With 14 bracelets and nearly $50 million in tournament earnings between the four of them, there's no denying that Shaun Deeb, Josh Arieh, Daniel Weinman and Matt Glantz are poker crushers. But with resumes that include a $1 million bounty pull, a body fat prop bet victory worth nearly the same amount and a win in the biggest World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in history, it's clear the group of close friends also have luck on their sides.
The four American poker players have branded themselves as "Team Lucky" — a name that Deeb may have come up with, though they aren't certain — as a way of consciously embracing and owning their good fortunes while fighting back against the jaded cynicism all to common in the poker world.
But Team Lucky is about more than once-in-a-lifetime bounty binks and turned two-outers leading to $12 million scores. As PokerNews learned during brunch with its four members, is more about friendship, camaraderie, and shared values than a good run of cards.
The action folded to Mike Holtz in the small blind, and he moved all in after eyeing up Manuel Ruivo's stack in the big blind. Ruivo had 375,000 and he put in his chips.
Manuel Ruivo: K♠Q♠
Mike Holtz: 6♣5♦
Holtz paired up on the 8♣6♠2♦ flop to take the lead. The J♠ turn gave Ruivo a flush draw, which came in in on the 5♠ river to lock up the pot.