With 17 WSOP Circuit rings, Canada's Alan 'Ari' Engel is a record breaker. And if 17 rings weren't already enough jewelry, he also has three WSOP bracelets - one in Hold'em, one in Omaha Hi/Lo and one online. His tournament resume is one the longest we've seen, filled with results from tour stops right across the world.
Engel has career earnings of more than $8.5M, including $1.1M for winning the Aussie Millions in 2016. Follow Ari on X.
What’s one bit of essential prep you do before any big tournament or cash game session?
I don't have an essential routine that’s locked in place. I sometimes like to go to the gym, eat good food, and bring snacks to the table. It depends on where I am staying at during an event.
I think that's a good thing for me, that I'm very flexible. I’m traveling all the time, which definitely contributes to the lack of a fixed routine. Some places I stay have a gym downstairs, and some don't. Sometimes, the poker room is outside my bedroom, and I'm there.
The one thing that is most essential for me is sleep. I like to have seven hours of sleep, but if I don't, I'm OK.
What piece of strategy advice did you get when you first started playing that you wish you had ignored?
My friend Andrew Brown was my first serious strategy mentor. He had a rule with the hand 
. We called it rule #1: never call off your stack with , which at the time - in 2004 - was pretty good advice. But jumping to the present day, where people are getting into five-bet wars, has become a monster at some stage of the game.
There were a lot of traditional sayings I always ignored, such as, 'Never go broke with a particular hand' or 'Don't do this or that.' I heard Daniel Negreanu in an interview recently talk about a culture of 'If you bluffed off your stack, that was a really bad thing.' It’s not the same anymore.
I've always been a trial-and-error person and willing to do 'dumb’ things. And over the last 20 years, that’s probably a lot of things! So I guess I’ve been game to try anything and not ignore everything.
What's the dumbest thing you've ever seen or done at the poker table?
I hold myself to pretty high standards, but occasionally, over the years, I have been tilted and made a sarcastic comment to someone. It’s something that no professional should ever do. You should never say, ‘You played that hand bad.'
I have seen players rip up the cards at the table. In February 2020, a guy wished that some of the Commerce Casino dealers would get COVID. That’s horrible behavior.
I've been threatened for three-betting a player at the table! That happened a few times when I was younger, not so much anymore. Players have threatened me in the past, 'Let’s go to the parking lot if you three-bet me again.' Stuff like that.
What's your most memorable hand?
It has to be a heads-up during the Aussie Millions Main Event against Tony Dunst.
It was for sure for the most amount of money in my career. I three-bet with 
and the flop came nothing for me. Then, a jack fell on the turn. I bet the flop, the turn, and then I shoved the river. He ended up hero-calling me there with something like bottom pair. That was a huge spot, and it went my way.
Tony’s a great player and a class act. I’ll never forget that event.
What's your single best piece of advice for players?
I hate giving this advice because it can be taken the wrong way, but when you're deep in a tournament and have a big decision, just take three extra seconds to make a big decision. Make sure that's actually what you want to do.
So many times, I've acted a little too rashly. Then I’ve got the two-hour drive home, or the four-hour plane ride to think about it. If I had taken those extra few seconds, I wouldn't have to be thinking about it for days, weeks, or even months.
If you owned a poker room, who's the first player you'd want to sign as an ambassador, and why?
It has to be Daniel Negreanu. He's very personable and one of the biggest names in poker. He’s right up there with Hellmuth and Ivey, but Phil Ivey is not a marketing person at all. It might be a close call with Phil Hellmuth, but Daniel is the best with the vlogs and his presence online. He would be my first choice.
