Phenom Poker Interview Series: Heads Up With Ben Heath

Heads Up is an interview series by Phenom Poker’s Michael Dunlap, where he sits down with a new guest each week, talking everything poker.

Our fourth interview of the series features England's Ben Heath, winner of just over $31 million lifetime (via Hendon Mob), placing him second on England's All-Time Money List and No. 25 Worldwide.

The Poker Lifestyle

Michael Dunlap: Just this year you’ve been in the Bahamas, Monte Carlo, Cyprus and Las Vegas, just to name a few. Can you run us through a typical tournament stop and all of the preparation you have to go through just to get to the table?

Ben Heath: The tournament stops are very intense these days, not much time off, tough games and usually around 11 days in a row. A lot of the poker related prep is just a continuous effort to study in-between the trips, then as it gets closer I usually spend a few days before each trip where I start to adjust my sleep to the timezone I’ll be playing in and resting so I feel good going into the games. Once there it’s just all poker, I wake up and have breakfast and tea, then usually study hands from the day before, then the gym if I can for a light workout before playing, then play to somewhere between 10pm-1am, eating at the table mostly, then a little study/review before bed, then sleep and repeat the next day.

A New Mentality

Michael Dunlap: An old school mentality is to never coach up your opponents, as educated opponents are harder to beat. Why do you think the industry has shifted to providing so much help to players, such as what you do at GTO Lab?

Ben Heath: I think the industry has grown so much over the years, there are so many different games and stakes, most often you’re not actually coaching players you play against so it’s not coaching the competition in that sense. I think people have different reasons for coaching, personally I really enjoy it and also think it helps me with my own game when I’m in-between stops, if you work with people you like who are good at poker it can be a great experience for people who love the game and want to spend a lot of time in/around poker.

Changing Attitudes Towards Animals

Michael Dunlap: You’re a big animal lover (and thank you for that), how do you use (or plan to use) your platform to help and are there any causes you’re more passionate about than others?

Ben Heath: I’m a big animal lover yes, actually it’s one of my strong reasons to continue playing so much, to be able to donate to causes I believe in. I think where we’ve ended up with our current system of farming animals is a huge failure on our part and needs a lot of changes, being a part of that change is very important to me. I think the charity AnimalEquality are doing amazing work in that area.

Five Quick Questions

Michael Dunlap: What is your favorite poker game/variant?

Ben Heath: My favourite game is NLH and pretty much all I play, although I’ve been playing some PLO on Phenom recently and really enjoying it.  

Michael Dunlap: Where is your favorite place to play poker?

Ben Heath: My favourite place to play is Montenegro, it’s such a great part of the world, the Maestral resort is amazing and there’s such good activities for when I’m not playing.

Michael Dunlap: What is your most memorable poker moment?

Ben Heath: I think my most memorable moment was probably my 2nd place finish in the Aussie Millions main event, those big fields are really something else and going so far in a main like that is such a great experience. I always love playing in Melbourne win or lose, so to have that result there was amazing.

Michael Dunlap: Who is on your Mount Rushmore of poker players?

Ben Heath: My Mount Rushmore would be Ivey, Timofey, Ike, Negreanu

Michael Dunlap: What’s your biggest poker pet peeve?

Ben Heath: I’d say my biggest pet peeve is players blaming dealers when they lose. I think it’s absolutely terrible, and also one of the biggest giveaways that you don’t understand how poker works.

Note: Commentary has been edited for clarity. Follow Michael Dunlap (@DunlapSports) and Ben Heath (@benheath48) on X.