2015 WSOP - Max Steinberg looking for more gold at WSOP final table

November 4, 2015

On October 15, 2015, the state of Nevada decided that daily fantasy sites, such as DraftKings and FanDuel, could not operate without a license. The state regulators considered DFS a gambling activity and as such, the initiative needed to fall under their purview. While the discussion about DFS on a nationwide scale is ongoing, the government intervention of this burgeoning industry is eerily reminiscent of poker’s own Black Friday, exactly four and half years earlier.

2012 World Series of Poker bracelet winner and 2015 November Niner, Max Steinberg, has personally experienced both days with similar anguish.

“This is pretty damn frustrating," Steinberg said just weeks before his final table appearance. "Back then, I realized poker would not last forever, and played thinking that I would have to save money. And now, daily fantasy is the same way. However, I’m optimistic DFS will not go the same route as poker and feel that DFS will not be illegal, but will just need to be regulated.”

In January of 2014, Steinberg began playing daily fantasy. Mid-way during the MLB season, he decided along with his twin brother, Danny, to become a “pro” daily fantasy player. The lure seemed similar to online poker, although fewer players play daily fantasy full-time, all-year long. Steinberg estimated that there are under 100 players in this category.

“I started with $1,000 between DraftKings and FanDuel. Even though it was a small amount of money, I really put a lot of effort into learning. Me and my twin brother really saw the potential for daily fantasy because it was a lot like online poker boom. It is really popular, people get hooked with playing and they put in a lot of time and money. And the tournaments have gotten really big. So, I really threw myself into it.”

Steinberg started to make pretty good money with his investment and decided to take DFS more seriously while still playing $5/$10 cash games at Wynn and Aria.

In May of 2015, he realized that he needed to choose between the two activities. He chose daily fantasy as it suited his personal lifestyle better than poker.

“It wasn’t very fulfilling for my life to be playing poker and doing daily fantasy at the same time," he said. "They are very similar types of games, as you try to figure out the strategy and do best possible versus your opponents. However, they also have similar emotional roller coasters. Daily fantasy has less variance, but when you lose in both sessions on the same day, it is tough on you emotionally. I just felt like I didn’t want to spend all my time playing two games. I decided to focus on playing one game and live a normal life.

"I chose DFS because I like the 9-to-5 work schedule rather than staying up all night playing poker. DFS seemed to match my lifestyle better, and honestly, I was making more money with DFS.”

The timing of his decision almost coincided with this summer’s WSOP. Steinberg only planned on playing a few events, but was always going to play in the main event as he earned his main event seat via a $27 NBA satellite on DraftKings.

Prior to his DFS life, the 27-year-old poker pro was one of the brightest young poker players in the world. About a decade ago, Steinberg’s introduction to poker was the typical online story. About halfway into his time at American University in Washington D.C., Steinberg dropped out of college to play poker full time. However, instead of sitting in front of his computer screen all day, he decided to start playing on the poker circuit around the world. Born in Fairfield, Iowa, he always wanted to travel to other parts of the world and took advantage of the poker tour.

“I always dreamed of seeing different parts of the world," he said. "I traveled to Europe, to Australia, to Latin America, to China. I really enjoyed traveling around the world.”

During his poker career, Steinberg earned almost $2 million (before this summer) and fulfilled the goal of every poker player: winning a bracelet. Additionally, he's finished runner-up in three other bracelet events, including the nationally televised 2013 WSOP National Championship. He also had a very deep run in the 2013 WSOP main event, where he was chip leader for much of Day 4. He ended up finishing 131st and learned some valuable lessons.

“I think my 2013 run was very important for me this year because the main event is such a different animal than most other tournaments," said Steinberg. "The main event affects everyone in the field as the play gets much different as you get deeper in the field. Some players are playing tight, others play scared, some are very tired. A lot of times you have good spots just come to you and you don’t have to push it, which I did in 2013. I made a couple of mistakes on Day 5 as I forced the action a little more than I needed to. I was a lot more patient this year waiting for good spots.”

This summer, the WSOP main event was not such an easy ride. However, he was able to draw on his numerous experiences and navigate through the minefield to the November Nine. Of course, he realized he also ran extremely well during the entire event.

“I think all my previous experiences at the WSOP definitely helped me get to the November Nine. There is just no replacing experience. You just don’t know how you are going to react until you are there. However, don’t get me wrong, I was incredibly fortunate. I had several sets that got paid off. I had quads twice. You have to run good to get this deep in the main. You are just trying to manage the run good into a final table.”

Steinberg felt his tournament run was all but over after his Day 6 ended on a downturn, resulting in him entering Day 7 in 24th chip position out of the 27 remaining players.

“I wasn’t confident at all," reflected Steinberg. "I was really upset because on the last hand of Day 6, I made a squeeze play that didn’t work and I had a hard time forgiving myself. I was feeling a lot of despair. I just felt it was over. I felt that I had so much luck to have made it that far. I just didn’t feel that my luck would continue and I wouldn’t make it to the final table. But, I woke up in the morning and I kicked myself in the butt. I had a great workout and I told myself to try my best. After an early double up, I was a lot more confident. This really helped jumpstart my day.”

After this fortunate double up on Day 7, Steinberg worked his way to the November Nine without many showdowns.

“I started to become more confident as there were many players that were new to this experience. When we got deeper, the players started playing differently, which I also noticed in 2013. Many players were playing scared, they didn’t want to make a mistake, they were nervous and tired. The play just wasn’t that aggressive and I was able to take advantage of this situation.”

Steinberg enters the final table fifth with 20.2 million in chips. During the hiatus, the Las Vegas resident continued to play daily fantasy until the surprising news on October 15th. However, this situation may have been a blessing in disguise.

“Although it is not good for the long term, I needed to really cut daily fantasy out of my life for a few weeks to focus on poker," he said. "The timing was actually good, since I have been focusing more on poker leading up to the November Nine.”

As the only bracelet winner left in the field prepares to reunite with his fellow WSOP final tablists, he understands that his lifestyle could revert back to poker if he captures the most coveted bracelet in the game.

“I love daily fantasy regardless of what happens in November, but ... I would love to be a poker ambassador. It would try to represent poker as a game of intelligence and strategy. I would like it to be recognized for its high level of competition and represent poker in a good light.”