Ep 16 - Josh McSwiney - Spinning up his last dollar, High Rake, Bad Games, Why & How To Fix it! Josh McSwiney's Story APL Million Wrap 2025 APL Million Pros & Cons Australian Gambling Regulation Unregulated Online Poker in Australia Pokies/Slot Machines Australia Josh and Co-Hosts Fire Up and Debate: - Rake - Tournament Structures & Solutions - Tournament Bubbles & Solutions Jackstar Structure & Rake The Star & Crown Rake Operator Transparency Upcoming Events Hosted by Australian Poker Schedule founder Craig Abernethy. Co-host - Catherine Young Co-host - Professional live and online poker player Troy Mclean. The content and topics we discuss in this episode are all on the pulse! Special Thanks Joshua McSwiney Troy McLean Catherine Young Edited & Produced by Craig Abernethy craigabernethy.com.au In Memory Haydn Josling (17 February 1991 - 8 July 2025) Australian Poker Schedule https://australianpokerschedule.com.au Project Sun Rub @projectsunrun on Instagram www.projectsunrun.com Chapters 0:00 - Intro 5:46 - Meet Josh McSwiney, his poker story, getting into poker, the lows, the highs, spin-ups and everything in between 19:34 - $15M APL Million Series Wrap - The big winners 23:20 - 2025 APL Million Pros & Cons 30:09 - Australian Gambling Regulation 31:35 - Pokies/Slot Machines Australia 33:39 - Australian Laws & Online Poker Ban/Tobacco Taxes creating other issues 36:15 - Unregulated Online Poker in Australia 38:02 - Unbeatable Poker Tournaments due to Rake and Structures 40:14 - Examples of Negative EV unbeatable tournaments and the data behind them. 42:29 - Best game under $200 in Australia, $180 Self-Dealt APL Million Classic 43:23 - Pushing back with examples of why rake is higher in Australia 44:52 - Rising Costs that players have to contend with 46:20 - Required Bankroll to play poker to reduce risk of ruin and going bust 47:17 - Possible solutions players/dealers and operators compromising 52:57 - How poker structures also affect ROI and win rate, final stages of tournaments 55:53 - Structure Solutions: Blind Level Roll-backs 56:45 - Unjustified rake for 1 day tournaments vs 3+ day tournaments 58:39 - Structure Solutions: Shot-clocks and the tournament money bubble 1:01:52 - Feedback: $2,500 APL Centurion new and improved structure 1:04:06 - Transparency: Some operators still not disclosing full details including structures, rake and everything. 1:05:20 - Bubble Frustration and Solution: Shot-clocks 1:06:35 - Australia's insane casino rake, cash games, No service or comps 1:07:15 - Australia's high rake on turbo's and satellites 1:08:17 - Josh McSwiney career highlights, most important wins, running hot 1:09:54 - Josh's Main Event win at Stacked Adelaide, the venue, and experience at great value cheaper than the big cities 1:13:16 - Other poker in Australia, WPT Australia, APLPT $300K GTD Kedron-Wavell (Brisbane), Poker in Paradise at APL The Ville 600 1:14:40 - Josh's pro tips and advice on how to pick your stops, organisation, accommodation, flights, rake-back incentives. 1:16:00 - Episode Summary and Wrap Up 1:16:52 - Feedback and credit for Josh and ambassadors speaking up! 1:18:35 - Please subscribe