The 54th annual World Series of Poker is right around the corner and Mike Jozoff is one of many big names who’ll be taking to the felt at Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos in a bid to win his first WSOP gold bracelet.
Already a WSOP Circuit ring winner, Jozoff has been a firm believer that the staking model is one to use to your advantage when both playing and being a fan of poker. Consistently in the running for the lead in the Monthly and Annual ‘King of Staking’ leaderboard, we had to catch up with Mike and find out what his strategy is and why he’ll be looking to sell as well as buy this summer.
Becoming a PokerStake Fan
Mike’s attitude to poker has always been the same, and at the age of just 23, it’s stood him in good stead so far – invest wisely and play with passion. He first heard about the PokerStake staking platform upon its release and immediately saw the benefit of it becoming part of his game.
“I knew about it back in the PocketFives days as I used to browse the forums,” he tells us. “I thought the upgrade was great and, despite the nostalgia attached to the P5s name, PokerStake is a much more fitting name.”
Jozoff got involved straight away and like he does in real life with friends, was happy to invest. His approach is streamlined and simple.
“It’s a very simple thought process; do I think the player’s ROI (return on investment) in the field is higher than the MU by more than 5%. For example, if I estimate someone’s ROI to be 20%, and he’s listing 1.12 MU, I’ll buy every time.”
Using his Experience
Mike is already an accomplished live poker player. He transitioned from online to live post-pandemic after turning 21 and immediately started winning, banking $20,000 after chopping a Los Angeles event with Chance Kornuth, before taking down the $1,700 WSOPC Main Event in Los Angeles for $161,500. Selling precisely nothing to that event, it gave his bankroll an instant shot in the arm which he’s not wasted. Mike now regularly plays $25,000 buy-in events. With over $330,000 in poker winnings in live poker tournaments alone, he’ll be selling some action this summer at the World Series of Poker.
“I’ll list some action on PokerStake for the high rollers [at the] WSOP, probably only the 25ks, but also 50ks if I decide to play those. Depositing and withdrawing is super easy; I always used crypto and there was never any hold up in getting money out when I would withdraw.”
Mike’s online prowess – he became a World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) winner too, banking $73,000 for that achievement alone – means he spreads his time across live and online, but his staking stats are up too. Topping the King of Staking leaderboard, his last two investments on the site have yielded a ROI of over 1,900%. Railing one particular player was great fun.
“I think at this point I’m pretty familiar with a lot of players’ games, so I have a good idea of who I think is winning in what fields. I know Michael Soyza has had a very good track record at Triton and he has the experience to perform under pressure,” Mike says. “He’s one of those guys who seems to always get it done. He was selling at face and so it was an easy decision for me in the $100k. It definitely made it more fun to sweat Soyza on the Triton livestream, especially as he was playing the final table!”
Selling Action at the WSOP This Summer
With the 54th annual World Series of Poker coming up in just six weeks, Mike is already looking forward to buying and selling action as he fires for King of Staking again alongside the bigger challenge of trying to win his first bracelet.
“I’ll definitely be buying more action than selling but expect to see a few MTTs of 25k+ for me,” he reveals. “I’ll give myself the option to play 50k+ although I probably would have to be on quite the heater in order to fire those! But for all of those 25k+ tournaments, some action [will] be up on Pokerstake for sure!”
Investing via PokerStake isn’t just easy, but lucrative too, clearly, by Mike’s recent results. The convenience of the site appeals to Mike just as much as the way it has helped him make money.
“It’s nice to have a platform like PokerStake to sell on,” he says. “I’m fortunate enough to have the option to sell to friends who will always buy, but PokerStake can even provide an easier option when you don’t want to deal with the transactional or bookkeeping hassles of selling P2P [peer-to-peer]. And there are no fees!”
With a red-hot summer of WSOP action coming up, Mike Jozoff isn’t content with being the King of Staking on PokerStake… he’s after a WSOP bracelet too.
