Dylan Linde

Dylan Linde was born in 1980 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, United States. Before discovering poker at age 23, he was a lifelong competitive gamer, which helped him develop strategic thinking skills that later transferred to the poker table. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (as per his Hendon Mob profile) and also maintains a residence in Las Vegas, Nevada. Linde is widely recognized as the top player from Idaho on the all-time money list.

Linde built his early reputation in the online poker world, primarily playing under the screen names "ImaLucSac" on PokerStars and "mezcal" on GGPoker. He is a two-time Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) champion, winning titles in 2013 and 2017. Over the course of his online career, Linde has amassed over $7 million in online tournament earnings, showcasing consistent success across a variety of formats. His online success laid the foundation for his transition to live high-stakes events.

Linde's live tournament career is highlighted by three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and a World Poker Tour (WPT) championship. He won his first WSOP bracelet in 2021, taking down Event #21: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo for $170,269. He captured his second bracelet in 2024 by winning a $500 No-Limit Hold'em Ultra Deepstack online event. His third bracelet came in 2025 in the prestigious $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, defeating Stephen Chidwick heads-up and earning a career-best $2,146,414. As of June 2025, Linde has cashed 73 times at the WSOP, including a 366th-place finish in the 2008 Main Event.

In December 2018, Linde won the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, outlasting a field of 1,001 entries to claim the $1,631,468 first prize. At the time, this was the largest $10,000 buy-in tournament in WPT history. He defeated Milos Skrbic in heads-up play for the biggest cash of his career up to that point. Other notable live results include a 5th-place finish in a $50,000 NLHE event at the 2025 Triton Series Jeju for $676,000, a 7th-place in a $100,000 NLHE event at the 2024 Triton Montenegro for $454,000, and a $434,304 win in a $10,000 NLHE event in 2022. His total live tournament earnings exceed $15.5 million according to PokerNews, placing him among the most accomplished American players.

Linde is known for a balanced and aggressive playing style that is both theoretically sound and highly adaptive. While he is a master of modern Game Theory Optimal (GTO) concepts, he emphasizes the importance of exploitative play—identifying and attacking opponent tendencies rather than relying solely on solver outputs. He excels in post-flop play and shows particular strength in mixed games, including Omaha variants and Stud games. Linde's approach is built on "generic strategic concepts" that apply across all poker variants, allowing him to transition seamlessly between formats. He is also noted for his deep understanding of bubble dynamics and ICM pressure, which he leverages in large-field tournaments.

Beyond his playing career, Linde is a highly regarded poker educator. He is the author of "Mastering Mixed Games", a comprehensive guide to multi-game strategy published in 2019. He was a lead instructor at Run It Once and now serves as a coach at GTO LAB, where he teaches a 10-part Exploitative Play series. His coaching philosophy focuses on practical adjustments, population reads, and turning theoretical knowledge into profitable decisions at the table. Linde's teaching topics include postflop play, ICM strategies, solver usage, live reads, and bubble play, making him a valuable resource for serious players looking to improve their game.