Colorado-born Chance Kornuth has spent the better part of two decades at the top of the game. A quick look at his live tournament resume will show that, of his first five recorded results, four were wins. And after he’d clocked up his first 10 tournament results, his 11th was a WSOP bracelet.
That was just the beginning, though, as Kornuth has since bagged big wins on the WPT, the PokerGo Tour, the Aussie Millions, the European Poker Tour and more WSOP bracelets, placing him well inside the top 100 on the all-time money list.
Kornuth is the founder of Chip Leader Coaching, and has recently been tutoring chess and poker streamer Alex Botez on her Twitch channel. Follow him on Twitter/X here.
What’s one bit of essential prep you do before a big tournament or cash game session?
“I make sure nothing is weighing on me, whether it’s company or family. If we’re not able to focus and play our best, we’re unlikely to have good results. So just making sure all of my I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed before I play.”
What piece of strategy advice did you get when you first started playing that you wish you had ignored?
“I don’t really think I was ever given much advice when I began playing. I started at a time where I had to kind of figure it out on my own. I think that has worked out best for me, to be honest.”
What’s the dumbest thing you’ve seen or done at the poker table?
"I was there at the WSOP Main Event when a guy got disqualified for exposing himself.
“The wildest thing I’ve ever seen was playing the Main Event during an earthquake. We were all hiding under our tables. All of the apparatus on the ceiling was swaying back and forth, it was pretty scary.”
What’s your most memorable hand?
“The hand I won my first WSOP bracelet with at the 2010 $5K PLO event.
“I raised preflop with Q-9-8-5 single suited, heads up, for the bracelet. I was three-bet by Kevin Boudreau. I called. The flop came J-8-3 rainbow. We get it all in and the turn was an 8. All my friends started to crowd the table. He had AKKx. I had 95% equity on the turn.
“I’ll never forget that feeling when the river was a brick and all my friends grabbed me and celebrated. I grabbed the bracelet off the table. All my friends lifted me up. It was pretty surreal.”
What’s your single best piece of advice for poker players?
“Surround yourself with like-minded people; people with the same goals.
“In order to succeed at this game, it’s very difficult to do it on your own. There’s so many good training, resources and communities that can help you achieve those goals. You don’t have to do it on your own.”
If you owned a poker room, who’s the first player you’d want to sign as an ambassador and why?
“Probably Daniel Negreanu. He just has the biggest pull of active poker players these days. He’s also very good at interacting with fans.”
Images courtesy of the WPT.
