Will Kassouf is a force of nature. You might know him from his deep run in the 2016 WSOP Main Event when he talked his way to a 17th-place finish for $338,288. He got into it with Griffin Benger in a particularly memorable TV confrontation before busting to him with kings vs. aces. It was box office.
Well, Kassouf is back. He landed in Vegas a week ago to get himself acclimated for another Main Event run. And he quickly built up a big stack, threatening the top five chip counts on Day 3. He was whisked straight onto the feature table, and at the time of writing on Day 4, he’s still got a big stack of around one million.
Is another deep run on the horizon? Half the poker world would absolutely love that.
We grabbed Kassouf for an interview on his dinner break. “I’ve had two hours' sleep,” he said, before talking non-stop for 45 minutes.
'I think Donald Trump is a good omen for me'
You made a huge splash in the 2016 Main Event, which really doesn’t feel like that long ago. What have you been up to since?
Still playing poker. I've been playing poker full time for the last 12 years now. Mainly smaller tournaments in London, but I still play the EPTs. PokerStars does a brilliant job with them — the dealers are fantastic, they run like clockwork with fantastic structures.
You’ve run up another big stack in the Main Event this year. Are we going to see another deep Kassouf run?
I hope so. I think this is my year. I’m not into politics, but I think Donald Trump is a good omen for me. Some people might make comparisons between me and him. He was elected president in 2016 when I had my deep run. He's now the president again in 2025, and I’m hoping for another deep run to make up for not making the final table last time.
If I didn’t lose with Aces against A-J with 17 players left and then three hands later lose with kings against Aces, I would have made the final table and been guaranteed $1 million. Nobody knows. Anything could have happened, but I was in perfect position to make the final table and maybe win it.
They got you straight on the feature table as well. Do you enjoy it there?
I always want to be on the feature table. Not just for the publicity and to be on camera, but because a lot of other players don't have the experience of being under the spotlight, under the cameras and the lights, with the whole world watching.
They freeze because they know their friends and family are watching and it's all on YouTube forever. They’re like rabbits in the headlights. Then you’ve got someone like me talking at them, so they're going to play more passively.
I'll happily play on the feature table from Day 1 to Day 10.
'You're either the hunter or the hunted'
Is there a difference between 2016 Kassouf and 2025 Kassouf?
In terms of the entertainment factor, I’m bringing the same thing. I've tried to bring some new material, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I can say what I want at the table in the UK. I have to be careful here. I can’t talk about my hand, or I’ll get a penalty. Why shouldn't I be allowed to do that? I’m telling you what I’ve got and giving you free information about my hand. If I do that here, I get a penalty.
If I break the rules, I know they're going to come down on me more than any other player because of my previous history and what happened with the Jack Effel ruling [Effel gave him a penalty for excessive chatter in 2016], which I think was controversial. But so far, so good. Everyone's enjoyed it, and they're taking it in good spirits.
I’ve got my speech worked out for Jack Effel if he tries anything. If he says, 'I want you to be quiet now, everyone's getting annoyed with you, please be quiet, shut your mouth,' I'll have a few words to say to him, and it won't be along the lines of, 'Sorry, Jack, okay, I'll be quiet now, Jack.' Sorry, but that's not happening.
So you're not toning anything down?
I'm going to play my game my way, and if people don’t like it, great. In fact, the more they don't like it, the more I keep doing it. Why? Not to be a nuisance, but if you’ve got an edge or an advantage, you want to exploit that to the max. Why? It increases my chances of going deeper in the tournament.
I’m an extrovert; I’ll express myself on the table. I’m going to have fun and get in my opponents' heads, confuse them, and get them to make bad decisions. If somebody gets tilted and pissed off, and they start swearing, that’s their issue. I’ve done nothing wrong.
If they lose their mind because they don’t have thick enough skin or they're not mentally strong enough, sorry, but that’s not my problem. I'm playing my game my way. You play your game your way. I've got no issue with you being introverted, putting your headphones on, and saying nothing to me for 12 hours. But don't have an issue with me because I'm talking to you at the table.
The whole idea of poker is to take your opponent out of their comfort zone. You don't want them to play their A game against you. You don't want them to be comfortable. It’s dog eat dog. You're either the hunter or the hunted. You take their chips, or they take yours. Go hard or go home.
