When PokerStars announced the giveaway of a Platinum Pass to a poker media person and asked for nominations via Twitter, the support rolled in for the man behind one of the most helpful Twitter accounts in poker. Kevin Mathers, or “KevMath” as he’s known in the poker world, has become the go-to source for players in search of event details, random poker facts, and the like.
Kevmath is no ordinary mortal. His prompt answers to tournament questions seemingly around the clock prove this. While the Twitter guru has been spotted from time to time playing at the tables, Mathers lives his life mostly on the sidelines, snapping photos undetected and constructing informative and up-to-date tweets on the events that the poker world cares about the most.
I’d say the PSPC qualifies as one of those.
After missing out on the poker media Platinum Pass the first time around, Mathers was bummed but happy for fellow media grinder Aleeyah Jadavji. Less than two weeks later, Mathers was spending Christmas Day at his mom’s house and couldn’t believe what he found under the Twitter tree: a Platinum Pass with his name on it.
What about KevMath?
In their last-minute awarding of Platinum Passes, PokerStars decided that Kevmath should not miss the biggest $25,000 buy-in event in the history of the game. Just like that, he was getting ready to ship out to the Bahamas the following week. Without much time to prepare, Mathers told PokerNews he wasn't going to try to overthink it.
“I’m just going to play my game," Mathers said. "If I thought too much, I would have donked off my stack and I would have felt really dumb. My main goal is to get the min-cash at $25K; Anything after that is going to be great.”
"People are rooting for me and it’s really cool."
Just taking it one day at a time, Mathers had 85,000 from the 60,000 starting stack at the final break of Day 1 and said he would be happy to bag that amount coming back to blinds of 600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante. He was already doing some calculations, figuring on around 180 players to be in the money, setting his sights on that target.
“I definitely got a bit of a journey ahead of me.”
With some tough players at his table on Day 1 in Christoph Vogelsang and Niall Farrell, Mathers was focused on hanging in there for the final two hours of the day. He was successful, putting 75,900 in the bag at the end of the day to return with a healthy stack for Day 2 - and he was enjoying every minute of it.
“It’s pretty awesome," Mathers said of the support he had been getting. "I’m doing my updates, getting all the hearts and everything. People are rooting for me and it’s really cool. So I’m just hoping to ride that wave, to the min-cash and beyond, that’s all I’m hoping for.”
Team Poker Media Bands Together
The group of five finalists in the Poker Media Platinum Pass decided before the pass winner was announced that whoever won, would give each of the other four a 2.5% freeroll. Jadavji was awarded that pass and that meant that Lance Bradley, Nick Jones, Robbie Strazynski, and Mathers had 2.5% of Jadavji’s action in the PSPC. When the poker gods smiled down on Kevmath on Christmas Day, he decided to extend the previous freeroll agreement to the same fellow media finalists.
“Since I won a pass myself, I would have felt bad if I didn’t offer that same free 2.5% to those players.”
His appreciation and excitement for the chance to play in the PSPC is apparent, and not even playing in a $25K tournament can keep him from providing constant twitter updates for onlookers.
While most players bag at the end of a long day and head for a late dinner and some rest, Mathers’ work isn't done. After bagging on Day 1, he posted all the end-of-day tournament information and even offered to provide specific table draws for individual players looking for them. The Twitter guru confirmed to PokerNews that not even playing in the biggest tournament of his life could keep him from updating the people.
"I can't stop tweeting; it's in my blood. I can't not do it. It's my duty. It's what got me here. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Platinum Pass so I gotta keep doing that."
Today, KevMath has a new table to battle as he rides the wave to the money with the Twitter world looking on.
You can (and should) follow Mathers on Twitter @Kevmath for all the poker updates.
Tags:
Aleeyah JadavjiKevin Mathers
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and Joey Weissman checked over to Toby Lewis, who bet 2,500 and was called.
turn, Weissman checked and called a second bet worth 6,000 to see the 
on the river. Both players opted to check and Weissman was first to show, revealing 
for a pair and busted gutshot. Lewis had that beat with 
for a pair of eights and claimed the pot.
and Talbot checked to Lamphere who continued for 2,500. Talbot check-raised to 7,000 and Lamphere made the call.
and Talbot checked again. Lamphere tossed in a bet of 7,500 and Talbot just called this time. The river was the 
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flop. The turn was the 
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