Digital Social Hour
Abby Merk: The $3,500 Loss That Almost Made Me Quit Poker | DSH #1589
27 Oct 2025
Chapter 1: What insights does Abby share about her recent Vegas trip?
People don't believe me, which is insane. Like, I'll literally post, like every week I do, I do like a, how much did I win or lose this week? And people will be like, liar, this girl is not, it's not possible. She has an OnlyFans, this is her parents' money. And I was like, not only do I post like truthful results, but I also post story times of how it happened every single day.
You know what I mean? And at a certain point, like you would think that if my following gets big enough, people would just be like, no, she's lying. I played with her. Like if I was actually lying about it.
Right.
someone would call me out, right? And no one's calling me out. Like, it makes no sense.
All right, guys, we got Abby here. Caught her right before she left Vegas.
Yeah.
A little bit of a tilt right now, huh?
One might say that, you know, at a certain point, I feel like poker gets a little bit can get a little bit old. So I'm changing up the scenery. I'm going to Borgata to play in the the summer poker open there. So I'm really excited. I got to switch it up a little bit, though. Nice. You know what I mean?
Yeah, how's the gambling until I make X series going?
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Chapter 2: How does Abby handle tilt and emotional challenges in poker?
Because you're rebuying as soon as you bust, right?
Exactly, yeah.
I wonder why, because I know some really good cash game players. They just suck at tournaments.
No, for sure. It's a very different game. And truthfully, I think in cash, it's very different because you're normally deep stack. So a lot of these cash game pros, if they come into tournaments, they'll do well in the first couple levels. But when things start to get shorter and the blinds go up and things like that, they really struggle.
So I feel like, whereas on the opposite, I'm like a short stack legend. Right. And I'm like, what am I doing with 600 bigs? So, yeah, to each their own different strength.
That's why you got to respect guys like Helmuth. I know he's controversial, but like he crushes the tournament.
For sure. Can't deny the goat. He's actually very interesting, too, because Helmuth, like say what you want about like his persona and stuff. But like Helmuth did something that nobody did at the time. He created a brand for himself.
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Chapter 3: What are the differences between cash games and tournaments in poker?
And then he also like identified a niche that wasn't really being tapped into. And it was truthfully like. The most genius thing he could do like he basically said no one's winning bracelets I'm gonna win the most bracelets and he went out and did it. You know what I mean? Exactly.
So like, you know props to the guy can't say a bad thing about him This World Series might be the most drama I've ever seen. It's insane. Truly.
I agree I thought Cabral would be the top and then yeah, that's Kasuf guy just flew right past.
Yeah, he's insane Kasuf is like the guy like your uncle at He's like your uncle at like a family dinner where you're like, please stop talking. And he just won't. You know what I mean? Like you could beg the guy and he just like he's just infinite yappa yappa yappa.
You know what I mean?
But truthfully, I don't really know. Like a lot of these poker players are so good. like egotistical, I think, like sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way. You have to be self-centered. Like poker is a zero-sum game, right? So at the end of the day, when you win, it means that someone else is like not winning.
And in that case, what Kasuf did was he basically identified that and then played to that. So he's like, well, I'm going to take that dynamic and like amplify it. I think it's going to be like one of those things where I'm going to get in your head and I'm going to play all of the other elements that you aren't expecting. Right. So also say what you want. Poker loves a character.
The viewers speak for himself. Like poker go record numbers.
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Chapter 4: What predictions does Abby make for the WSOP Main Event?
I was rooting for him to make the final table. I'm not going to lie.
Oh, I was not.
I know that's a hot take, but I love the drama. I love Cabral. I watch Cabral play.
Yeah.
I know you probably hate playing with guys like that, but as a viewer, because I don't play.
Yes.
You have a different perspective. I think it makes good entertainment.
I totally agree with that, for what it's worth, from a viewer perspective. But at the same time, I think especially in the main event, like with Kasuf in particular, he was delaying the game. He was getting into all these antics when the stakes were the highest that they possibly could have been.
Right.
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Chapter 5: How did Abby rebuild her bankroll after a significant loss?
I think that the biggest issue that I had with the whole thing was the fact that on day six, they basically were like, ha ha, like Kasuf, so funny. Like this guy, come on now, watch your tongue. You know what I mean? Like mind your mouth. And then on day seven, they came in and they went like ape shit on the guy. Like they legitimately were like, say one word and you're disqualified.
Whoa, what a switch up. You know what I mean? So I do think, and also like, I do think that the WSOP, I don't, I think that they need to be taking from like a business perspective, a player first mindset. And unfortunately that does include Kasuf. You know what I mean? And so we're fortunate. Depending on who you ask.
But I think like the reason why I'm saying this is because I think if they would have just said something on like Twitter or they had pulled him aside before the match and said, hey, just letting you know, like we had a meeting last night and we're going no bullshit today. Like seriously, not a single word. I think the whole situation changes.
But when you kind of like surprise and there's a lot of like ambiguity to the rules, I think that this is where he actually has a bit of a point there, you know, which is not something that the WSOP I think would want.
But. It seems like there's going to implement something next year, right?
Yeah.
