Mallory Klaus grew up playing cards. Her grandparents would bring over rolls of coins and everyone would battle it out family style around the kitchen table.
At the age of 15, Klaus lost her mother after a 10-year fight with cancer, and her life changed immediately from a family that always had something to pray about, doctors’ appointments, and a structured home life – to a quiet lull of emptiness.
Klaus’ father started taking her to his Friday poker nights in Norman, Oklahoma. Her dad would buy her into the friendly $20 tournaments, and they would split the winnings. When Klaus turned 21, she played with her dad in her first live poker tournament at a nearby casino. Although she didn’t win anything, she got to talk poker with her father on the drive home, and that was as good as any trophy.
After college, she started a career in orthodontics and dentistry, got married, had a son, divorced, and re-evaluated her life trajectory as a single-income parent. She eventually founded a poker league centered around teaching people of all skill levels the basics of tournament poker. Poker RX originated in 2019, and was gaining traction before COVID hit and shut everything down.
She began to deal poker in local home games and fell into the underground poker scene. After the pandemic, she followed a friend down to Dallas, where he was dealing. She auditioned for a dealing position at Texas Card House at 2 pm and by 9 pm, she was sitting down for her first shift. It wasn’t too long before she was dealing the TCHLive cash game streams.
The RunGood Poker ambassador has recently taken on a new role within Texas Card House, while also looking to expand her mark on the poker circuit.
Card Player caught up with Klaus to talk about her recent win on the Trailblazer Poker Tour, where she banked $211,745.
Event: Trailblazer Poker Tour – Dallas
Buy-In: $800
Entrants: 1,943
Prize Pool: $1,360,100
First-Place Prize: $211,745
Craig Tapscott: How did you prepare for this final table?
Mallory Klaus: I had multiple reviews of some short-stack strategies the day of the final table and had a lot of conversations with friends and mentors. They [reinforced] that laddering up was the most important thing as a shorty and to pay attention to the ICM.
Alvin Lau (@alvinteachespoker) gave me a run-through of final table strategy, especially navigating the short stack. Alvin is a dear friend from his Dallas days playing at Texas Card House. He took me on as a student a few years ago, and my game has improved. But my focus has been primarily on cash game strategy.
CT: Set this final table up for us.
MK: I came into the final table as the short stack. There were a lot of medium stacks that were going to play tighter because they wanted to let the shorties (me) bust.
I didn’t want to be the first one out. There was a lot of folding and discipline from the start. I was dealt some hands I would blast my chips off with in cash games, but I was able to tap the brakes. I didn’t want to lose any chips with marginal holdings.
CT: What else made this final table special for you?
MK: The entire scene – I work there, all my friends and coworkers are there, and my rail was deep and unmatched. One of the most amazing things about this final table was that it was recorded on livestream. That also allowed so many special people from afar in my life to be a part of it. I was also able to go back and review and dissect mistakes and use that as a tool to improve my game.
I encountered some questionable spots and plays during the final table. I came in short-stacked at 24 big blinds and was most certainly the least qualified tournament player at the table. There were some excellent players at this final table, like Craig Varnell, Jared Ward, Will Pengally, and Zak Baron. We played for nearly four hours before the first person busted, and I finally laddered.
One tricky spot in particular was against Craig Varnell, directly to my right. He is definitely a tournament crusher.
Stacks: Mallory Klaus – 5,500,000 (11 BB)
Craig Varnell – 9,000,000 (18 BB)
Blinds: 250,000-500,000 with a 500,000 big blind ante
Players: 9
MK: I found myself in the big blind as the shortest stack nine-handed. I knew that players, specifically Craig, would be putting pressure on me in the big blind.
I had been playing conservatively, and he knew I was overfolding. Craig even told me how his rail buddies told him the hands I had been folding.
I had determined my calling range to stack off to him before I even looked at my hand. I knew what he would do and was prepared for it.
