It’s been a rollercoaster year in poker. From Michael Mizrachi’s man-on-a-mission achievements of the summer in the World Series of Poker to December’s record-breaking WSOP Paradise festival in The Bahamas, 2025 was one for the books.
Over the course of the year, I spoke to some of the game’s biggest stars. Sitting down with world champions, pioneering poker legends, and seasoned Hall of Famers, I felt privileged to provide a regular window into the lives of some poker heroes to us all.
Here are five of my favorite articles on Pokerati that I’ve helped put together in the past 12 months, and what you can expect from me in 2026.
My Relatable Interview of 2025
It’s easy to be starstruck when talking to poker players. After all, many of them have earned millions of dollars playing a game we all love. It’s the dream for a global fan base of amateur players.
When I’m discussing the game’s finer points with some of the best professionals on the planet, it is important to me that I always find something relatable that connects the subject of the interview to the people who will be reading that feature – you.
There has probably never been a more relatable poker professional than Chris Moneymaker, whose victory in the 2003 WSOP Main Event stunned the world.
The tale of how an amateur poker player and full-time accountant became perhaps the world’s greatest poker ambassador was honestly a dream to put together.
Not only was Chris one of the most generous players I spoke to this year with his time, but he also offered new insights into the game-changing moments in poker history he helped create.
I always approach it like it’s a unique, first-time opportunity. I don’t try to study poker and learn new concepts, new strategies. There’s a time and place to learn poker theory, but going into the tournament, you need to play your game, what you’re comfortable with.
Chris Moneymaker told all and provided plenty of help to the world’s next breakout amateur poker superstar.
Here’s my feature with the man behind The Moneymaker Effect – the 2003 world champion, Chris Moneymaker.
My Headline-Grabbing Interview of 2025
Whenever I’ve spoken with Phil Hellmuth Junior, I’ve found it a blast. The Poker Brat has mellowed over the years, and I’m proud to have connected with the 17-time WSOP bracelet winner a number of times.
The first time I did so, I asked Phil for some time in the halls of the Rio at the WSOP in the summer of 2017. He led me through the labyrinthine halls of the hallowed poker venue before emerging into the back car lot.
There, we stood for 45 minutes as I experienced my first interview with ‘The Brat’. Iconic, revealing, every sentence is a headline with Phil, and what to leave out is as important as what to include.
When we went back inside, I realised that I’d been standing under the baking Vegas sun at midday, and the top of my head was as red as the ten of hearts!
I could have made a second interview from what we didn’t discuss last autumn, as Phil told me what it has been like for him to mentor his son, Philip Junior, on his journey into professional poker.
When Phillip didn’t play professionally, then I could dedicate my time with him towards giving him pure love and support. Now, I have to tell him what he is doing wrong.
As always, The Poker Brat was unique, candid, and shocking… in equal measure!
My Starstruck Interview of 2025
While we, as poker fans, idolise those who sit at the felt, many of the game’s greatest influences come from the poker industry on the other side of the deal.
I’m talking about the media, and not little old Global Poker Award-nominated me. From the Triton Poker Tour to the PokerStars Big Game, broadcasters, reporters, and commentators alike have brought the game to spectacular life during 2025.
One of my own poker heroes is Joe Stapleton. Known to millions of poker fans as ‘Stapes,’ the man himself sat down with me to discuss his career in the game, along with his stand-up comedy exploits.
Branching into unfamiliar territory, we even talked about his designing a show, pitching to TV, and how he spent four years creating Trapped!, the world’s best – and first – graphic novel about poker.
When it’s 4:30 in the afternoon, and I haven’t had a chance to think about the show, and I have a pit in my stomach, that’s when I think, ‘Why do I do this to myself?’ But when I’m on-stage getting laughs? That’s about as close to pure bliss for me as it gets.
Joe was unbelievably candid with me about his life, his work, and what it’s really like behind the curtain of the poker world. Here’s his feature in all its glory.
My Elusive Interview of the Year
The interview that I’m most proud of ‘getting’ in 2025 is a player from my own country of England.
Not because Stephen Chidwick is one of, if not the best, poker players in the world right now. Not because he’s chasing down Bryn Kenney at the top of the Hendon Mob leaderboard. Primarily, it’s because Stephen so rarely speaks to anyone in terms of poker interviews.
It was such a great feature and all due to Stephen’s ability to dig deep emotionally as to what motivates him, and then be open about what he finds hard in pursuing greatness in the game.
As anyone who has ever watched Stephen at the felt will testify, the modest, softly-spoken British player has an irresistible intensity when playing a hand of poker.
Being from England, I’ve had the art of emotional repression handed down to me from my ancestors. I’ve put a lot of effort into trying to see things as they are and keep perspective even when playing for big sums of money.
From his focus at the felt to his motivations off it, speaking with Stephen about this point in his career was a real pleasure. It’s the soccer equivalent of running alongside Cristiano Ronaldo while he’s practicing free kicks! Check it out right here.
My Poignant Interview of the Year
While my 2025 actually featured more poker legends than I can believe I got to speak with, one that stood out was the piece I put together with the help of its subject, Erik Seidel.
To me, Erik is the first player I think of when it comes to WSOP events. That probably sounds odd given I’ve spoken with Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, and plenty of other former WSOP Main Event champions like Ryan Riess, Scotty Nguyen, Greg Raymer, and Tom McEvoy.
The fact remains, however, that Erik’s incredible run to the final in his debut year before subsequently losing heads-up to The Orient Express was iconic to me as a Rounders fan but as a poker lover in general.
What’s always been more impressive to me, however, is Erik’s amazing longevity. Not only has he surpassed his opponent on that fateful day in 1988, Johnny Chan, but virtually everyone else, and has cashed for $48.5 million in live events alone.
If you allow for inflation over the course of almost four decades in the game, it might make the humble king of poker the best ever.
It was life-changing money at the time, and we had a kid on the way. It was also a huge confidence booster given how inexperienced I was.
Speaking with Erik was like getting to speak with a genuine life and poker hero. Here’s the piece in full:
In 2025, I got to connect with some of the best poker players in the world. So, what’s coming in 2026? Well, I hope more of the same. But I’m also hungry to speak to poker’s emerging talents, both at the felt or behind the action.
The landscape of the game we all love is changing, and I can’t wait to bring you more of it in the next year. While the turn of the year gives us a chance to look back on what we’ve already achieved, like poker, the future is far more important, and I’m really excited about what’s coming next on Pokerati.
You won’t want to miss it.
