The world’s greatest athletes have all gathered in Paris, France for the Summer Olympics and while poker isn’t an Olympic sport – or maybe even a sport at all – WPT.com couldn’t help but take the opportunity to imagine what it just might look like if some of the world’s best poker players were representing their country in Paris.
In the true Olympic spirit, each country’s “organizing committee” was tasked with filling a five-person roster consisting of a specialist in each of the following:
- No Limit Hold’em Tournament
- Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
- Mixed Game Tournament
- Heads-Up No Limit Tournament
- No Limit Hold’em Cash Game
The five players would also be accompanied by a coach from their country. Each player would compete ONLY in their respective discipline, earning not only individual glory – medals available for each event – but also team points that lead to gold, silver, and bronze medals for the top-performing country.
With that in mind, we’ve put together teams from Canada, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Great Britain, and the United States with insight from some of the top journalists in poker. Today, we present to you the 2024 United States of America Olympic Poker team with comments from PokerGO commentator and podcast co-host Donnie Peters.
Event: No Limit Hold’em Tournament
Phil Ivey
With over $46 million in live tournament earnings, two World Poker Tour titles, and 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, Phil Ivey is one of the most accomplished poker players in the game’s history. He’s also one of the most feared. Ivey has proven time and time again that on the biggest stages, when the stakes are at their highest, he’s able to come through for the win. And plenty of that success has been in No Limit Hold’em Tournaments.
“Team USA wouldn’t be complete without the GOAT on the squad, and I can’t think of a better player to hang the country’s poker hat on – and yes, it can be a bucket hat. Phil Ivey’s biggest strength is his natural talent. No one is better than Ivey at reading his opponents and adjusting on the fly. He is an elite competitor,” said Donnie Peters. “If you were going to stake any poker player, that player is likely Ivey – it doesn’t matter the location, the opponents, or the stakes. If Ivey had a weakness, it could be that he isn’t the most studied player when it comes to poker theory. That said, Ivey’s natural instincts and experience have always seemed to blow study out of the water.”
Ivey boasts 11 seven-figure scores, eight of which are in NLHE tournaments, including his current career-high cash of $3.58 million with his victory in the 2014 Aussie Millions $250K Poker Championship, a $1.5 million win in the 2008 WPT LAPC Championship, and his 7th place finish in the 2009 WSOP Main Event for $1.4 million among other. While Ivey may have competition in the discussion for who is the best all-time NLHE player in the world, he’s got virtually none in the star power category. He’s in a category all by himself.
Event: Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Dylan Weisman
California’s Dylan Weisman can do it all, but he is perhaps best known as a Pot Limit Omaha specialist and, in that regard, one of the best in the world at that variant. A look at his top three career scores showcases just that: a runner-up finish in the 2024 Triton Super High Roller PLO Main Event for $1.66 million, a victory in the PokerGO U.S. Poker Open $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha event for $416,000, and a 2024 World Series of Poker $1,500 win for $294,000 for one of his two WSOP bracelets in PLO. He has more than $6 million in career tournament earnings, with most of those cashes coming in PLO.
“Few players understand poker to the degree that Dylan Weisman understands Pot-Limit Omaha. It always seems as though Weisman knows where he is at in a PLO hand. Weisman’s biggest strength – and this is said with the biggest amount of love and respect – is that he is a supreme PLO nerd,” said Peters. “He’s the most studied, experienced PLO tournament player in the country, and his results speak for themselves. Another key strength of Weisman is that he seems to be devoid of emotions when he is playing, which is an incredible trait for any poker player to harness, especially a PLO player.”
Event: No Limit Hold’em Cash Games
Garrett Adelstein
Even though Garrett Adelstein doesn’t appear on livestreamed cash games nearly as much as he used to, he still carries the reputation as being one of the nosebleed cash games biggest crushers in the modern era. A regular on the early episodes of Live At The Bike and subsequently Hustler Casino Live (until September of 2022) he has recorded more than $2.5 million in livestreamed earnings according to HighRoll Poker, sitting as the second biggest all-time winner on Live At The Bike and Hustler Casino Live’s fifth highest earner.
