Jeremy Ausmus Talks Private Games & Family Life on 888Ride

The latest episode of 888Ride saw David Tuchman take a ride across Las Vegas with one of the best tournament poker players in the world, Jeremy Ausmus.

With over $23 million in tournament earnings, Ausmus is a staple of the poker world, and a player who continues to impress with each passing year.

Jeremy had one of the best years of his life in 2024, making multiple final tables at the WSOP, including a 2^nd place in the $100k High Roller, and winning millions in Triton Poker Series and PGT events.

Ausmus opened up about his personal life and his family, as well as his career and his thoughts about some of the burning questions in the game.

You can check out the full interview with the legend below, or keep reading for a quick glance at the main ideas Jeremy had to share with 888poker.

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How Jeremy Ausmus Became a Poker Legend

Jeremy Ausmus is quite a household name in poker these days, but that wasn’t always the case, as there was a time he too was just coming up in the game.

David remembered those days fondly as he talked to Jeremy, thinking back of 2013, when Ausmus won his first WSOP bracelet in a PLO event at WSOP Europe.

At this time, Jeremy was already a WSOP regular with a few deep runs and near misses, but it is interesting that his first bracelet came in an event he was certainly not an expert in.

Ausmus did confirm that he was not a complete PLO novice at the time, but that NLH was definitely his specialty and that the win was more down to good fortune than skill.

Jeremy also discussed his proficiency in mixed games, which he has become quite good at over the years, stating he takes quite a bit of time to learn new games, which is why he doesn’t like it when players try to introduce new games into the mix.

The two also took a trip down the memory lane to the days when Ausmus was mainly a cash game player and plying his trade in the public cash games at the Bellagio, playing a day schedule and thriving in the games.

Things have changed a lot since then, as many of the high-stakes games have gone private, which was one of the reasons for Ausmus to turn to high-stakes tournaments.

Private Cash Games and Blocked Path for New Players

David and Jeremy touched quite heavily on the phenomenon of private cash games, which have been dominating the cash game landscape in Las Vegas and other places recently.

While the low-stakes games still remain public and open to anyone who wants to play, practically all of the bigger games have become private. These games still run in casinos, but to get a seat, you need an invite.

Ausmus has been vocal about this phenomenon for years and has deemed it unfair, despite being one of the few players who can quite easily get seats in many of the private games.

Jeremy expressed his concerns about private games destroying the game for newcomers, who no longer have a clear way to climb up the ranks and reach high-stakes.

Regardless of how good one is at poker, there will be a time they will need to network and do things outside of poker in order to even get an invite to the games.

At the end of the day, Jeremy said he understands why private games are around, but that he will rather stick to playing the tournaments for the foreseeable future.

How Does Jeremy Ausmus Study Poker?

The question of studying always comes up when the best players in the world are interviewed, as it is simply difficult to understand what more there could be for them to learn.

Yet, Ausmus confirmed that he does study the game quite a bit. This includes looking at solver outputs and learning from them, as well as talking to top players like Jason Koon or Isaac Haxton, and watching final table streams of major poker tournaments.

Jeremy also explained that changes in lifestyle have helped him maintain his status at the top of the game. Becoming a family man has helped him be more focused and stay away from bad influences like parties and alcohol.

For anyone trying to learn the game, the tournament legend emphasized the importance of understanding the baselines and studying the solver outputs, even if you do plan to play a more exploitative style of poker.

What Comes Next for Ausmus?

The future is bright for Jeremy Ausmus, who is just turning 40 years of age, and is already at the very top of his field.

Despite the massive success he has already had in tournament poker, he has no plans of quitting the game anytime soon, and is looking to get into more of the Triton Poker and other super-high-stakes events.

Jeremy did mention the massive swings that playing in such events cause and the problematic nature of fighting those, but also emphasized his love for the game and his desire to keep improving and getting results in these events.

Ausmus and Tuck also touched on the idea of the Poker Hall of Fame, with the player answering that he would definitely be interested in the feat, although he believes it to be a bit biased towards certain types of poker players.

Away from the game, it is clear that Ausmus is living a dream life with a wife and two children in their early teens.

When not playing, Jeremy can be seen at his children’s sports practices and games, or enjoying life with his wife Adria, who seems to be busy renovating the family home and learning to be a handywoman in her spare time.

Article by

Tadas Peckaitis

Tadas played poker professionally for over a decade and founded mypokercoaching.com to offer training resources to players. During the years, he became one of the leading experts in the poker niche and wrote countless guides for mypokercoaching and other leading online publications. Now he concentrates on building an iBetMedia agency and helping other gambling brands reach their targeted customers. You can connect with Tadas via his LinkedIn profile.