Varnell raised all in from the small blind with 4
4
. Klaus called all in with J 10 from the big blind.
MK: We snapped off his raise and had a lovely flip happening.
Flop: 9 7 5
CT: Pretty great flop for your hand.
MK: Definitely. I had the flush draw, two overs still and a gut shot. Gorgeous set up to bink.
Turn: 2
RIiver: 8
Klaus won the pot of 10,600,000.
MK: I busted out laughing at my double up because it was an ongoing joke that no one would bust. The worst thing they could do was give me more chips, as they would soon enough find out.
CT: Let’s jump into heads-up play.
MK: The heads-up match took over two hours, playing for a difference of more than $66,000. I was up against Zak Baron, and he and I are buddies. He’s a fun player, more fun when tilted (laughs), but he’s actually a consistent crusher in tournaments.
Stacks: Mallory Klaus – 51,200,000 (25 BB) Zak Baron – 53,400,000 (26 BB)
Blinds: 1,000,000,000-2,000,000 with a 2,000,000 big blind ante
Players: 2
Baron raised to 5,500,000 from the button. Klaus called from the big blind holding J 10.
MK: Luckily, I’ve played cash with Zak before, so I’m sure that knowledge had some value. I was buzzing with all the energy behind me, and I couldn’t imagine a better heads-up opponent for this experience. But he was mixing up his betting sizes too much; it didn’t make sense to me other than to avoid those spots with him.
Flop: 9 8 7
Both players checked.
Turn: A
Klaus checked.
Baron bet 5,000,000, and Klaus raised to 20,000,000. Baron tanked and folded A 8.
Klaus won the pot of 19,000,000.
MK: How he could find a fold heads-up with two pair is beyond me, but he made an exceptional laydown.
CT: Looking back at that hand, do you wish you slow-played it more instead of putting in the check-raise? What range of hands did you put him on after he bet the turn?
MK: It was for sure a misclick at that moment. I didn’t realize 20,000,000 was that many actual chips, considering the stack-to-pot ratio.
I don’t think my sizing was terrible, but do we donk/lead river, or do we still check the river and possibly get no value, or do we check-raise the turn to get value from a weaker opponent calling off with a worse hand? Tough to say.
[Later, he jammed his last six big blinds] with Q-7 offsuit and I called with J-9. A jack fell on the turn, and the rail exploded. It was an unbelievable moment.CT: What advice do you have for women dipping their toes into tournaments? Where should they look for a deeper understanding of tournament play?
MK: My best advice is first to learn how to lose. Learn how to embrace the downswings and learn how to recover mentally. You cannot be a good player until you know how to lose with a smile and grace. Learning how to lose made me a better and more balanced player. I am much better at navigating those emotions away from and at the tables. I find it astonishing how well I can handle adversity on and off the felt.
For cash players wanting to get into tournaments – surround yourself with crushers, and it’ll eventually rub off. Do what winning players are doing – there is so much helpful content to glean.
CT: How has the growth of women in the game in the card houses in Texas been over the last few years?
MK: My ladies! I’ve always believed that a lady at the table brings so much value to the game. The ladies in Texas are spicy and fearless! I am super proud to be amongst an amazing tribe of women in the poker industry – too many besties to list.
I hope that seeing more and more women navigate and conquer these spots will encourage more and more women to find the courage to take a shot.
CT: What do you think, if anything, is holding back more women from getting into poker as a recreational hobby or a more serious pursuit?
MK: I don’t feel women are being held back in poker. It could just be the inclusive environment I’m in, but in Texas alone, I see some of the best aggro ladies in the game. Even on livestreams, I see ladies left and right, which brings me so much joy. So, it’s hard to imagine anything holding ladies back other than finding that courage.
I have a huge passion for the game. I am very immersed in it. Outside of family stuff, poker is my life.
Find Mallory Klaus on Twitter/X @PokerMallory. ♠
*Photos – Run Good Poker Series – Matthew Berglund and Austin Currington