“Garrett Adelstein has battled in the biggest games against tough lineups, making him a perfect fit for this role,” said Peters. “An important strength for Adelstein is that he’s incredibly well-versed in live cash games, and that strength can pay big dividends here. If Adelstein has one weakness, everyone will point to the hand against Robbi Jade and the subsequent fallout. That could show an emotional or mental chink in Adelstein’s armor, but it’s not something we have seen from Adelstein outside of this situation that would lend itself to being a weakness Team USA is worried about.”
In December 2023, Adelstein returned from a self-imposed break and appeared on the WPT World Championship livestreamed cash games, picking up more than $250,000 in his return, just proving that even after taking time away from the table, he continues to be a cash-game force to be dealt with.
Event: Mixed Games Tournament
Scott Seiver
One wouldn’t even need the results from the 2024 World Series of Poker to be convinced that Scott Seiver is one of the world’s top talents when it comes to Mixed Games. But just in case you missed it, Seiver took a break from playing the biggest Mixed Game cash games this summer to show up and show out at the WSOP. He became just the sixth player in history to win three bracelets in a single summer series grabbing gold in the $10,000 Omaha8 Championship for $426K, the $1,500 Razz for $141K, and finally the $10,000 NL 2-7 Lowball Draw for another $411K. The result – Scott Seiver took home 2024 WSOP Player of the Year honors. But more than that, with nearly $27 million in lifetime tournament earnings, Siever has continually proven that it doesn’t matter the variant of poker – he’s going to be a favorite.
“Scott Seiver has long battled at the highest stakes for mixed games. This recent summer, he proved that his prowess extends beyond cash games, if there ever was any doubt, by winning three gold bracelets at the WSOP. Seiver is as well-rounded of a poker player as they come, and he certainly won’t shy away from the moment,” said Peters. “Further, Seiver always seems to be in tune with his opponents and the energy surrounding him, which may not be quantifiable but it matters.”
Event: Heads-Up No Limit Tournament
Doug Polk
Cutting his teeth and building his bankroll in the heads-up NL streets of online poker shortly after the poker boom, Doug Polk has curated a career as a specialist in the HU4Rollz arena. On his tournament resume, he’s the runner-up in the 2023 World Series of Poker $25,000 Heads-Up Championship for $313,362. But the majority of Polk’s public heads-up accomplishments have taken place playing in livestreamed public cash games. Most notably Polk bested Daniel Negreanu in a grudge match of 25,000 heads-up hands online for more than $1.2 million. Polk has routinely taken on nearly anyone who has wanted to show up at his Lodge Card Club in Austin to battle heads up at high stakes where, according to HighRoll Poker, he’s made a profit of $335,000.
“When it comes to heads-up poker experts, few are in the conversation. Doug Polk is undoubtedly in that conversation and could very well be the greatest heads-up No-Limit Hold’em player of all time. It would be easy to point to Polk’s biggest weakness as being a “slave to the sim” but Polk is also a people person who can relate to an opponent and go beyond charts and theory when needed. Polk is an aggressive player who won’t back down and you need that in heads-up play,” said Peters.
Coach: Team USA
Jason Koon
“Great coaches are great leaders, with excellent communication skills, a wealth of knowledge and experience, the ability to adapt and relate, and shared respect. Jason Koon checks all of the boxes to be a great coach,” said Peters.
It would be tough to find someone who has a better reputation in poker than Jason Koon. Both on and away from the felt. Koon is a nosebleed tournament specialist who has not only amassed more than $58 million in lifetime earnings, good for 4th on poker’s All-Time Money List, but also the respect of his competition and peers. Originally from West Virginia, Koon developed his poker talents from the early days of online poker and since has traveled the world accumulating 104 live scores of $100,000 or more. So, when it comes to the pressure of competition at the highest level, there’s nothing in this game that he hasn’t seen or done himself.
“He’s been in the arena, knows what it takes to win, and has the respect of the players on the team. If Koon has a weakness, it’s that he’s not as well-versed in mixed games as he is in the big-bet games. That deficiency can be minimized through Koon’s leadership qualities and general poker intelligence.”
stats courtesy of The Hendon Mob/GPI