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Late Reg Podcast

Phenom Poker

Hosted by Brian Rast & Phil Laak, Late Reg is built on a longtime friendship and a shared history in poker.
Poker is our point of connection, not our boundary. We sit down with people we find interesting for open-ended conversations about poker, business, competition, life, and whatever else comes up.
No filters.
Just quality conversations, engrossing stories, and different perspectives.

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  • 15 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 1 hr 38 min
  • English
  • Tuesday · 2 hr 6 min

    Matt Valeo: Building Phenom Poker, High Stakes Realities, Player Ownership & Crypto Assets - EP 15

    Matt Valeo, founder of Phenom Poker. We dive deep into his transition from professional poker player to tech entrepreneur, the structural issues with high rake in modern online poker, the true utility of Web3 crypto assets, battling high-stakes downswings and how decentralized technology is reshaping game integrity and player ownership for the future of online gaming. 🎙️ LATE REG PODCAST — EPISODE 15 ♠️ Guest: Matt Valeo 🎤 Brian Rast 🎤 Phil Laak Play on Phenom Poker with code: latereg 🔗 Join Phenom Poker: https://play.phenompoker.com/ __________________________________ 🔗 Follow the Late Reg Podcast: 📸 Instagram → / lateregpodcast 🐦 X (Twitter) → https://x.com/lateregpodcast 📺 YouTube → / @lateregpodcast CLIPS CHANNEL → / @lateregpodclips ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Introduction to Late Reg Podcast 00:02:16 – Travel Stories & Lessons Learned Traveling with a Baby 00:08:42 – Dual Citizenship, Visas, and Language Immersion 00:21:26 – Wild Poker Travel Stories: Monsoons & Casino Blackouts 00:25:27 – The Vision Behind Phenom Poker & What Reality Taught Them 00:28:57 – Crypto, Tokenization of Equity, and Accessing Walled-Off Assets 00:40:00 – Phenom Poker's Pivot to Token Staking & Dividend Model 00:49:19 – Breakdown of Rake Models: Phenom vs. Competitors 01:01:10 – Is High Rake Turning Poker into a Casino Game? 01:05:15 – Anti-Competitive Practices & The Future of Online/Live Poker 01:07:37 – Expanding Game Offerings: Taiwanese Poker & Niche Variants 01:11:43 – WSOP Deep Runs, Heads-Up Battles, & Mixed Game Strategy 01:21:46 – Historic Poker Hands: Facing Phil Hellmuth 01:27:51 – Transitioning from No-Limit to Mixed Games for the Love of the Game 02:07:49 – Final Thoughts / Episode Wrap-Up

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  • September 8 · 2 hr 27 min

    Scott Seiver: High Stakes Mixed Games, Bobby’s Room, & The Hall of Fame - EP 14

    Scott gets real about his recent Poker Hall of Fame snub, why he thinks GTO theory is killing the aesthetic of the game, and how getting undervalued directly fueled his insane three-bracelet summer run. We also take a detour away from the felt to talk about his time solving the insane MIT Mystery Hunt, and a legendary Lehman Brothers story that you just have to hear to believe. If you love deep-dive table psychology, wild side-stories, and unfiltered high-stakes talk, you're going to love this one. 🎙️ LATE REG PODCAST — EPISODE 14 ♠️ Guest: Scott Seiver 🎤 Brian Rast 🎤 Phil Laak Play on Phenom Poker with code: latereg 🔗 Join Phenom Poker: https://play.phenompoker.com/ __________________________________ 🔗 Follow the Late Reg Podcast: 📸 Instagram → / lateregpodcast 🐦 X (Twitter) → https://x.com/lateregpodcast 📺 YouTube → / @lateregpodcast CLIPS CHANNEL → / @lateregpodclips ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 – Introduction & Career Parallels: Why Scott and Brian’s poker trajectories mirror each other. 04:36 – The $100 Hand Prop Bet: Exploiting opponents who show their cards for cheap information. 07:09 – The 3 Types of Poker Games: Scott’s breakdown of studs, pot-odds, and equity-heavy games. 12:09 – The Lone Wolf Mentality: Why collaboration works in mystery hunts, but not always in poker. 17:40 – The Death of Poker Aesthetics: Moving away from GTO chess theory back to "Wild West" play. 22:22 – Hall of Fame Snub: Scott’s honest reflection on why he cared about not getting in. 33:08 – Fixing the HOF Voting System: Why the NFL’s reporter-nomination system could fix poker. 41:23 – Pure Motivation: How being undervalued triggered a 3-bracelet summer. 49:21 – Inside the MIT Mystery Hunt: Solving 130+ impossible puzzles over a single weekend. 1:01:17 – Video Games as Art: Outer Wilds, Disco Elysium, and lowering the barrier to empathy. 1:13:08 – The Ultimate Lehman Brothers Story: Working an internship during the World Cup and quitting early. 1:16:35 – Psychopaths in Bobby’s Room: What mental toughness actually means at the highest stakes. 1:23:30 – Live Reads vs. Invented Stories: How to stop telling yourself what you want to happen in a hand. 1:32:00 – Table Persona & Multitasking: Using conversation as a tool to destabilize opponents. 1:32:40 – Table Persona & Parallel Processing: Using fast-paced conversation as a tactical tool to overwhelm opponents' bandwidth while tracking action. 1:36:10 – Navigating Ego at the Highest Stakes: Managing tilt, acknowledging mistakes, and keeping pride from dictating hand selection in high-stakes lineups. 1:42:05 – The Evolution of High-Stakes Mixed Games: How mixed game dynamics, game selection, and player pools have shifted over the last decade. 1:48:30 – Poker vs. Life Beyond the Felt: Balancing the intensity of professional poker with outside passions, relationships, and personal growth. 1:54:15 – Rapid-Fire Questions & Final Thoughts: Scott answers quick-hit questions, shares final pieces of advice for aspiring mixed-game players, and wraps up the interview.

