Images courtesy of Gaby Kosinski, Celebrity Poker Tour
This Saturday, several performers, influencers and sports stars will take to the Celebrity Poker Tour felt in Las Vegas. The PokerGO Studio at ARIA on the Sin City Strip is once again the place to be as those used to other arenas focus on the felt in a bid to win the $20,000 top prize and bragging rights among the elite.
Three players who are swapping stellar careers in sport to take their opponents at the poker table are Major League Baseball legend Jose Canseco, baseball turned reality TV star De’Andre Asbury-Heath and UFC and wrestler Colby Covington. So who will adapt from the field to the felt best?
All-Star Canseco Hoping to Go One Better
“In a short tournament like the CPT, anything is possible.”
José Canseco is a huge name in Major League Baseball, playing 17 seasons in a glittering career that saw him win a place on the All-Star line-up six times. Looking at the current season, Jose thinks it could be very close, especially for one of his old teams.
I’m a big fan of the Yankees and the Dodgers, but it looks like if the Yankees don’t add another pitcher or high-quality position player, they’re not going to make it, says José.
The Dodgers definitely made their team stronger in the offseason even when they didn’t. I would expect a similar result as last year with a Dodgers-Yankees matchup, with the Dodgers coming out on top again, especially with [Shoehei] Ohtani coming back with his pitching arm healthy.
José, who sits fourth on the list of Oakland Athletic hitters with 254 home runs, is looking forward to the weekend after coming second in a recent heads-up showdown on the CPT against the eventual winner Suede Brooks. He credits poker as a skill game but felt more in control on the diamond.
Poker is a completely different game than baseball, he says. [In] baseball, you have a lot more control. Just look at the last CPT winner who didn’t even know how to play. His first time ever playing he came in and won first place.
The most skilled player might win over a period of two or three years over thousands of poker hands, but in a short tournament like the CPT, anything is possible.
Everyone who plays poker has hands they love and others they don’t. José believes two of the best starting hands have done him the most damage over time.
My worst hands are pocket aces and ace-king!. I’ve been playing for 40 years, and I’m probably an 80% loser with those hands. Even pre-flop all in and heads up, I have the worst luck.
I would say my best winning hand would be any suited connectors. The risk-reward is always there, someone could get pocket aces with them, or you could fold really quickly.
Both José and his daughter Josie have both played at the Celebrity Poker Tour felt. José loves that they have spent time together playing poker and it brings back formative memories for the dad and daughter duo.
I taught my daughter how to play when she was either 10 or 12 years old, José tells us. I had a poker tournament in my house when she was a little kid where first place was about $4,000 or $5,000, and she ended up winning first place.
She has great skills, she’s very lucky and knows what she’s doing. Every time I see her, we play home games or at the CPT and we always have a great time.
While José would love to win outright on the CPT this time round, he’s focused on running well in addition to playing well.
I have to avoid bad beats; I tend to get a lot of bad beats. But people have to understand that part of the structure is you have to survive the bad beats. Not all of your great hands are going to hold up – 38% of hands are going to be made on the river, so you have to be careful. A pair could mean nothing and will not last long.
Asbury-Heath Aiming for the Win
“You have to believe in yourself before anyone else will.”
One player who will match the ambition of anyone else at the CPT Felt this weekend is José’s fellow baseball professional De’Andre Asbury-Heath. De’Andre, who also starred in Love Island in the United States, laughs when we ask which was tougher – playing baseball or surviving the toxic nature of the Love Island beach.
Baseball for sure! Love Island was tough, but I dedicated my life to baseball early, De’Andre says. I started when I was four years old and worked every day as I became older to get to a professional level.
De’Andre is a fierce competitor no matter the surroundings and he’s aiming to be top dog when play gets under way this Saturday in Las Vegas. Second place isn’t an option.
Competition is fun to me. I feel it brings the best out of people. As for my ambitions, it’s to show all the other talent that I’m better than them. Simple as that.
De’Andre certainly has no shortage of confidence coming into battle. Announcing: “VEGAS I’M COMING FOR MY 20K!” on his socials was more than declaring positive intentions. He means every word, saying that if he could achieve anything in poker, it would be ‘walking out with that $20k!’.
My confidence is huge for me! You have to believe in yourself before anyone else will. My poker history has been OK but steady progress. This is my third CPT appearance, and the third time will be the charm.
Adapting from the instant dopamine hits of playing sport to the poker felt is a path trodden by many. That sporting sense of self-control is a massive help to De’Andre at the poker felt.
Discipline is the key to why I’ve been able to achieve the things I have. That’s the separator between individuals. Staying locked in on the table and not being baited will make me win this tournament.
Colby Covington is In for the Count
“You gotta stay locked in, read your opponents, and not flinch when the pressure’s on.”
Talking to these sporting legends, you can feel the desperation for success, that crazy high of sporting achievement replicated at the poker felt.
Another legend of the world of sport if the former wrestler, UFC fighter and martial artist Colby Covington. He’s also got some history in the Celebrity Poker Tour events and can’t wait to be back in action on Saturday.
I’ve been loving every second of talking smack and stacking chips at CPT, he grins. The energy’s electric, and I’m out here playing mind games like I’m in a title fight.
Wrestling, martial arts and UFC have been a huge part of Colby’s life for so long. His immense lifetime of physical training that started in his school years have prepared him for what’s to come, not only at the poker table but in life.
MMA and wrestling are a grind and so is the poker table. You gotta stay locked in, read your opponents, and not flinch when the pressure’s on. Being disciplined lets me bluff with ice in my veins and make calls that would make lesser players fold. I’m a mental savage in the cage and on the felt.
Colby was famously called up by President Trump in the aftermath of a UFC Fight as ‘POTUS’ congratulated him on victory. Colby believes the President would be a great poker player.
The POTUS would be an absolute shark!, says Colby. President Trump is a master negotiator, always ten steps ahead, reading people like a book. President Trump would have everyone shook. He’d build a wall around his chip stack too. It’d be ‘yuge’!
In the cage, Colby loved nothing more than staring his opponents down. It’s no different at the felt and he knows that he can use the intimidation – in a good way – at the CPT felt too.
Absolutely. It’s easy to read these players if you know what to look for. Someone who is unsure of their hand and what play to make on the felt gives off the same kind of energy someone who isn’t confident with their skills in the Octagon.
While it sounds like Colby find some aspects of playing poker easy, he knows he still has plenty to master and is always striving to improve.
The hardest part is definitely keeping my cool when some chump gets a lucky river card!, he laughs. [I] can’t go on tilt. I always need to remind myself it’s a marathon and not a sprint. The numbers play out in the long run, and I just need to keep playing my game.
Colby Covington, José Canseco and De’Andre Asbury-Heath are all sure to be major threats to the other players when the Celebrity Poker Tour returns this Saturday. Tune in via YouTube from 6:00pm Pacific Time and follow the action via Instagram or X as kick-off gets closer.
