| 18+ | Play Responsibly | T&C Apply
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
header-bg

Sam Grafton: “It’s Been a Very Promising Beginning for the GPL”

Sam Grafton, AKA TheSquid, has racked up millions in poker earnings around the world and once again finds himself deep in EPT Barcelona.

Beyond just the poker, however, Grafton has a delightful presence on social media and regularly ranks amongst the most entertaining personalities in the game.

That personality was on full display this spring when Grafton, along with fellow funnyman Griffin Benger, took a turn in the commentary booth for the inaugural season of the Global Poker League.

The pair received a large amount of praise for spicing up each and every match during the marathon Twitch portion of the season.

We caught up with Grafton on Day 4 of the EPT Barcelona with just 50 players remaining out of the initial 1,785.

PokerListings: Obviously this is difficult to say, but do you feel like you could go all the way to the last table this time?

SamGrafton

TheSquid!

Sam Grafton: Yes, of course. I’m a tournament player, and I feel very comfortable in these situations.

I’m comfortable with 16 bigs, and if I go down to ten or twelve, I’m going to know exactly what to do. I think that’s a big advantage.

PL: Who else would you expect at the final table?

SG: There are plenty of good players still in, particularly Jason Koon and Jason Mercier.

You know, I register in tournaments of the remaining field size, and I don’t win them that often, so I know it’s still a long way to go.

PL: We saw your Tweet on Will Kassouf. What is going on there?

SG: There’s no problem or anything. We’ve met before and he’s a funny guy. Obviously, he’s a massive star at the moment. I can’t wait to see the footage of him on ESPN.

We come from the same background, small cash games in London. I was just joking on how much attention’s been on him and he would be the most likely one to be at the camera table.

PL: We really wanted to see him on the GPL. Can you imagine what that would have been like?

bengergrafton

The GPL dream team.

SG: I’m sure it would’ve been chaos.

PL: How would you summarize the first half of the inaugural GPL season?

SG: I really enjoyed the experience and I think we have a great product. I’m not only a player, I’m also a poker fan, and watching these big names battle each other was quite exciting.

I hope we were able to convey that excitement, and there were some really classic matches and funny moments.

All in all, it’s been a very promising beginning for the franchise.

PL: Is your passion also why you took the commentator job in the first place?

sam grafton 1

SG: I’d done some commentating before, but it was a leap into unknown territory nonetheless.

I wanted to stretch myself as an individual, take on a new challenge. I was excited to work with Griffin [Benger], I was excited to stay in Malta for a while, and I’m excited about everything that brings poker to a new, bigger audience.

PL: How can the GPL improve?

SG: I don’t think that’s for me to answer. I don’t know. I have some personal thoughts, but it would be above my agreement to talk about this.

PL: Are you and Griffin going to be back as commentators for the second half of the season?

SG: It’s a little bit up in the air at the moment. I’d love to work with him again, but as he’s just made the November Nine, maybe he wants to spend more time on his game and the preparations for the final of the WSOP.

So, maybe we’ll work together further down the line. Imagine how great it would be if he came back as the world champion.

Sam Grafton 3

PL: One might argue that the GPL isn’t really addressing new players, but rather those who know the game already.

SG: I think if we can get the hardcore poker fans on board first, if we can aggregate them and make them watch, that’s already a great start. Then we can start trying to bring new people in.

Look at the development Darts has gone through. It used to be just a niche thing, but because it has such a great atmosphere and has been presented right, it was made exciting for a broader public.

That’s what we’re aiming for, too.

Related Articles

Unibet Poker Open 2023
Unibet Open Bukarest 2023 – Here we go!

Unibet Open Bukarest alkoi pari tuntia sitten, pahoittelut että blogi pääsee vauhtiin myöhässä. Syytetään Lufthansaa, joka onnistui eilen jättämään matkalaukkuni Frankfurtin kentälle. Nyt on laukku saatu tänne Bukarestin Marriottiin ja…

November 30, 2023 | Juhani Tyriseva
Unibet Poker Open 2023
Suomalaisten chip count, Event 1

Ville Mustonen 65K Aleksi Naski 265K Samuli Hietala 330K Jarno Jokiniemi 85K Max Avela 260K Kai Lehto 105K Feras Abid 130K Topi Palenius 95K Atte Franssila 85K Markku Vihavainen 50K…

September 16, 2023 | Juhani Tyriseva
Unibet Poker Open 2023
Voitonjako on selvillä

Ensimmäisen sormuskisan WSOPC Event 1, voitonjako on nyt selvillä. Turnauksen palkintopotti on 183.360€, ja 47 parasta pääsee rahoille. Turnauksen voittaja kuittaa mukavat 38.510€, ja min cash on 1.100€. Tällä hetkellä…

September 16, 2023 | Juhani Tyriseva
WSOP banner
WSOP Schedule 2020

The 2020 World Series of Poker kicks of in Las Vegas on May 27th. With a time frame of more than 7 weeks and 100 tournaments this will be the…

August 21, 2023 | Arved Klöhn
WSOP banner
Pikku tauon jälkeen jatketaan

Pidettiin pieni tauko, nyt peli jatkuu tasolla bb ante 4K, blindit 2K/4K. 111/573 pelaajaa.

July 25, 2023 | Juhani Tyriseva
melvin shroen live reports from The Festival in Nottingham 2023
PokerListings set to do Live Reporting from The Festival Series in Nottingham (13-19 February 2023) 

Melvin Schroen - Live Reporter For the first time in the history of The Festival Series, an event series is being held at the Dusk Till Dawn Pokerclub in Nottingham.…

March 22, 2023 | Melvin Schroen
PokerListings Awards 2022
PokerListings Operator Awards – Winners 2022

Since 2020, we have been awarding the best poker operators and innovators in the poker business with our PokerListings Operator Awards. Every year the operators are nominated and awarded in…

January 11, 2023 | Bjorne Lindberg
Oliver Hutchins Wins the Trophy in the €500K GTD PPC Malta Main Event (€71,000)

Oliver Hutchins Wins 2022 PPC Malta Main Event United Kingdom's Oliver Hutchins won the trophy in the €500,000 guaranteed PPC Malta €550 Main Event for €71,000 after a back and…

April 7, 2022 | Jason Glatzer
All Poker News

Comment on that

Your message is awaiting approval