Andrew Robl: “Short Deck Makes No Limit Hold’em Look Boring”

Andrew Robl is synonymous with high stakes poker action, and as the biggest games in Asia shifted from No Limit Hold’em to Short Deck, the Las Vegas resident was right there to see it grow and develop into the hype that it carries today. Before the start of play of the final table of the $10,000 Short Deck event at the 2018 Poker Masters on PokerGO we caught up with Robl to talk about why this game is catching on the way it is.

Three years ago, Robl got first introduced to Short Deck in Asia, where he’d been a regular in the biggest games that had been No Limit Hold’em for many years. Despite its roots going way back in poker history, it was the wealthy Chinese gamblers who brought the game back to life.

“A lot of the Chinese gamblers come from a Baccarat background and they don’t have the patience to play regular No Limit Hold’em. They don’t want to just sit there and fold, and I think one of them just got the idea to remove the small cards to make it more exciting, and ever since it’s been growing in popularity quickly.”

Robl’s a big fan of Short Deck himself as the game drives a lot of action and allows for a lot of hands to be played, but he doesn’t think that the same players that are drawn to the game from a gambling background will be swayed to dabble in the regular forms of poker anytime soon.

“I love it because there is no hand that’s a big favorite against another. This also makes it great for tournaments because there’s a lot of gambling in the game. Because many of the players in Asia have already played No Limit Hold’em in the past, I don’t think that they’ll come back to the game. I think that because of this there will only be more Short Deck tournaments in the future.”

Short Deck is making its debut on PokerGO today, seeing its first $10,000 buy-in tournament broadcast from the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. In the last 18 months, Triton has been putting on a series of Short Deck events as well, adding even more excitement to Robl’s views on the game’s potential growth.

“This event in Las Vegas got a great turnout despite most players here being regular No Limit Hold’em players with little to no experience in this game. On top of that, the Triton events have also done really well, so I expect to see the numbers only to go up in the future. Short Deck is a simpler game than No Limit Hold’em or PLO, and that makes it a bit easier for new players to get into.”

Living at the Mandarin, just a few steps away from the PokerGO Studio and ARIA’s Ivey’s Room, Robl’s always amidst the biggest action no matter what the game of the day might be. As he no longer plays tournaments unless convenient or particularly interesting, the man is formerly known as ‘Good2CU’ still holds a love for the Cadillac of Poker, but he also has to admit that the craze of this new game might be taking a hold on a lot more poker fans in the months and years to come.

“Short Deck is definitely more fun and makes No Limit Hold’em look boring, but I still like playing regular No Limit as well. There’s more skill in No Limit Hold’em, and I still enjoy playing both.

Watch the final table of the $10,000 Short Deck event live on PokerGO starting at 4:00 pm ET. On-demand replays of all Poker Masters event as are available on PokerGO after the live shows have finished. The Poker Masters runs until Sunday, September 16 when the series concludes with the $100,000 Main Event. New to PokerGO? Subscribe right now and never miss another minute of thrilling live high stakes action.