Over the last nearly two decades, Ari Engel has carved out quite a bit of success for himself playing poker. With cashes dating back to 2006, the 38-year-old amassed nearly $7.5 million in live tournaments alone, including two World Series of Poker bracelets, 10 WSOP Circuit rings and a seven-figure score from a victory in the 2016 Aussie Millions main event.
Even before his dominance in the live arena, Engel was known for his online dominance. While studying finance at New York University, Engel won another several million on the virtual felt playing under the screen name ‘BodogAri.’
For most of his career, Engel was making a living playing almost exclusively no-limit hold’em tournaments. But recently, the Toronto native began transitioning to mixed games. And it came with quick success at some of the highest stakes available.
Engel won his second bracelet earlier this fall by taking down the $10,000 Omaha hi-lo championship for $317,076. He sat down with Card Player to discuss how he dove into the mixed game world and what he’s done to generate so much success in seemingly a short amount of time.
Steve Schult: Congratulations on your second bracelet. You won your first in 2019 in a $2,500 no-limit hold’em event, but your second came in a $10,000 buy-in mixed game event. Can you talk about what happened the last few years that led to you wanting to play the Omaha hi-lo championship?
Ari Engel: I’ve played a lot of Omaha hi-lo over the last 10-12 years. In that regard, I’ve always been into that game, and I’ve gotten more and more into it. So, there were a lot of differences between my $2,500 no-limit hold’em win and this one.
My level of confidence in my play against the field was not near its peak in the no-limit stuff. I think in 2016 and around that time, I was much better against the field than I was in 2019. I’m still a good player and all that, but I got it in bad a million times and won it.
This Omaha, I’ve been playing a ton of it. […]
Click here to view original web page at www.cardplayer.com
