Gambling Savant

@TheBradOwen Poker is supposed to allow you to spend maximum time with your family since you can tailor yours days exactly to your liking. I have four kids and have played poker since the early 2000s as well. Create a new roadmap for yourself with poker, keeping your wife and children first.

I just need to vent a little bit otherwise I feel like I'm going to completely lose what I like about myself... I'm up about a million lifetime in poker, but it's not that much over the course of 20+ years. I'm down $400k from the high point before the 2024 WSOP started. I've only had one complete losing year (last year), but I'm down $100k this year already and I feel like I'm losing my identity and a failure if I don't turn things around soon, especially if I'm not as open about it as I can be about the tough times. I've done pretty much everything in poker except win a major title so I've torched money in mixed games trying to get better and learn/play with the best in small field large buy-in events. This is where the overwhelming majority of the $400k downswing has come from, and it's really not that many buy-ins when I'm playing high stakes events, but I need to talk about it somewhere since there are no vlogs of these sessions. I can always just quit and go back to cash where wins are consistent and easier, but it's enjoyable for me to push myself and I don't want to give up just yet even though it would certainly be better for my mental well-being. I put an insane amount of pressure on myself to try to be the best dad, significant other, poker player, content creator, ambassador, etc. that I can be. It's tough to ever escape or take a break because I fear that if I turn off the machine, even for a short time, I might not be able to turn it on again. There aren't a ton of people who can relate to what I have going on - maybe just 2 or 3 partially and 1 of them WPT made what I consider to be a massive mistake by parting ways with, which leads to me feeling very isolated and just generally not having nearly as much fun as I used to in the poker world. I don't know how much time I have left in this space before I get too burnt out. Time with my family is what makes me the most happy and I don't get to be with them or be there for them quite as much as I would like. My health is deteriorating as well and I just can't keep up at the pace I've been at the last several years even though there are plenty of reasons to keep churning out videos as frequently as I can. I'm incredibly fortunate to be in the situation I'm in. I love being on the WPT team - I don't agree with all of the decisions, but typically they do a lot of cool things for poker and I'm in the position to be able to lose $10ks and not have it affect my life at all. I'm living the dream and my 15 year old self wouldn't believe that I actually made it in the poker industry - I'm on the same f***ing team as Ivey!! Most days I'm super grateful and appreciative. Some days I just want to burn everything I've built down because I feel like a fraud and don't feel like I deserve any of it. None of what I do is that hard or that important and if I started making vlogs in the current climate, I'd likely get lost in the shuffle and wouldn't be nearly as successful. I don't like where some things are headed. I hate YouTube shorts. I hate AI voiceovers. I hate that a lot of people are promoting the game in a way that I don't think is healthy for younger people to see because the approach is that they're content creators first trying to do the most exciting thing and not the most responsible thing. I'm contributing to that now, and it's easy for me to justify blasting off in certain spots to hopefully make an interesting video and achieve certain goals I had when I was a first fell in love with poker in the early 2000s (like winning a bracelet or WPT), but I guess this tweet is my attempt to try to make things slightly better. It actually hurts me to see top level players like Jeremy Ausmus, Seth Davies, and even Chidwick to some extent, make poker content on YouTube/Twitter/Instagram. Nearly all of the poker content, especially from these guys is objectively good for poker, but vlogs used to be something that most top guys shit all over and now we're seeing them with stands and cameras at the table because the major poker companies don't give the best players ambassador roles anymore. I 100% benefit from it - I'm like win the lottery and get struck by lightning on the same day lucky. I just miss how things were back in the heyday and I'd like to see more opportunities for the guys I look up to in the industry - the guys who have actually accomplished a lot on the felt. Also, I hate that Kalshi sponsors the Lodge livestream and I think some gum company does as well that just has nothing to do with poker. It feels weird and even there we've strayed from what made that place special, but I'm optimistic we're going to right the ship. I wish I was there more to help make that happen. One of the few things I'm proud of myself for recently is turning down the opportunity to promote the side gambling games that Gold offers, which would've made me a lot more money. If I didn't do that I would've felt like I've sold out completely. I have no issues promoting poker because I'm an example of someone who's been successful at it, whereas if people are betting/gambling in things they have no shot at winning in the long-run - I just can't be a part of it and don't want to promote it. Let's see what else... Andrew Neeme should be in the poker hall of fame for revolutionizing poker in two massive ways - meet up games and vlogging, which has inspired more poker players than almost everything in the last few decades. WSOP needs to move its Bahamas event to January and stop giving out so many online bracelets. I don't know how you guys don't dislike shameless promotions more. I know that I should get a therapist and I will likely regret tweeting this 🔥🔥🔥

@berkey11 @VenetianPoker Where can the stream be found after the fact…YouTube?

This @VenetianPoker stream is gorgeous. Production is a 10. Biggest criticisms are the chips are a stone zero and doing $1k flips is a horrific viewing experience.

