. Now she just had to figure out how to get all of Raymer’s chips—and a fossil for the road.
Though Jordison is primarily a PLO live cash game player, she is also known for her live tournament success. She hails over $500,000 in live MTT earnings, including a six-figure score notched right after this interview, 3rd place in WSOP Event #18 for a sweet 150K prize. She also pulled off a remarkable hat trick back in 2015, when she won three events in a row at her local Oregon casino, the Pendleton.
This podcast releases just as Angela and Jennifer are ready to team up in this summer’s WSOP tag team event, raising money for abortion access. They discuss why the issue is so important to both, and their plans to dominate the event. You can find the All-in For Abortion Access logo on buttons and T-shirts here. The logo uses the hand seven-three to commemorate the 1973 Roe vs. Wade landmark decision, now in jeopardy.
Angela covered ace-eight suited, a hand that was also discussed by Darren Elias, leaving 103 combos on the GRID. Check out previous episodes using our Episode Finder.
The Grid 066 ft. TommyAngelo – Ace-Three Suited.
Jun 13, 2022
Show notes
Poker coach, player, and renowned author on mindset and strategy Tommy Angelo enters the GRID to talk about a thrilling—and then not so thrilling—hand with ace-three suited. This hand throws back all the way to 1995, to a riverboat game on the Mississippi in Saint Louis, where Tommy found himself in a multi-way hand with ace-three of diamonds. The board ran out Queen of Spades, Four of Diamonds, and Two of Diamonds. After the flop checked around, the turn was the beautiful five of diamonds. Tommy started doing cartwheels and backflips in his head. He hit the stone cold nuts, a straight flush, a holding that we mostly dream about. Then the river came.
After unraveling the most memorable, and most painful hand of his multi-decade career, Tommy talks about common mindset missteps, his process in poker and in writing, and how to practice gratitude, even when you’re frustrated and card-dead. As he says: “Your flops are numbered. Love Them All.”
The Grid 065 ft. Katie Stone – Pocket-Fours
May 04, 2022
Show notes
Jennifer welcomes her longtime friend to the GRID, professional poker player and commentator Katie Stone. Katie brings a hand she played at a heads up charity challenge hosted by Solve For Why, a Vegas based poker training academy founded by Matt Berkey.
Katie had already won matches against Hearthstone streamer Hafu and poker pro Kitty Kuo when she faced her final four opponent: Poker Detox founder & high stakes pro Nick Howard.
After reviewing the tape of Nick’s aggressive preflop strategies earlier in the event, Katie was determined to widen her own ranges. She opened pocket fours on the button, faced a three bet, and elected to four-bet. Katie explains the unusual choice, and takes us through the rest of the hand, where she faced a tough decision on the river.
The conversation spins out from the hand into what chess can teach poker players about game integrity, how parenthood effects your perspective on poker, and how the marketing of women in the game has changed since Katie founded the GRINDETTES in 2011.
The GRID is now proudly sponsored by PokerStars. Our new logo art features a photo by Kyle Cassidy. The GRID intro music is “Gotta Switch it On” by Grace Mesa.
The Grid 064 ft. Mike Shaw – King-Seven Offsuit
Apr 12, 2022
Show notes
The multi-faceted Philly poker pro, Mike Shaw enters the GRID. The rock star, restaurant manager and mixed game proponent brings a hand from the very first live poker tournament he played, in 2004. He held King-Seven offsuit in a pivotal moment heads-up at the Binion’s Casino in Las Vegas. Though it wasn’t the World Series of Poker, it was the last year that the event was held there. While Mike didn’t win a bracelet, he still has the T-shirt that proves “I won a tournament at Binion’s.”
Mike Shaw explains to Jennifer Shahade about how he got the unique opportunity to fly out to Vegas that year, and how it changed the trajectory of his career. He also talks about how he worked on his anger in poker, which had previously led to many smashed laptops.