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  • September 4 · 2 hr 23 min

    Chris Vitch: WSOP Pressure & High-Stakes Poker - EP 13

    Mixed-games master Chris "DeathDonkey" Vitch joins the Late Reg Podcast! In this episode, Chris breaks down how mastering StarCraft fueled his poker career, why he approaches high-stakes games like "leveling up" a character, and the exact mindsets required to win WSOP bracelets. 🎙️ LATE REG PODCAST — EPISODE 13 ♠️ Guest: Christopher Vitch 🎤 Brian Rast 🎤 Phil Laak Play on Phenom Poker with code: latereg 🔗 Join Phenom Poker: https://play.phenompoker.com/ Subscribe for new episodes every week.

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  • S1 · E11
    August 17 · 2 hr 34 min

    Late Reg - Ep 11 - On Air with Phil Sternheimer

    Late Reg Podcast Episode 11 welcomes Phil Sternheimer for a deep dive into poker, high-stakes competition, and the stories that come with spending years around the game. Phil joins Brian Rast and Phil Laak for a wide-ranging conversation about his journey through poker, the people and experiences that shaped him, the evolution of the game, and plenty of stories you probably haven't heard before.

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  • S1 · E8
    June 24 · 32 min

    Late Reg - Summer Camp - EP8

    Late Reg Podcast Hosted by Brian Rast & Phil Laak Poker. Strategy. Stories. High stakes minds. Unfiltered conversations. From the biggest games to the wildest moments We break it all down New episodes weekly 🎙️

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  • S1 · E5
    June 1 · 1 hr 36 min

    Late Reg - Jason Somerville - Ep5

    Jason Somerville on Poker, Twitch, Sports Betting & Losing Millions | Late Reg Podcast #5

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  • S1 · E3
    May 18 · 39 min

    Late Reg - Reminiscing the WSOP - Ep3

    Late Reg Podcast - Episode 3 Hosted by Brian Rast & Phil Laak Poker. Strategy. Stories. High stakes minds. Unfiltered conversations. From the biggest games to the wildest moments We break it all down New episodes weekly 🎙️ Watch Live on Youtube!

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  • S1 · E2
    May 11 · 1 hr 39 min

    Late Reg - Jonathan Hirsch - Ep2

    Late Reg Podcast - Episode 2 Featuring : Jonathan Hirsch Hosted by Brian Rast & Phil Laak Poker. Strategy. Stories. High stakes minds. Unfiltered conversations. From the biggest games to the wildest moments We break it all down New episodes weekly 🎙️

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  • S1 · E1
    May 2 · 2 hr 10 min

    Late Reg Podcast - Eric Wasserson - Ep1

    Late Reg Podcast - Episode 1 Featuring : Eric Wasserson Hosted by Brian Rast & Phil Laak Poker. Strategy. Stories. High stakes minds. Unfiltered conversations. From the biggest games to the wildest moments We break it all down New episodes weekly 🎙️

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Showing 1–15 of 15 episodes