@TheBradOwen Chip and a chair…great story and memory!! 👊

Incredible day yesterday. I was down to 1 BB at 600/1200 in the $5M Freeroll, but I didn’t give up and ran it up to over 500,000. I pulled two bounties for $10k and $1k. Ultimately I busted in 120th for a $3,300 payout. Still, it was great to win over $14,000. The feedback from the other passport winners was phenomenal. Lots of people who are new to the game won $10k seats to the World Championship event. It was one of the most fun tournaments I’ve ever played. After busting, I stayed an extra few hours to watch my friend make the final table of the Prime. He’s got $114k 🔒 and is coming in as chip leader today with a chance to take home over $1.1 million! I was planning to play 1A of the championship event, but instead I’ll be on the rail tonight, and I’ll fire in 1B and 1C. Let’s go @KCalenzo

Reminder players, during Gridiron Giveaways on Sunday-Monday we still have a $10,000 envelope to pull! With almost 6 sessions remaining before the end of the season 😎

@MGMGrandPoker @JasonC702 @sebucrema Incredibly disappointing…Larry Kehm finished in third place 😁🥇

@SavantGambling @JasonC702 @sebucrema Potato-potahto 😅

Our final 3 players have agreed to an ICM chop. Sebastion Crema @sebucrema took 3rd place, Don Schunk @SavantGambling took 2nd place and the Gold Lion. Larry Kehm took the bulk of the remaining $29,050 prize money and 1st place. Congrats, gents!

@MGMGrandPoker @sebucrema The bulk of the remaining prize money was not given to the third place finisher…over $17,000 was given to second and third place as part of an ICM deal…the tournament continued to play down to a winner and the title, which was won by Donald Schunk….Tournament Poker 101.

@JasonC702 @MGMGrandPoker @sebucrema The winner of the tournament is holding up the winning hand…A7…😉😜

@MGMGrandPoker @sebucrema @SavantGambling Way to go Larry!

@MGMGrandPoker @sebucrema Incorrect information, but nonetheless it was a fantastic tournament. Thank you so much for the opportunity!

@themouthmatusow Mikey!!! 💯

My greatest accomplishment of my entire life was having so many top poker players see that I wasn’t crazy and down some crazy right wing echo chamber and that I was the same person they’ve known for 10 to 30yrs! I ask everyone on the left who truly care about the world like I do to look outside of their echo chamber and ask yourself why did half the country vote for a guy who the media told you was Hitler and a convicted felon and a rapist! Maybe it’s all lies or even half lies! Once you find the truth and realize you’ve been duped you’re brain and soul will be free! Do your homework, don’t be afraid to be wrong, it’s ok if you were wrong and never knew that’s part of growing. I’ve been wrong in so many things in my life and I’ve grown from them and it’s made me the person I am today! God bless you all

@RealKidPoker @DNC Incredibly well put…Daniel is the man!!

@Magic_R99 @UcPokerPro @junglemandan There are players buying and selling action in 2/5NL that are sitting at the same table!! Also, players will split the winnings while playing in the same game as well…there is no bottom to what desperate people will do for a dollar…thoughts?

@Magic_R99 @UcPokerPro @junglemandan It’s always something…There is an ecosystem in poker for a reason…the naturally talented players are supposed to win all of the money…I suppose those who memorize solvers have a chance as well. Why is it a problem for the best players to win fairly…envy is powerful…

@MUSICTRACKLIST1 @junglemandan Not to over generalize, but the fact that this method was being used for a decade or longer, I’d wager that this was done by any and all nationalities. That being said, I don’t personally have any one particular native Spanish speaking person in my from my experience.others, yes

@UcPokerPro @junglemandan It doesn’t matter how long it’s been around…with your assistance, please let us know about all of the other ways players are cheating whether the method has been around and undetected for 10 days or 10 years…your information will help the community

@SavantGambling @junglemandan You’re missing the point. This method is at least 10 years old, and the modern methods are far superior to what Jungle is showing here. This method is the least of your worries.

@UcPokerPro @junglemandan Old and outdated, maybe…I’ve been playing regularly for over 20 years and this method was never brought to my attention until a few months ago…would have gone undetected by me for a lifetime…I think there are many players in my shoes on this one…sad deal.

@junglemandan Jungle, this method is very old and outdated. There are much more sophisticated methods being used.

@junglemandan All of them crushers…poof…gone…

@junglemandan Lots of 5/10NL “pros” are nowhere to be found in Vegas since this news broke a while back…while I wouldn’t dare spreads names or accusations, the situation is very suspicious…🤷‍♂️

@RealKidPoker Let’s get 100 people to go participate in person…one who has the desire to help in situations like these needs to lead by example…power comes in numbers and while your tweet is respectable, it must spark action to be effective.

A crisis that needs more attention. These people need all the resources we can make available to them- yesterday. How we treat and take care of these people who have lost everything will say a lot about what this country prioritizes. These are Americans, do more 🙏 🇺🇸

@JoshuaArieh Totally agree…well put!!

I’ve built my life surrounding myself w smart people. Doing my best to follow their lead and absorb everything I can. The election is the one place you should not follow people you admire. Make the choice on your own. Absorb what you read. Filter thru the lies and make the best decision for yourself and the people you care most about!