The Circle of Outlaws
It’s the final Table of the Five-Diamond Classic at the Bellagio and two young players face off for the two million dollar first prize. Rehne Pederson, from Denmark, glances warily across the table at his opponent, a remarkably self-possessed and super-aggressive Fin, named Patrick Antonius. Both players have all their chips in pre-flop.
Pederson turns over A.4.. His face falls. Antonius shows A.K. and Pederson knows he’s dominated. By fourth street, however, a board of 5-6-7-3 has somewhat improved his predicament. He dodges a flush draw to cripple the Fin, and the match is as good as over.
Patrick Antonius, who was electrifying throughout the tournament last December, will curse his luck, but take consolation in his million dollar pay check and the deserved recognition in the U.S. that this high-profile final table will bring (Patrick has been tearing through European tournaments all year). And perhaps more significantly, it will go down as the first serious assault on the U.S. tournament scene by The Circle of Outlaws.
The Circle of Outlaws is an international band of ten up-and-coming young players, handpicked and mentored by the flamboyant Marcel Luske. Joining Patrick is long-time Luske protégé Noah Boeken, of the Netherlands; the Mizrachi brothers, Eric and Robbie, and their friend Frank Sinopoli; Luca Pagano and fellow Italian (and husband of Jennifer Harman) Marco Traniello; Jules Leyser from the UK; Blackjack extraodinaire Erica Schoenberg; and Scott “The Human Calculator” Flansburg.
“Most people would love to be like the players, on the edge of the wilderness, being outlaws, living outside the normal nine-to-five world,” says Wendy Meadley of the Poker Resource Network, Marcel’s business partner, and official “Outlaw Mom.” “It’s that Wild West terminology that characterizes the entrepreneurial spirit that today’s players have to have. And it’s like a rock band, a gang, part of the in-crowd – that whole inner circle thing.”
“The new generation of poker is international,” explains Marcel in his customary cheerful tone. “No matter how you look, or where you’re from, you are a poker player. That’s why it’s important that The Outlaws are from all around the world. Selection was obvious. These people know how to play, but they’re not widely known. Anybody with his heart in poker wants to find a way into tournaments and is open to learning, especially the younger players. They’re coming out of nowhere, and people are saying, ‘I’ve never seen this guy!’ Of course you’ve never seen this guy. There are thousands of them. And they’re all basically dangerous. It’s great the way the poker environment is going now. It’s about people of diverse nationalities and ages.
“Above all, I wanted to choose guys who were fair and honest. Guys who like to have fun and play hard; but if they get a bad beat, they won’t ever throw cards, or be nasty or misbehave. That’s the most important thing. If you want to build something, you have to have a good foundation.”
The concept of The Outlaws is to take young players (no big names allowed) from all over the world, each with the potential to be the best, and each with specific skills to bring to the group. They pool their resources, learn from each other, cheer each other on from the rail, and aim to become a ubiquitous presence on final tables around the U.S. Poker is a game about personal challenge and self-advancement, and in this ruthlessly self-centered world, The Outlaws are poker’s Magnificent Seven, with Marcel in the Yul Brynner role (and a few extra members); they are a team of outsiders, with each member bringing a unique talent; like poker’s very own X-Men.
It’s fitting that poker’s X-Men have their very own bona fide superhero, in the form of Scott “The Human Calculator” Flansburg. Scott is a math genius and, while he hasn’t been playing as long as the others, he has a significant advantage because – well, he’s a math genius. In order to demonstrate his extraordinary skills, he asks me to type a random number into my calculator. I choose 98. I’m instructed to type 98+98 and then hit the “equals” button as fast as I can, so that 98 is added to the previous answer each time I hit it – 98, 196, 294, 392, and so on. A minute later, we’re into five figures, steam is coming out of my calculator, and Scott is still effortlessly keeping up with me. “My mind was going so fast that my mouth was actually slowing me down,” he informs me later. He holds various Guinness world records for short-circuiting calculators.
“I’ve sort of come into poker through the back door, and I’m trying to look at things in a different way,” says Scott who, far from being somewhere on the autistic spectrum, is witty and charismatic. (He also plays golf with Alice Cooper.) “I always try to figure out patterns and new ways of doing things. I haven’t learned more from anybody than I have from The Circle of Outlaws. It fascinates me how knowledgeable and articulate these guys are with the game of poker. The only thing I haven’t done yet is experience every single possible hand of poker, like most of these guys have. As a Human Calculator, that’s quite important to me.”
The Outlaws have a huge pool of knowledge to work with. Marcel’s wealth of experience notwithstanding, they have Marco Traniello on board, who has learned the game from the best in the world. Marco hadn’t played a hand of poker when he met Jennifer, but was soon watching her play the Big Game day in, day out. Thus, Marco not only had Jennifer as his tutor, but also Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Chau Giang and all the legendary Big Gamers. “It’s an enormous advantage to see the way these players play their hands,” he says. “I went from being a nothing player to a good player pretty quickly.” Marco cashed an amazing seven times in the WSOP.
