For the last several months, the other APT pros and I haven’t just been “planning” the Champion Maker seminar—we’ve been obsessing over it. I wanted to make sure every detail was first class – right down to the lanyards and name badges. Kenna told me he spent over 100 hours writing and rehearsing his presentations. Alex and Bryan pushed each other to bring their absolute “A-games,” because we knew people were trusting us with their time and their bankrolls.
The seminar was completely sold out, with every single seat accounted for. The buzz was so infectious that we actually had to turn away dozens of bystanders from the poker room who saw the excitement and tried to buy their way in on the spot. We even received a lot of feedback from the BestBet staff saying how much positive energy it brought to the poker room.
For those of you who were there, thank you for making the months of hard work worth it. For those who missed it, here is a look at what went down at the Champion Maker Seminar during those two intense days.
Knowledge from the Trenches: The Lectures
The classroom sessions were the backbone of the weekend. Our four Champion Maker instructors broke down the game from four completely different—yet complementary—angles. While classroom time might sound dreary, these sessions proved to be dynamic and engaging.
I was humbled by the positive feedback I got about my session on fighting back against aggressive “bullies” at the table. To illustrate the math of standing your ground, I shared some (admittedly cutthroat) stories of the Blay family card games I grew up with. It turns out that surviving a kitchen-table game with my relatives was the perfect training ground for me.
Bryan Paris brought the “big guns” with his solver-focused presentations. Bryan has a gift for making the science feel elegantly simple. He showed us that once you understand the underlying patterns of the cards, the “correct” move starts to become second nature.
In his signature style, Alex Fitzgerald took the room through a series of eye-opening hand quizzes. He focused specifically on the common leaks found in low-stakes games, and gave everyone a playbook on exactly how to punish players with those leaks.
For me, perhaps the most moving moment of the entire seminar was Kenna James’ lecture on the Mental Game. Kenna spoke with brutal honesty about his own personal failures and the dark times he faced in his career. It was a powerful reminder that we all struggle with tilt and ego, and that true champions are built by how they learn from their mistakes.
The “Hand Lab” Highlights
Speaking of Kenna, one of the most talked-about segments of the Champion Maker weekend was the “Hand Lab” session he led. The format was simple but eye-opening: a hand would be played out normally, and then the “curtain” was pulled back. With cards turned face-up, Kenna analyzed every decision point. Seeing the logic (or lack thereof) behind a dubious play compared to Kenna’s strategic pivot provided those “lightbulb moments” that you just can’t get from a book.
The Champion Maker Saturday Night Showdown
Saturday night featured a private tournament on the BestBet Live Stream, and the amateurs certainly came to play. The “pros” had a rough night at the office! I was the first to hit the rail, giving up my bounty early, and the rest of the pro team followed shortly after. Not a single professional made the final table—it was a total amateur takeover.
A huge congratulations to Lee from Washington, DC, who played a masterful game to take home the first-place prize of over $2,000!
Missed Out? Don’t Worry.
My favorite thing that happened all weekend: that would have to be Sunday night, when I heard the attendees say to me over and over again, “Steve, this was amazing…when is the next one?” No one wanted it to be over.
Here’s the secret ending – we set out to create the “best poker weekend ever” for the participants, but actually we (the pros) ending up having our best poker weekend ever in the process.
I’m thrilled to announce that the Champion Maker Seminar will definitely be back next year!
Want to read more from APT Founder Steve Blay and our other pros? Go to our blog and try Alex Fitzgerald’s article about the 8 Cash Game Mistakes That Cost You Money.
