The experience of playing at the World Series of Poker can vary greatly depending on what event you’re playing.
Most tournaments are serious business, but no event at the WSOP is more fun than the Tag Team. Team costumes and lively rails have been the staple over the years, but players still have a shot at a bracelet (each), and it’s always interesting to see with whom the the biggest names in poker end up tagging.
Earlier today, we surveyed the tag team area in the Paris Ballroom to find five pairs that stood out:
Dan Lowery and Annette Obrestad
Annette ObrestadOne of the most interesting and accomplished teams this year, both Daniel Lowery and Annette Obrestad have enjoyed plenty of success in their respective poker careers.
Lowery has been crushing the WSOP Circuit for years and is currently tied for second in all-time WSOP Circuit Ring wins with 20, trailing only Maurice Hawkins.
Obrestad is best known for her historic win in the inaugural 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event. The Norwegian pro has been a dominant force in the poker world since then, both online under her screen name 'Annette_15,' and in major live events such as the European Poker Tour and the Aussie Millions.
Obrestad retired from poker in the 2010s before returning to the game earlier this year.
So how did this team come together? We spoke to Lowery earlier today, who described striking up a friendship with Obrestad earlier in the year after meeting through a mutual friend.
“We became fast friends earlier in the year. She was considering coming back out of retirement, and I feel like I prodded her a little bit and helped that along."
They talked a lot of poker.
"As things materialized with her, getting to go to Prague and on to Panama, we talked a lot more hand histories. (I was) just trying to help her get back into the groove of things, and catch her up on some of the ebb and flow of how poker has evolved over the last eight or nine years since she’s been out of poker.”
Daniel Lowery is the perfect mentor. “As we started discussing what we’re gonna do this summer, she asked me if I wanted to be her tag team partner. I said, 'Sure, that’d be awesome.' I made a good friend of mine mad by telling her that I was gonna bail on her and go with Annette, but I think it’s gonna be good for us considering what we’ve been going through the last six or seven months.”
Jason Koon and 'Suga' Sean O’Malley
The Koon/O'Malley pairing had a combined body fat percentage of zero. What does Jason Koon, one of the all-time poker greats, have in common with UFC fighter and former bantamweight champion 'Suga' Sean O’Malley?
The two played a series of nosebleed cash games together on Season 3 of the PokerStars Big Game on Tour, where Koon walked away with nearly $100,000 in profit.
Mike Matusow and Nick Hellmuth
Nick Hellmuth, the 23-year-old youngest son of 17- time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, is teaming up with Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow.
A four-time bracelet winner in his own right, Matusow also hopped into the $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw Championship today, with Nick holding down the fort in the tag team for much of the first day.
These two were born to be roommates. Dad Hellmuth recently caused a stir among other poker pros on Twitter after betting $14,000 on his older son, Phil Hellmuth III, against Shaun Deeb, with Deeb being on the hook for whatever the younger Phil cashes for in the Main Event.
The bet came after a heated online discussion about his son charging a 1.4 markup for the Main Event despite limited experience, with the older Phil explaining that it was his idea for his son to sell at that price.
Hellmuth doubled down days later, announcing that he had convinced his younger son Nick to also sell for the Main Event at 1.4 and placing the same $14,000 bet against Deeb that he had with his other son.
Alan Keating and Cody Daniels
Cody Daniels and Alan Keating paired up for a run at the bracelet(s). Alan Keating and Cody Daniels have re-formed their tag team from last year's event, where they finished 14th out of 1,373 teams. Keating only plays a handful of tournaments each year and is more well-known for his performance on high-stakes cash streams such as Hustler Casino Live.
Daniels caught the attention of the poker world after a deep run in the 2023 WSOP Main Event while battling a terminal illness.
Terrance Reid and Jon Kyte
Jon Kyte and TJ Reid will fight you. It would be a bit of an understatement to say that WSOP US Circuit Manager TJ Reid has been on a sun-run this past year. This past December, before taking his new role with the WSOP, Reid earned the biggest score of his career with a fourth-place finish in the WSOP Paradise $25,000 Super Main Event for $3,000,000.
Reid spoke with PokerOrg earlier this year about his plans for playing his biggest WSOP schedule yet, with a bigger emphasis on mixed games and high buy-ins than ever before.
Reid's partner, Jon Kyte, is an incredibly accomplished player in his own right, with just under $4,000,000 in live cashes. His accolades include runner-up finish in an EPT Main Event, multiple WSOP final tables, and a cash in last year's $50,000 Poker Player's Championship.
Images courtesy of World Series of Poker.
