Spraggy
The Twitch Poker Tribune is a weekly blog bringing you the latest news and best clips of the week from the world of Twitch poker, as well as shining a light on streamers you should check out.
Total life earnings: $85,588. Latest cash: $740 on 03-Oct-2019. Click here to see the details of Ben Spragg's 13 cashes. Though Spraggy has become popular through playing multi-table tournaments online, his roots are in the cash game format. After depositing $100 at PokerStars, he snowballed his bankroll into $140,000 by grinding through the stakes in the Zoom games. Starting at $0.02/$0.05, Spraggy built up his bankroll over the course of four years and played. Spraggy has been playing poker for around 5 years, posting some decent results, including $130k in heads up cash winnings, proven in the graph below. Rocket League stream. Rocket League with TonkaP and mackb2. Prestige-Gaming - eSports community. Our mission is to deliver the highest quality eSports.
THIS WEEK:
- The Spraggy Show
- Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot wins Stadium Series High Heat for $261K
- Clips of the week
- Ones to watch
The Spraggy Show
We’d already seen Lex Veldhuis and Fintan Hand enjoy big final table streams and scores so far this Stadium Series.
On Wednesday night, it was Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg’s turn in the spotlight.
In the Sidemen VS Spraggy PokerStars Challenge, we are going to find out how the poker skills of KSI, Miniminter, Zerkaa, TBJZL and Behzinga match up against.
They used to battle for pots in the Hot $5.50.
Tonight they'll play for $120,000
♥️ @EasyWithAces & @spraggy#StadiumSeries#Sprintanpic.twitter.com/KYJancW76M
— PokerStars (@PokerStars) July 29, 2020
Having battled their way through the opening day, both Spraggy and Fintan returned for Day 2 of the $5,200 Heat 25-H yesterday (July 29), with the former third in chips and the latter ninth, respectively.
I AM CAROLE FUCKING BASKIN! pic.twitter.com/481y7EchLq
— Spraggy (@spraggy) July 28, 2020
Unfortunately for the lads and everyone watching, Twitch Poker was denied an undoubtedly massive event when Fintan busted in tenth place for $14,732, just missing out on the final table.
Spraggy would make it, though, and more than 30,000 people tuned in to watch him battle against some of the game’s very best players, including Sam “Str8$$$Homey” Greenwood and Mikita “Fish2013” Badziakouski.
He was guaranteed a payday of at least $16,721. Not bad for a guy who was streaming 2c/5c cash games for an audience of ten people four years ago.After explaining his strategy to James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton in a pre-game interview alongside Fintan (“When you guys are watching the cards-up coverage, just remember, I’m just trying to ladder, baby. I’m staying out of trouble.”)
That game plan didn’t stop him from getting in the mix though, including what he himself claims might have been an ICM punt.
We then witnessed Spraggy ladder all the way to third place, having a short stack most of the time.
In the first hand following “gordon0410” busted in fourth, Spraggy’s tournament would also reach its conclusion.
For his efforts, Spraggy banked $70,633 for his largest ever career score, and with more than 30,000 people watching, broke his viewership records in the process.
A little over 4 years ago, I started streaming 2c/5c cash games to an audience of around 10 people.
Today I took 3rd in the $5,200 Stadium Series @PokerStars for $70,633 with 30,000 + people watching.
For once, I am speechless.
Thank you! pic.twitter.com/d1qrTXAGfj
— Spraggy (@spraggy) July 29, 2020
Congrats, Spraggy.
Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot wins Stadium Series
If you were tuning in to the Stadium Series cards-up coverage over on the PokerStars Twitch channel, you’ll have noticed former Twitch beast and all-round good guy Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot on commentary duties, railing his good friends Fintan and Spraggy.
Talbot was in a particularly good mood as the previous night (July 28) he emerged victorious in $2,100 Weekly Stadium Series High final for a massive $261,489 score.
To celebrate, Talbot then jumped on Fintan’s stream and broke the news that he would be returning for one night of celebratory streaming this Friday (July 31).You won’t want to miss the return on TonkaaaaP on Twitch.
Head over to his channel and give it a follow so you’ll know when he goes live.
Clips of the week
The four-high bluff gets through. WHAT?!
A trip down memory lane.
Remember when @EasyWithAces had his own Ottvan moment? 👇
Tonight he could have his first six-figure score moment.
👀 https://t.co/G6D7PNXy4Z#StadiumSeriespic.twitter.com/aGy529y66C
— PokerStars Twitch (@PSTwitch) July 29, 2020
It’s not often you get a 10 million chip stack.
“That’s exactly what we were hoping, Griff.”
