As the poker landscape continues to evolve, the game is caught in a tug-of-war between tradition and innovation. The rise of solver-based strategies and Game Theory Optimal (GTO) play has reshaped how professionals approach the game, particularly online.
New formats, such as mystery bounties, are adding unpredictability to tournament structures, fueling debates between purists and progressives. Meanwhile, the poker world is becoming more fragmented, regulated in pockets, corporate in approach, and yet still wild depending on where you play. From Will Kassouf’s controversial exit at the 2025 WSOP to the unstoppable rise of Asian talent especially from Japan and China, poker is transforming on multiple fronts.
Poker expert discusses regulation, risk, and rising stars
In an exclusive interview with SiGMA News, Christin Maschmann, a poker industry expert and content creator, shares her views on the game’s ongoing changes. She discusses the clash between instinctive play and GTO, the future of online poker, Asia’s rapid growth, and the importance of consistent global rules for the poker industry.
SiGMA News: We’ve seen a big push towards solver-based play in recent years. Is this killing creativity at the tables, or is it just the evolution of the game?
Poker expert, Christin Maschmann: This is just the evolution of the game. But again, as the Mike Mizrachi example showed us, there’s more to it. Even if you’re moving towards solver-based play, GTO, and all that, that’s fine—but you’ll never succeed at live tables if you don’t combine that with real, human-based skills. That’s now being proven, and I think it’s very important.
Many players around the world have been discouraged from continuing their poker journey because they felt they had no chance without studying GTO. This shift is a great way to bring those people back and say, “Hey, you don’t need to study solvers and GTO to be successful.” It is an evolution of the game but it’s not the end of it. Human elements are still essential, especially in live poker. I think we’ll see more of a blend going forward.
SiGMA News: There’s been chatter about new formats like short deck and mystery bounties becoming more mainstream. Are these gimmicks or genuine long-term formats?
Maschmann: Mystery bounty is here to stay. That’s something that’s becoming more popular because it’s something where players have a chance to win something. Players can win something without making the money. This is always a nice incentive for people to play, as it means they don’t have to be in the top 15% of the tournament to still come out with a little win. I think there’s going to be more variations to mystery bounties, and this is going to be one of the dominant formats because—and that’s the second thing—it’s adding a little bit of randomness to it, a little bit of a “gambly” thing that takes a little bit of the edge away from the pros.
Patrick Leonard had a considerable discussion about mystery bounties being the worst thing for poker. It’s the pros who don’t like this. It has a “gambly” aspect, just like Spin & Go, and that’s the kind of thing that is not good for the bottom line of the straightforward grinders. So, it will become increasingly prominent because it’s beneficial for recreational players but detrimental to professional players, and it’s just fun.
Short deck, on the other hand, is also like a more “gambly” format. It’s more glamorous because you can play more hands, and this originated in Asia. Mainly out of China, and Chinese people like to gamble a little more. We often find this being played in Asian games, and players want to play more hands, aiming to be more aggressive and more loose. I don’t see this being a worldwide phenomenon that is here to stay, because it had its moment and didn’t persist. This is likely to remain confined to the pocket of Asia, but it is not necessarily going to become an international phenomenon like mystery bounties.
SiGMA: Michael Mizrachi’s recent victory reminded everyone of his instinct-driven, high-pressure style. Do you think there’s still space at the top for players who don’t strictly follow GTO?
Maschmann: Yes, all the GTO players of course it’s great, you are playing online, this is always going to favour them but live there is this field player instinct-driven style that is very important and that’s never going to go away because in live poker that will always exist.
SiGMA News: There’s growing talk about poker becoming “too corporate” and overly regulated, especially after the Will Kassouf controversy at the 2025 WSOP. Do you think all this is detracting from the character of live events?
Maschmann: No, it needs to become more corporate, in the sense that we need stricter overall rules in poker in general. However, because we have multiple competing companies, it’s very difficult to implement these kinds of rules. I know that the TDA is trying a lot of things to streamline live events globally, but there are still decisions being made where you’re just thinking, “How are experienced people like this making decisions like that?”
So, what the TDA is doing should be even more incorporated and corporate than it is right now, because there are no overall rules for the world. And in a case like Will Kassouf, the WSOP must make decisions, it’s their house rules, they can do what they want. The problem is that they are probably thinking too much about the repercussions, so they are not taking actions that they might have to take. The same applies to Phil Hellmuth and others.
So, it’s never going to be too corporate, and I think each company needs to be stricter in how they handle certain things and not think too much about what the public thinks – because they might lose face in the end if they’re not taking a firm stance. And in the end, we always have to pay attention to what’s best for new players here.
SiGMA News: Do you think we’ll see an Asian-based player or tour become as dominant globally as the EPT or WSOP?
Maschmann: Yes, because Asia is just so booming right now—especially Japan. Many influential players are expected to emerge from Asia. This is the strongest market, if you want to call it that, because it’s so widespread. There will be good players, especially when it comes to GTO play. There will be a lot of interesting things happening, and I hope that we will have an Asian version of Michael Mizrachi, so people with knowledge, poker strength, and the right character, not just math wizards.
SiGMA News: Which rising poker player has caught your attention recently, and why?
Maschmann: Shiina Okamoto, the woman who just won the ladies’ event for the second consecutive time and had a second place finish the year before. Like what she accomplished: one year coming second, then winning it, and then back-to-back winning it again—it’s just, yeah, basically we forgot about it because of what The Grinder did. But she’s absolutely a rising star. Unfortunately, she doesn’t speak a lot of English, which might put a slight damper on her international career. But for Japan and Asia, this is huge.
SiGMA News: If you could make one big change in the poker world over the next two years, what would it be?
Maschmann: I think if I could do anything, right, I would have an overall governing body for the poker industry that looks after bad actors, that makes sure that licenses are being honoured, that is doing lobbying where necessary to get licenses in different kinds of jurisdictions, and so on. So, I think if I could change one thing, it would be this—having one big governing body for the poker industry. Like being more of an industry that works together instead of having all these little pockets of different corporations that are competing and rather try to work together to make poker bigger and better. This is very out there and impossible, but yeah, if I could change one thing, that would be it.
SiGMA News: Where do you think the future of poker lies more, in live settings or the online space?
Maschmann: I think online poker is going to and already is facing massive problems because of the threat of AI. It is simply impossible, as it has been for years, to detect all bots and all the ways of cheating, ghosting and collusion. And all the poker sites can say, “yes, we’re finding bots and cheaters and we’re banning them,” but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. This is going to be so much bigger and worse along the line. There was a moment about ten years ago, when the poker industry had the chance to buy the leading AI technology in this area to at least understand, try to combat and better detect this kind of threat, but they didn’t. Now, the train has left the station and it’s too late to prevent it. All we can do as an industry is to put patches on the issues.
As I mentioned earlier, all the games will need to become more random to more and more eliminate the skill factor, so that the bots can’t solve them as effectively. So, online poker is not going to be the same kind of poker in the future; live poker will always be live poker. Even if there are some cheating devices and the like, this will still be the pure form of poker. That is not going away, and we will play it in upcoming centuries just as we did for the past centuries in one way or another.
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