Garry Gates drops by Poker In The Ears

Because even the smoothest hosts in the game need a little time off here and there, Poker In The Ears took a hiatus this summer. But after eight weeks lounging in the secluded luxury of Podcast Host Paradise, James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton are back for a new season of the best poker podcast around.

While the boys were taking it easy, their friend Garry Gates — who works as Senior Manager of Player Relations at PokerStars — went on a crazy run in the 2019 WSOP Main Event. There are easier ways to become a PITE guest, but none of them pay anywhere near the $3 million Gates earned for finishing fourth in the tournament. It was the run of a lifetime and one of the more remarkable stories in the annual tournament’s recent history.

The full interview with Gates begins at the 31:10 mark.

Before the Gates interview, the boys chat about their summer TV diets. Stapes talks about making the final table of a charity event with past PITE guest Bruce Buffer (13:35). The boys resurrect “Social Media Beefs” for one episode only to take issue with being awkwardly pitted against other poker commentators in a Daniel Negreanu Twitter poll (21:50). And then they talk about the WSOP Main Event, particularly the progress of EPT fan favorite (and eventual Main Event winner) Hossein Ensan (27:41).

After the Gates interview comes this season’s first installment of “Superfan vs. Stapes” (59:40). This one pits Iowa’s Scott Bonz against Stapes and focuses on the original 1989 film adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary.

Check out Episode 157 of Poker In The Ears on Soundcloud, iTunes, or Spotify. And if you want to help the boys out, make sure to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast!

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WSOP photography by pokerphotoarchive.com