There's a lot of talk about it.
Yeah. And the thing is, is to like the even the tournament director rules are a little bit ambiguous when it comes to like disrupting the game or like game flow and how how the etiquette rules can be enforced. So I do think that like there is space for like the influencers in the industry think like Matt Savage, right, to take control of that, like narrative and like change it.
You know what I mean?
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Chapter 6: What unique challenges does Abby face as a full-time poker pro?
annoying people from like a social perspective because I love the social aspect of the game like truly I do not consider myself like a super pro like I consider myself a content creator that like loves poker but at the same time like I think that there are things that people do that like
tilt the shit out of me like come on like poker is gonna be fun and like at a certain at a certain point like we can all smile we can all laugh we all have to feel like super grateful for the fact that we can play this poker game for a living right so like when people take themselves a little bit too seriously I think that annoys me but it's also like I do understand that they are trying to win just as much as I'm trying to win so like I think that there's like I have a lot of respect for them at the same time you know what I mean yeah
The final table's today, right? Yes. So this will come out after, but let's do some predictions for fun. So who do you think is going to win the final table?
Okay, so hot take here. I do not think it's going to be Michael Mizraki. I think there's a lot of people that are on his court. I don't think that he... cares enough about the money to fully respect, if you will, the ICM implications of the final table.
I think that could work really for him or really against him for what it's worth, because he might take spots that are like ultra aggressive because he thinks that there's a chance to capitalize on that dynamic. But I got to go, Leo. She's an amazing poker player. She's had deep runs before. She's familiar with the pressure.
And truthfully, it doesn't seem like the dynamic of like having the weight of women on your back at all is getting to her. And so truly, I think if she can show up and play her game, I think she's going to take it down for sure.
She's been doing well. I saw her knock out like four people. Yeah. A couple of days ago.
Yes. And honestly, like truthfully, final tables in particular, a lot of it comes down to like getting there when you need to get there, holding when you're all in, right? Like things like that, especially when it comes to laddering up and with these like very, very, very, very steep pay jumps. So I think that, you know, I mean, little lady luck never hurt anybody.
So hopefully she can take it down. That's my goal.
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Chapter 7: How does Abby balance poker with her content creation?
I try, but also like, this is going to sound a little bit whaley, but I'm also kind of a Michael Mizraki in the sense where I'm like looking to take spots that I think are, um, advantageous. Um, so like, Whether or not that helps or hurts me, depends on who I'm up against. So you play kind of aggressive? A little bit, yeah. But also... Yeah.
I mean, I'm always looking for the win, but if a spot feels right, it feels right. And I'm not going to shy away from that, to be honest.
Nice. Did you make money right away when you started playing?
Hell no. I sucked at poker when I started. Oh my gosh, I was so bad. I remember the first time I sat down to play poker, I legitimately ran this ridiculous bluff. It was so stupid looking back, obviously. And I remember getting up from the table and Like, busting, obviously. I was like, whatever. Some dumb hand. And I get up from the table. I'm walking to the rebuy session.
And this was, like, a $20 tournament, by the way, at the time. This is nothing, like, crazy. And the guy who I had just, like, busted to comes and follows me. And he goes, just so you know, that was, like... That, like, really didn't make sense. Like, that was a really bad play. I was like, oh, thank you so much. Like, rebuy, you know what I mean? Like, chips. I don't know. It was ridiculous.
You had to rub it in. Yeah, exactly.
And that didn't stop you from wanting to keep playing?
Hell no. That motivated me. I was like, get me back in there. You know what I mean?
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Chapter 8: What are Abby’s favorite poker destinations and hotel recommendations?
I can't let that slide. Put me at the same table. I'm going to get those chips back.
When did you feel like you really started getting good? Did you have a mentor?
I did, yeah. There's been like a couple people like lifetime that have really gotten me to think about the game differently. One of them is Joe McKeon. He's actually a main event champ. So it was really cool to see him on my side analyzing my hands. He's...
A bit blunt when it comes to you know feedback a lot of the poker guys are to be honest Yeah, but it's to the point where i'm like Damn, I I think I might need it caused like an awakening me I was like whoa i'm like really bad at poker truthfully because he would literally I would send him these hand histories and he would respond and he'd be like Just you know, you suck like, you know, you suck right and i'm like, oh Awesome, you know what I mean?
But yeah, he's like a funny one that comes to mind some people learn that way and some people are like Yeah, i'm never talking to that guy again
Exactly. Exactly. No, he's funny. I think truly he has the best intentions at heart, but like at the same time, um, communication styles I think are pretty different, but I don't know. It works out. It like jolted me into getting better. I was like, damn, I suck. Like I got to reconsider, you know what I mean? So kind of worked out, but.
Who have you been the most starstruck with playing-wise?
Steven Chedwick, not close. Steven Chedwick is like my idol. He is unbelievably talented. He has such a passion for the game and like a respect for the players around him, no matter what stakes he's playing. Funny enough, I ended up playing against him in the main event last year. Sorry, two years ago. But we played together on day three, which is so unlucky.
There's like 8,000 people left at the time. I'm like, really? I have the number one player in the world?
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