DraftKings Software Engineer Asad Abdullah Enters The WSOP For The First Time Ever
The 50th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) kicks off today with $500 buy-in Event #1: Casino Employees Event. The tournament is open to those who either work in casinos or in the gaming industry, and thanks to their sportsbook in New Jersey, DraftKings personnel are permitted to play.
They’ll be well represented in their first year of eligibility as a team of six players traveled from the East Coast to compete for the summer’s first bracelet. PokerNews caught up with each DraftKings employee – one of which is already a WSOP bracelet winner – talk about the opening event of the 2019 WSOP.
Asad Abdullah
Age: 25
DraftKings Position: Software Engineer
Having worked at DraftKings for a little under a year and a half, the Casino Employees event will be Asad Abdullah’s first-ever WSOP tournament.
“I’m pretty excited to play in the Casino Employee event,” said Abdullah, who graduated from California State University Northridge with a bachelors in Computer Science. “I do frequently play $1-$2 NLHE and occasionally $2-$5 NLHE, mostly at Chaser’s Poker Room in New Hampshire and Twin River Casino in Rhode Island. I will also venture a little further out and play at Foxwoods on occasion. I also plan on spending a good amount of time at the Encore in Boston once it opens up.”
According to Abdullah, who enjoys both board and video games, he first learned poker with some childhood friends.
“We didn’t really play for money, just tried to see who could build up the biggest stack,” he explained. “I started actually learning and understanding poker strategy about a year ago … I read a bunch of books, joined some training sites and really started to understand poker from a strategic point of view, all while discussing what I’d learnt with [the DraftKings team].”
So aside from himself, which DraftKings team member does he expect to last the longest?
“This is a tough question. I think I’d have to go with Steve Rose,” he said. “He is a very solid player and has the patience and discipline to make a deep run in this event.”
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
19,000 | -6,000 |