It’s not always easy with aces.
Ones to watch:
TjennoE – www.twitch.tv/tjennoe
As both a member of Lex Veldhuis’ community and Fintan Hand’s Team ATB stream team, “TjennoE” is well-versed in the world of Twitch.
He grinded his way up the mid-stakes on his channel and has streamed some big results from massive fields.
Check him out.
“TjennoE” in action
HayDawg – www.twitch.tv/haydawg_
With a PhD in Computer Science, you could call Tom “HayDawg” Hayton the new Doctor of Twitch poker.
Or don’t. Y’know. Whatever.
Do check out his stream though. Hayton is an aspiring poker player and streamer who took part in the #DareToStream challenge and enjoyed streaming so much he decided to carry on. He’s been grinding poker for the past five years so he knows a trick or two.
Well today's stream was pretty eventful! Second 4 figure bink in the books and the BB22 run wasn't too bad either despite bubbling the FT. I can't thank the people who watched enough. You all make it so enjoyable! <3 pic.twitter.com/9nRqhrysSg
Spraggy And Bill Burr
— Tom Hayton (@HaydawgPoker) May 15, 2020
Spraggy’s 5 A.M Twitter musings took a cultural turn yesterday when he lit out on a long-form tweet about what poker movies could learn from The Queen’s Gambit.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about ‘The Queen’s Gambit’,” he tweeted. “And it’s success in captivating a mainstream audience whilst also receiving praise from the chess community for its presentation of the game. Something similar for poker seems intriguing but tough for a couple of reasons…”
I've been thinking a lot about 'The Queen's Gambit' and it's success in captivating a mainstream audience whilst also receiving praise from the chess community for it's presentation of the game. Something similar for poker seems intriguing, but tough for a couple of reasons…
— Spraggy (@spraggy) November 18, 2020
In his assessment, the problem of replicating The Queens’ Gambit for poker lies in the issue of acknowledging luck. “The Queens Gambit’s success in storytelling seems to stem from the narrative of a disadvantaged youth achieving success in a game where the sole source of her achievements [is] her talent […] There is no luck at play here.”
Spraggy Twitch
While this seems like a drastic oversimplification of how the series works, it leads him to pick up the issue with most poker movies that focus on competition as the motivating factor (beating “The Man”, winning the tournament). “If the final payoff, at the end of the story is acknowledged to have had a huge element of good fortune, the story isn’t as compelling. […] But to ignore it betrays the heart and soul of the game.”
After several hundred words on the subject, Marle Cordiero, his fiancée tweeted at him to go to bed. And the barrage stopped.
Come to bed plz
— Marle Cordeiro (@MarleCordeiro) November 18, 2020
Where is Rounders 2?
It’s an interesting question. Because for something that feels like the perfect high-drama metaphor for the American dream, there’s not a lot of great poker movies out there.
Like a lot of people, the reason I got into poker was the movie Rounders. To this day, it is more or less unique in being a satisfying poker movie that feels grounded in reality.
The Cincinnati Kid is a classic, but only makes sense if you imagine everyone in the big game is cheating except the kid.
I admire California Split, but poker is a small part of the gambling shenanigans in that. Shade is a guilty pleasure but bears as much resemblance to real poker as Casino Royale or God of Gambling (both fine films in their own right, but lacking the grounding Spragg is looking for).
And those are the good ones. Lucky You does its best to be “realistic” but falls flat narratively. Deal is just The Color of Money plus cards and minus Tom Cruise. Plus it clearly peeked at the Lucky You script for its ending.
AllIn was forgettable dreck. Maverick fun, though hardly a great poker movie.
Even the writers of Rounders couldn’t bottle lightning twice. Their forgettable T.V. series Tilt revolved around cheating and T.V. tournaments again. And the less said about Runner, Runner the better, better.
And also how?
Spraggy is right. We don’t need a The Queen’s Gambit for poker.
The worst poker on TV and in the movies has a focus on competition. In a game where luck is a factor in the short run, the desire to win doesn’t work as motivation the way it does for Beth Harmon as a character.
In Rounders, Mike McDermott isn’t playing poker for the thrill of victory, he’s doing it cuz Teddy K.G.B. will break his legs if he doesn’t have the money for Worm’s debt. It’s that simple. And Spraggy is pointing the way.
If the final payoff, at the end of the story is acknowledged to have had a huge element of good fortune, the story isn't as compelling. The talented protagonist won simply because they ran good, despite their good play. But to ignore it betrays the heart and soul of the game.
— Spraggy (@spraggy) November 18, 2020
Featured image source: Twitter