The Poker Vlog Wars of 2017
Poker vlogs have been mentioned a few times in recent episodes of the radio show. Specifically, in the 12-07-16 episode, Druff and khalwat discussed a recent controversy involving vloggers being told to stop filming live hands at the poker table. Notably, a vlogger named TheTrooper97 was brought up as he is one of the most well known poker vloggers. Druff didn't know much about him (by the way Druff, it's pronounced exactly like "blog" with a "v" replacing the "b" - one syllable, not "vee-log"), and it didn't sound like khalwat thought much of him.
I've been fascinated with the idea of people moving to Vegas to play poker professionally. Not as a goal, but as some kind of perverse punishment. I enjoy playing low stakes live poker a few times a year (mostly on vacation), but I can't begin to imagine doing it full time. Yet I come across locals every trip to Vegas who seem to be doing just that - somehow grinding out an existence playing $1/$2 full time in Vegas. Whenever my buddy and I go to Vegas, I ask him how much he would have to be paid to quit his job and move to Vegas to play $1/$2 live NLH full time. Each visit, that figure keeps getting bigger. I don't know how people do it.
The aforementioned Trooper has actually documented what this lifestyle looks like in his vlog which I came across a couple of years ago on YouTube. I watched his videos occasionally and subsequently followed a thread (since closed) about him on 2+2. Then last year I was in Vegas on a brief trip and was playing a $1/$2 game at the Bellagio and he happened to sit down at my table. We chatted for a bit about his vlog and I generally found him to be a nice guy. At the time he maybe had a couple thousand subscribers on YouTube and now has over 20,000.
In the past two months or so, YouTube has exploded with new poker vlogs. Trooper had the market cornered for nearly 4 years and now there are dozens of poker vlogs with more "My Poker Vlog Pilot" videos showing up on YouTube every day. Suddenly it's become fashionable to start your own live poker vlog. A handful of these are interesting. Most of them are awful. A lot of them are discussed in another thread on 2+2 which was opened after the original Trooper thread was closed. It's an amazing dumpster fire of trolls versus vlog supporters. In fact, the original Trooper thread had to be closed because there was so much trolling of Trooper.
Here's my honest assement of a few of the Las Vegas Poker vlogs (I haven't really waded into the non-Vegas vlogs).
TheTrooper97 vlog
Link to his channel.
Sample video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFbwVkq1Zm4
Brief description: The Trooper is a $1/$2 Las Vegas grinder who drinks a lot of Starbucks.
Pros: The Trooper is considered the OG of poker vlogging. He's done it the longest and is somewhat of an innovator in that respect. He's the most prolific vlogger too. He puts out a new video almost every day. Many call him lazy but shooting, editing, and uploading a video every single day must be an insane amount of work. He has also developed pretty good editing skills. He reports the results of every single session he plays. It's a very frank look at the bleak reality of trying to make it as an average full time low stakes grinder in Vegas.
Cons: With daily content comes inevitable repetitiveness. He seems to do the same thing in every episode - sleep in, go get coffee, complain about something, maybe sit in a $1/$2 game, walk around the Strip for a while and eat unhealthy food, finish the poker session, rinse-and-repeat. He doesn't seem to be making any progress in poker as he hasn't really moved beyond the $1/$2 level. His vlog persona is one of a faux angry tough guy which is off-putting to many. He lives in a nice apartment but doesn't have any furniture and just throws his clothes on the floor. He can be very frustrating to watch.
Andrew Neeme
Link to his channel.
Sample video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mc0izzcpMg
Brief description: Las Vegas pro who very quickly usurped TheTrooper as the best poker vlogger.
Pros: Neeme only started his vlog 3 months ago and he already has 10,000 more subscribers than Trooper. Viewers immediately declared him the better vlogger. He popularized the style of filming his live hands during sessions and providing voice-over analysis in post-production (Trooper would merely film a hand or two during a session and didn't commentate). He plays higher stakes (up to $10/$20 I believe) which makes it more interesting. His editing skills are great. He also has a likable personality on camera.
Cons: The biggest con is that he doesn't put out more frequent content.
Pokerkraut
Link to his channel.
Sample video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y55OrxSL7sM
Brief description: German low-stakes grinder in Las Vegas who has been vlogging since about May 2016.
Pros: Pokerkraut's best asset is that he can be fairly funny. He used to deal poker with Trooper at the Linq for about a year before the room closed. They are friends and have a weight-loss challenge going for 2017.
Cons: His editing could be better. Terrible background music selection. Infrequent content.
Tappan M
Link to his channel.
Sample video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meCUCKsD6YI
Brief description: Low-stakes Las Vegas pro (maybe?).
Pros: Dry wit.
Cons: Maybe his wit is a bit too dry. He doesn't post often.
Brad Owen
Link to his channel.
Sample video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXeEOw0PlDE
Brief description: Las Vegas pro who plays a wide range of stakes.
Pros: Mixes up his content a lot. Includes humorous little gags in his videos. Seems like a good dude.
Cons: Some of the humor is a bit forced.
Advantage Player
Link to his channel.
Sample video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKm7CU2DR8o
Brief description: Professional poker player and blackjack counter. Seems to be based in the Bay Area but has included some Vegas content.
Pros: Includes videos on life as blackjack pro which could be interesting to some.
Cons: Probably the most punchable face in poker vlogging. He comes off as a smarmy little wiener both in his videos and in his replies to comments on his YouTube channel. His hand analysis is way too in depth. I've never actually watched a full video because I couldn't listen to him talk anymore.
Taking Vegas (AKA: wheydacheese)
Link to his channel.
Sample video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7AmVIBiJEs
Brief description: Low stakes Vegas pro and frequent contributor to the 2+2 thread about Las Vegas poker vloggers.
Pros: ...
Cons: I feel like this guy tries way too hard. Also, he needs a haircut.
Jeff Boski
Link to his channel.
Sample video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zck_ID2j0Yc
Brief description: Las Vegas poker pro who documents his MTT grind.
Pros: Seems to be the only vlogger who exclusively vlogs his MTTs which is a nice change of pace. He's been on an absolutely sick run since starting the vlog winning about $60K in Vegas tournaments over the past 2 months: http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=101781
Cons: Terrible at editing videos. Extremely monotone. Comes off as a real weirdo. He had a couple of really creepy videos that he has since deleted.
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Do you know of any poker vlogs worth checking out?
