Having enjoyed record-setting success on the World Series of Poker Circuit, Ari Engel is well known as the live poker grinder you might expect to find in just about any tournament in the USA.
A glance at his Hendon Mob results — a lengthy page which reads like the site’s version of War & Peace — reveals that the record 19 WSOP Circuit rings he’s accumulated have come from stops as far afield as Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Hammond, Los Angeles and more.
Then there are wins at the Bellagio, the Borgata, the Seminole Hard Rock, the Heartland Poker Tour, the Mid-States Poker Tour… In the spirit of Johnny Cash (or Lucky Starr, Hank Snow or any number of covers), it really does seem like Engel has traveled ‘everywhere in this here land’. And the road seems to keep on calling.
“2012 was the last time I paid rent or a mortgage,” says Engel, in an exclusive chat with PokerOrg. “I don't have any home, so I play way more tournaments than everyone else. So, if it looks like I'm playing a lot, that’s because I just play a lot of everything.”
Yet for someone so seemingly engrained in the fabric of modern day American poker, it may surprise some to learn he’s an accomplished and regular traveler when it comes to poker stops beyond US borders.
“I’ve been traveling abroad for poker since around 2007, so basically from the beginning,” says Engel. “I started doing it more after Black Friday in 2011. I played some satellites on PokerStars, won one for EPT Prague and did well, and I went to Prague every year after that until 2019. I also went to Barcelona a bunch, I hit my big score in Australia in 2016 [winning the Aussie Millions Main Event for $1.1M], and then I went back there every year.”
As someone who’s been traveling the poker world for almost two decades, we just had to ask Engel: where are the best players to be found? His answer might rankle with those who bleed red, white and blue.
‘The Americans were better - that has changed’
“When I started playing poker, the Americans were better than the Europeans,” says Engel. “Over time, that has changed. Basically, America has gone from the top of the pile to the bottom.”
Engel points to the new wave of European and South American live players, specifically, as well as the talented crop of Eastern European online players, as the ones to watch out for in the modern poker landscape. He also stresses that, while playing against the best is generally not desirable from a professional’s point of view, sometimes it’s important to challenge yourself.
“I've always wanted to test myself against better competition — at least sometimes. Of course, I’m playing to make money, so it's better as a whole to play in America, but sometimes I want to test myself against stronger players. Things around the level of EPT Main Events feel like the right level; maybe I'm winning, maybe I'm losing, but if I'm losing it's not too bad. It's right around that breakeven point, I think, but I get to test myself against those kinds of players.”
When we point out that the US boasts some of the most notable high rollers in the world, Engel doesn’t disagree — not that he particularly wants to face them. “I could play high rollers in America, but I'm for sure losing there so I don't want to be doing that!”
So what is it about the international scene that, in Engel’s mind, sets it apart from his ‘bread and butter’ back in the USA?
“Firstly, we say ‘America’, but it's a huge place, and people play differently in California than they might in Florida, for example. But playing outside the US is tougher, and usually that’s because of more aggressive play. Not always, but overall I've noticed throughout the years that the European style seems to be more aggressive than the American style of tournament play.”
The ring-hunting ground
Of course, what Engel may be most known for in the poker community is his pursuit of WSOP Circuit rings. He is currently tied for most all-time wins on the Circuit, and it’s a contest for which he has been pushing the bar higher and higher for some time now.
Those events take place within North America, and while Engel takes his role in the chase for rings seriously, he insists it was something that occurred organically rather than from some long-standing goal or ambition.
“It's not particularly important for me to play somewhere because of a brand name,” he confesses, “I'm not especially loyal to any one brand. I’ve got a lot of rings, which kind of happened slowly, here and there.”
Digging a little deeper, it seems Engel’s involvement in the hunt for Circuit rings can be traced back to one particular promotion; the marketing team can claim this one as a win.
“The WSOP Circuit used to have a leaderboard, which was perfectly set up for someone like me where you didn't have to do particularly well, but if you just played enough you would probably make the top 50, and that was worth a $10,000 seat in a tournament. So for a number of years, I tried to make sure I did that, and that probably caused me to play a few more Circuit events and get some more wins there."
“Once I got closer to the top, then if it was a close decision where to go I would maybe veer a little bit more towards the Circuit stuff. And then once the online rings started, I got a few online also; a lot of the other people at the top don't play online.”
A poker nomad
We can’t help but wonder what pulls someone with the freedom of Ari Engel in one direction or another. When does he stay in the States to try and add another ring to his collection, and when does he venture abroad to test himself against fields he rates as more challenging?
“In America, I'll go to a lot of what you might call the less prestigious stops,” says Engel. “I'll go play tournaments where the buy-in’s $500 or $1K, and the main event is $1,500. The ones I play outside of America, the main events are $5K or more; larger, more glamorous stuff.
“There’s no real science to when I might decide to play abroad,” he continues. “A lot of times it might be to do with where I've done well in the past, so Australia, for example, I’d always make sure to go back. The same with Prague — after doing well that first year, I always went back. You just get a feel for the value of certain stops, plus things like easily accessible flights can be a factor, but there's no particular rhyme or reason.”
So, with the WSOP just days away, can we expect to see him playing a full schedule? Is he the kind of series grinder who might chalk up a lot of points in a WSOP fantasy draft?
“I'm a ‘feel player’,” Engel replies, “There’s always this fantasy draft for the WSOP, and people ask me what my schedule’s going to be. I have no schedule: I wake up that morning, look at the different stuff around town and just decide: Do I want to play no-limit? Do I want to play mixed? Small buy-in? Big buy-in? I just completely go by feel. I rarely know where I'm going to be in a few weeks' time.”
Ari Engel may famously have 19 WSOP Circuit rings and over $9M in tournament earnings, but he has also notched up cashes in 18 different countries. With his freewheeling, rootless lifestyle, he’s still the player we expect to find at any tournament stop in the USA, but also one we wouldn’t be surprised to see almost anywhere else that cards are being dealt.
“It’s got its pros and cons, a lot of people need or want that stability, but I have no complaints.”
Additional images courtesy of WPT/Joe Giron'Danny Maxwell/Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