In addition to being a poker pro, he’s a singer and former rock star (of the band This Day Forward), a PACOOP champion and new cat dad. Mike also hosts the podcast “The Kinder Things”, which brings in special guests to show how kindness is not just an attribute, but also a practice. He brought Jen onto the pod last year. You can also find Mike on twitter at @ShawMike.
The GRID is now proudly sponsored by PokerStars. Our new logo art features a photo by Kyle Cassidy. The GRID intro music is “Gotta Switch it On” by Grace Mesa.https://jennifershahade.com/Tweets @jenshahade Podcast at the GRID Get Chess Queens: The True Story of a Champion and the Greatest Female Players of All Time.
In the original book that Chess Queens was based on, Chess Bitch, Jennifer did not play poker, and the new book is informed by her passion for *both* games.
Jennifer also draws parallels and contrasts from the gender politics in both games, comparing aggression and lookism in poker and chess. Knowing that the majority of GRID listeners identify as male, she ends with a story illustrating why gender equity is beneficial for everyone.
This episode was produced by Daniel Meirom and Quinn Waters, and is sponsored by PokerStars.
The Grid 063 ft. Olivier Busquet – King Jack Suited
Feb 28, 2022
Show notes
Jennifer welcomes legendary cash game pro Olivier Busquet to the GRID. He’s a two-time European Poker Tour champion, a WPT Champion, and has over nine million dollars in live earnings. Most known for his longevity in online cash and heads-up games, Olivier brings a throwback hand to the GRID. He had King-Jack suited in a Poker After Dark Episode that was filmed over a decade ago in 2011, just before Black Friday changed everything in US poker.
In the fated hand, Olivier is up against David “Viffer” Peat, who opens the button. Olivier three-bets in the big blind with King-Jack of spades and Viffer calls. The flop comes J78 rainbow, no spades and Olivier c-bets 10K into 15K. Viffer calls, with pocket fives, and the turn is another jack. Olivier bets 20K into 35K, and Viffer calls yet again. You’ll never guess what happened on the river–unless you have the imagination of a poker player.
The Grid 062 ft. Keith Becker – King-Ten Offsuit
Feb 20, 2022
Show notes
Jennifer Shahade welcomes fellow PokerStars Ambassador Keith “Accidental Grenade” Becker to the GRID. Keith, who also goes by whoopsboom brings a hand from the PokerStars PA Winter Series, where he captured an event win in the final stretch.
In his GRID moment, Keith had king-ten offsuit, with no heart. In an iconic spot about 45 big blinds deep, Keith three bet a button open from the small blind. He explains his thought process on the board, which ran out 3h 6d Jh 7h 6h.
Keith and Jen use the hand as a portal to discuss how key it is for people with limited study time to focus on spots that recur frequently. Keith also reveals some of the challenges he faces in playing his best while streaming, and talks about his dual Thursday night streams with fellow PokerStars PA streamer, Naigo. He also imparts how important it is for him to make a difference in his content, from creating a friendlier community to advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.
The Grid 061.5 Bonus Episode ft. Ella Papanek
Jan 22, 2022
Show notes
This bonus episode of the GRID offers a fascinating discussion between Jen Shahade and quant sports trader & US Chess expert Ella Papanek. A recent graduate of Harvard University, Ella works at the Susquehana International Group (SIG), a global quantitative trading firm in the Philly area. Her interests span from chess to poker to sports, and of course- statistics, her major at Harvard.
Jen and Ella’s wide-ranging discussion touches on why it’s hard for children to think probabilistically, rating variability and gender and how to evaluate chess positions from a human perspective. They also talk about Ella’s specialty: sports analytics, and how it can be used not only to both predict outcomes but also to restructure rules to make the game better. As an example Ella points to chess tiebreak rules, as well as to Daryl Morey, President of the Philadelphia Sixers and chess enthusiast. Daryl co-founded the MIT Sports Analytics Conference, and famously suggested shaking up NBA rules by adding a four point line—or making three-pointers worth 2.5 points.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