Similarly, with her WPT links, Jules Leyser has been party to the advice of WPT legends, which, she says, has given her invaluable insights into the game. Her experience as an instructor for the WPT Boot Camp gives her the skills to tutor and support her fellow Outlaws. Patrick, too, as a former tennis coach, knows a thing or two about motivation.
Robbie, as the eldest Mizrachi, was the guy who got Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi interested in poker, and helped make him the player he is today. And while Robbie’s results have yet to equal that of his protégé, Marcel is confident that he’s as good a player, and that big things lie in store for him. Eric is, in fact, Michael’s twin, and although, according to Marcel, they couldn’t be more dissimilar in nature, they share their amazing card-sense.
And The Outlaws look the part, too. There’s Erica, the glamorous female professional gambler who looks like she stepped straight out of a Bond movie (she took to poker when she found she wasn’t too welcome at the blackjack tables any more); Luca, stylishly-clad in his expensive Italian suits; and Noah, super-cool and super-relaxed, even by Dutch standards.
And they’re hungry for success. Noah, Patrick, and Luca have proved their prowess in Europe; Frank and the Mizrachis have been bubbling just beneath the surface in the U.S. for the past few years. It’s only a matter of time…
We want to help these young players get some sponsorship,” says Wendy. “It takes half a million dollars, annually, to play the tournaments – the travel, the buy-ins. We’re telling you, we think these guys are going to be final table material, and we can sit back and watch it happen. How cool is that?”
Jules agrees: “The heroes of poker will always be the heroes. When the poker boom exploded, they were already heroes, but watching someone become a hero – now that would be exciting.”
MARCEL LUSKE ON ...
PATRICK
Patrick is very aggressive; he can adjust to
his opponents and put them under pressure at the table.
He’s a daredevil; he knows how to take risks and he
knows how to lay down. He’s on the attack all the time.
NOAH
Noah is quite similar to Patrick in the way
he plays, but he’s had a little more live experience
and has been hanging around the poker scene, picking
things up a little longer. He’s very shrewd. He’s got
the guts to run a bluff and take chances.
SCOTT
Scott has just started playing, but he’s the
Human Calculator – he’s a genius. So he just came to
us and said, “How do I do it?” We practiced the basics
with him. We entered him in a few small tournaments
and he won one with a field of 320. So he got good quickly
and then he started to ask a lot of questions. He’s
got a huge advantage with his abilities. He could probably
teach me a thing or two about odds.
ROBBIE
Robert is as good a player as his brother Michael
“The Grinder.” He knows how to play; he’s extremely
aware and extremely dangerous. His one weakness is that,
in the past, he could get tilted in certain situations.
But that’s something we’ve worked hard on, and once
he’s eliminated that, he’ll be at the top.
ERIC
Since the initial impression is “Eric, he’s
such a nice boy,” people are less aware of the fact
that he’s a very good, astute player. He’s picked up
so much from his brothers. Despite being Michael’s twin,
he has a very different style of play. He plays a slow,
measured game. He’s had less experience than his brothers,
but he has the potential to be a truly great player.
LUCA
Luca’s been very unlucky lately. He’d say to
me, “Why?” I’d say, “There is no ‘why.’ ” People get
down because they’re in a bad run. But Luca’s a very
good cash game player and a very strong tournament player.
He just seems to be getting hammered on all these shots
where he’s 4:1 favorite, and that gets him down. It
takes a lot of strength to put up with all the beats
in a bad run, but Luca has that strength. He’s a very
smooth player. He’ll make a lot of final tables this
year.
JULES
Jules is unique to the team in having a business
background first, then learning poker; so she can be
a great teacher and coach to people who follow The Outlaws.
She has excellent focus, energy, a sound working-knowledge
of the game, and can easily change gears as situations
come up.
FRANK
Frank’s like the smooth guy. He’s very solid
in his game – a caliber player. He can put you on a
hand and play you in position because he knows his hand
is good, and he will go for it. He will not let go.
He’s willing to stick in all his chips because he has
the confidence in his decisions. He’s a very mature
player in that sense. His is a name you’ll hear more
of in the coming year as he makes a lot of final tables.
MARCO
I met Marco at the World Series, through Jennifer.
He’s learning from the best female player in the world.
He plays very solid poker, based on logical reasoning
and the facts in front of him. In certain situations,
I’d like him to be more aggressive, but he cashed seven
times in the World Series and that proves he can beat
the best. So he’s a great player and he will only get
better.
ERICA
Erica came from the school of blackjack, so
I knew she had card sense. She was excellent at calculating
odds and making a living from it. You get some players
who have been playing 20 or 30 years and they never
analyzed their play and what they’re doing wrong, but
she’s a very smart woman and she asks those questions.
Besides, she’s very goodlooking, so she brings that
elegance to the table. People underestimate her and
how dangerous she is. She’s a very quick learner and
I think she’ll be the new kid on the block. She’ll soon
be one of the top women players.
