Kane Kalas Lives Up To Family Name with Success in the Booth and On the Felt

The Kalas family name is synonymous with the broadcast booth. Harry Kalas was the award-winning play-by-play announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies and Todd Kalas just got started in the booth for the Houston Astros. Kane Kalas, Harry’s son and Todd’s brother, is no different. Just in a different game.

Over the last few years, while he emerged as one of the game’s top players, Kalas became a fixture on several of the WPT final table live streams. This time, however, he’s got a good shot at being on the other side of the final table cameras.

When cards get back in the air from the dinner break of the Season XVI WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, Kalas will resume play second in chips with 56 players remaining. Thanks to his time in the booth commentating on final tables, he’s got some insight into some of the other top pros still in the field.

“Looking around at the remaining names, there are some people that I’ve done a little bit of commentary on,” said Kalas. “David Paredes is one of them and I’ve actually shared the booth with him, so he has a little bit of insight into the way that I think. Not too mention that he and I actually go back for years. We played pre-Black Friday online and all of that, but there are a lot of interesting faces still around. I’ve commentated on Joe McKeehen multiple times and I’m probably going to commentate on him again because he final tables every tournament.”

It hasn’t happened in the first two and a half days of poker so far in this tournament, but in other tournaments, the Philadelphia area native used some of what he saw in the booth to his advantage on the table.

There were no specific physical tells that Kalas picked up on. He’s not that kind of player. He puts more emphasis into playing game theory optimal poker and then varies from that style based on the tendencies that he sees.

“My strongest point is betting patterns,” said Kalas. “I’m a GTO type of player, so my basis is going to be in the GTO style of play and I’m going to look at the tendencies of my opponents and try and choose what I need to do in order to adjust from that GTO style to exploit what they’re doing.”

Growing up with his father working for the Phillies, the broadcast booth was his second home. Well before he was old enough to gamble, Kalas would get opportunities to be on-air with the elder Kalas and enjoyed an experience that most people never get.

“Just being in the booth with my dad, I kind of got the opportunity to broadcast live on-air for the Philadelphia Phillies on Father’s Day, which was so much fun,” said Kalas about his upbringing in commentary. “So, just kind of priming myself growing up is what led to it.”

He never got any specific tips or lessons from his father, but the early feedback from his live streams have been nothing but positive from the viewers.

As a player, Kalas is no slouch either, and a good chunk of his success has come right at home in the Mid-Atlantic. His biggest recorded cash came in his runner-up finish to Darren Elias at the 2014 WPT Borgata Fall Poker Open. He earned $500,364 for his efforts. His second biggest cash came in a win in a $1,100 no-limit hold’em event at Parx Casino in the Philadelphia area.

“Maybe there is something in the water here, maybe it’s home field advantage,” said Kalas about his success in the area. “My friend Aaron Mermelstein was trying to tell me that’s a real thing. I didn’t believe him. I don’t know, maybe he’s right. I guess we’ll just have to see how I do in this one.”

As if he wasn’t talented enough already, Kalas is also an accomplished singer. Having found his talent for music in middle school, he attended the University of Miami because of its above-average programs in both broadcast journalism and in music.

He sang the National Anthem at several Phillies games and is already booked to sing it again at Citizens Bank Park for the start of 2018 season.

“It’ll be a lot of fun,” said Kalas about singing on Opening Day of the MLB season. “I’ve done it the past four Opening Days at this point. They used to invite me to do it when they make the playoffs, but that hasn’t happened in a while. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will happen sooner rather than later.”

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