Matt Glassman, a senior fellow at Georgetown Affairs Institute, will be taking a special poker trip to the Bahamas this month to participate in the PokerStars Players Championship after being judged the winner of a "Most Memorable Poker Hand" contest run in conjunction with PokerStars brand ambassador Jennifer Shahade's "The Grid" podcast.
Glassman's entry, "Jack-Three Offsuit and the Monster Ballad Poker Game", was judged the winner of more than 70 video and text submissions received. Glassman's Platinum Pass prize package includes travel and accomodations and, with the $25K PSPC main-event seat, is valued at $30,000.
"Also, gonna need a week off from work," Glassman subsequently tweeted to his boss. "I promise I won't quit, even if I come back with millions."
“I was blown away by the quality of the submissions and finalists and I am thrilled by Matt's victory," wrote Shahade. "His beautiful rendition of the home game of his 20s reminded me of my favourite thing about poker, the way it unites people on different paths, and at different stages of life, through a shared passion. It also reminded me of the privilege of poker - to play for years with people we love shouldn't be taken for granted. As Matt points out, 'You never know when a poker game is going to fall apart. People move. People get busy. The game goes less and less often. And then it’s just gone.' Well in Matt's case, The Monster Ballad Poker Games is very much back. His friends are cheering him on, and I won't be surprised to hear a hand history featuring jack-three."
Glassman's story was one of six submissions selected as finalists for Shahade's "The Grid" promotion. Other finalists were James Tedrow, Davis Harari, Nicole Pamela Cervenka, Dan Schill, and Lisa Gjaltema. Schill's submission, "Twas the Night Before Christmas", was named as the official runner-up, and Schill, a poker streamer, congratulated Glassman on his win, calling him a “a deserving winner of the platinum poker hand competition.”
Shahade assembled an all-star team of judges to help in selecting the giveaway's winner. Those judges included:
Maria Ho - Award winning broadcaster with over four million dollars in poker earnings.
Alex O’Brien - Poker player, science writer and author of the upcoming book, The Truth Detective.
Sam Grafton - PokerStars Ambassador with over 12 million dollars in earnings, with a master’s degree in literary theory.
Keith “Accidental Grenade” Becker - PokerStars ambassador and streamer, and former GRID guest.
Mark “Naigo1” Foresta - PokerStars Ambassador and streamer at https://www.twitch.tv/naigo1
Brad Willis - Former PokerStars blog editor and current Poker.org Editor-in-Chief, and host/producer of the renowned true crime podcast, Murder Etc.
Featured image source: https://mattglassman.substack.com
