TRIFECTA: Michigan Player Scores Three PokerStars SCOOP Titles in Single Day
It’s quite a feat to make a few final tables in the same month. But for a player to grab three wins in the same day – that’s impressive. Michigan’s Jason Welsch did just that in March, scooping up three PokerStars titles in the same day.
Welsch’s run wasn’t over, after a family vacation he came back and grabbed some more cash.
“I ended up going to Florida for a week but with a second place in another low event when I got back,” he says. “I was able to hang on to take the low leaderboard. Snuck into the top 10 for the medium as well.”
This online grinder recently spoke with USPoker about his nice run at the tables and life in poker.
Fantasy football leads to an all-star day in PokerStars MISCOOP
A resident of Gowen, Michigan, Welsch is a regular player in the state’s online poker market. It was actually a good run in fantasy football that allowed him to get back into the poker world.
“I only started playing again recently after putting my fantasy football winnings on PokerStars to play around a bit,” Welsch says. “After being away for so long from No Limit Hold’em, it’s been fun learning how the game has changed since I last played”
That fantasy cash allowed Welsch to freeroll into over $5,300 in winnings in the recent PokerStars Michigan Spring Championship of Online Poker (MISCOOP) events.
Not all luck
Welsch didn’t just come to three victories by dumb luck. The 34-year-old has put in some time studying the game over the past 15 years.
“I started playing poker when I was in high school with buddies,” he says. “A couple of my close friends were making good money playing poker back in the day so I joined them from time to time to learn the game.
“Eventually I landed on six-max cash games and I studied the game through CardRunners”
Welsch also made a deep run and secured a nice five-figure score in Las Vegas several years ago. The win involved taking the shot of a lifetime.
“I was at the final table of a Venetian event one time, 2010 I believe, and there were four of us left,” he says. “One guy had like triple the chips of the rest of us combined. He offered to chop it four ways for $28,000 each, but his stipulation was that we had to have a Jägerbomb with him, so we all agreed!”
Raising the stakes
Welsch has now taken his love of sports and poker and combined them into something he’s passionate about.
“After the classic shutdown of online poker in 2011, I played more heads-up cash and open-face Chinese poker and transitioned into working in the sports apparel industry,” he says. “I most recently started my own brand called RaizedUp with a partner.”
The company produces custom uniforms and clothing. Welsch hopes to see the company grow in the coming years and has more plans for RaizedUp.
“We also work in the event space,” he says, “and are working on getting into fundraising through events.”
Twitching for 2022
Like many players, Welsch learned more about the game by watching Twitch streamers. He likes when hosts explain their thought process and break down hands. This has kept him sharp for his own online play.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be successful while learning, which is always a plus,” he says.
Going forward, Welsch plans more of his own online streaming. He started his Twitch channel last year, playing mostly smaller tournaments.
So far, he’s just having some fun, but it’s nice to be able to play legal online poker on his channel.
“While streaming, I talk through my plays and that actually helps me,” he says. “I think it, speak it, and hear it instead of just thinking it and making the play.
“In most tournaments, you are going to feel the pain of losing. To have people there watching you navigate around that pain is fun, and also makes the victories even sweeter.”
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