Chris Hunichen is a tournament high-roller promoting a $15k Gofundme for his family -- does this make any sense?

[Dan Druff]

First off, I want to say that I have nothing against Chris Hunichen. I don't really know him, aside from seeing him on Twitter and being aware he plays high stakes tournaments.

He's known to some as "Big Huni". For reference, he played (and cashed in) a $50k High Roller event as recently as January 2023.

Chris' dad, Ken Hunichen, recently passed away. I feel very bad for Chris regarding this, as he's only 38, and it's very tough to lose a parent when only in your 30s. It's tough to lose a parent at any age, but losing one before age 40 is especially difficult. My parents were both in their early 30s when one of their parents passed, and both were devastated by it. So when I say I truly feel for Chris, I mean it.

Chris is now asking for people to support the Gofundme being run by his mom, regarding his dad's funeral. Here's the key line from the Gofundme:

Ken didn’t have life insurance or a will or any assets that can be liquidated to help cover the costs of the funeral and memorial service as well as the repairs needed for the home so his oldest son Chris has had to pay for almost everything thus far including an expensive private autopsy.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/agj8mq-do...morial-service


So it appears that Chris has paid for a lot already, but at this point his mom is asking for others to help chip in.

I do not believe there is any kind of scammy element to this. It is likely that these are real expenses, and it's likely that Chris has already shouldered the burden of some of them.

However, the question comes up whether a high stakes player (who also has an expensive NFT as his profile pic) should be asking the community for $15k.

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/BigHuni/status/1683490442690658304



Some people are already raising objections to this.

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/caveman984/status/1683521366065127445

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/caveman984/status/1683526656923713548

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/cuntycakes123/status/1683591457012334592

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ray_poker/status/1683526142836260864

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/JadedLuck/status/1683558289219493888


Others are speaking in Huni's defense:

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/MoveTiMe99/status/1683626274604949505

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/Raisethis2/status/1683579821010329603



Opinions? I'll give my analysis in the next post.

[Dan Druff]

This one isn't as simple as it appears to be on the surface.

On one hand, Hunichen is a high stakes tournament pro who also seems to be sporting expensive NFTs, and it seems insane to be asking strangers for just $15k to help with expenses for his family members.

On the other hand, there's a lot of variance in tournament poker, and it's possible that Hunichen is struggling financially. Just because he plays $50k events doesn't mean he's flush with cash. He might be on a backing deal and deep in makeup. If that's the case, and Hunichen has spent his case funds on helping his family, there's no shame in asking for help from the community, especially if he's been generous with others in the past.

I think it's unlikely Chris would be promoting a $15k family gofundme if he were balling out of control. Also, it's important to note that Chris did NOT set up this Gofundme -- it's set up by his mom, and he's just asking others to consider donating to it.

But what's the etiquette in a situation like this?

I think if you're going to ask the community to help with donations, transparency is key. Since the obvious question of, "How are you playing $50k high rollers and owning expensive NFTs, yet promoting something like this?" was likely to come up, he needs to be ready with an honest answer if he is going to ask the community to help.

While Chris' finances are none of our business, they become a bit more of our business once he is asking for the community to help out. Jason Mo's point about his NFT -- that it could easily be sold to pay the $15k (and have plenty left over) -- is a valid one. Basically it should be explained exactly why that final $15k should be borne by strangers, rather than him.


I will say that if Chris really does have money sitting in NFTs right now, and just doesn't want to sell them because he believes in their future value, that's not a good reason to ask the community for $15k, even if he's otherwise cash poor.

However, if he really is to the point where he can't afford this final $15k after spending a lot already on his dad's final expenses, asking the community for help is more understandable.

This is yet another case where full transparency is the solution.

Opinions?

[Sloppy Joe]

Needs the full Jami treatment

[Dan Druff]

Needs the full Jami treatment

Tough for me to comment on Poker gofundmes these days, but I had to do it.

Much less exciting than the Jami story, though, as there doesn't seem to be any lying going on. Just a question of whether or not it's appropriate.

But yes, I am such a racist homophobic misogynist that I am posting about a Gofundme controversy involving a straight white male.

[sah_24]

Seems like hes begging for home upgrades to me lols ... def pretty scammy

[garrett]

IMO Big Huni LOST this summer, and is now using this help me scheme to reload his bankroll....

Alex Rocha knows him well, who I used to know and play with, but without bringing that up ill say this

Big Huni angling/scamming here, no doubt about it trying to play on people heart strings for some money while down and out...

[lol wow]

me and tine are in for 13k this is about family yall

[Dan Druff]

Chris' Hendonmob shows $10.8m in cashes. Again, this doesn't tell the whole story, as he has entered a lot of high rollers, which add up quickly to be a lot of buyins. If he is backed, that also eats into whatever he receives.

How was his WSOP? Probably not winning, but not a disaster. It started off fairly well, as he got 14th in the huge Mystery Millions event ($49k), and 8th in the tough $3k NL 6-handed event ($51k). However, from there he had 5 small cashes totaling $11k or so, and he probably invested a lot of buyins during that period (the Main Event alone was $10k). So with about $110k of cashes, did Chris spend that much in buyins? Hard to tell. I'm guessing he's probably down, because he entered some high rollers at the 2022 WSOP, including the $25k NL event where he scored $1.9m by finishing third. Hard to believe he didn't take another crack at that one, and several others, given 2022's result. He also cashed $266k at the $50k WSOP High Roller in 2021.

These buyins at the WSOP really add up. I played a fairly light schedule, and yet I still racked up $23k worth of buyins, despite only playing a single $10k.

Anyway, as I said before, he would be best off explaining why he needs this $15k despite all the high stakes playing he does. There's no shame in admitting to being backed. Many great players are. People just need to understand what's going on here, because I admit it looks odd without a real explanation.

[lol wow]

listen me and tine got this bro his giant fat dead father will be taken care of its the least we can do

[lol wow]

we will be asking them to recycle all the coors lights from the reception

[Texter]

Nobody has life insurance anymore? If I dropped dead right now, wife would be an instant multi millionaire.

If she begged for $15k…I’d haunt any dummy who donated.

[JeffDime]

I see no distinction that his Mother/Sister technically set this up. Chris tweeted it out and I think it’s a fair assumption that without his promotion the GoFundme doesn’t get much traction at all. A lot of families could use 10-15K when a love one passes on, but have no means to do so.

I think it’s unfortunate he went this route. If he was broke and wanted to use his platform for much needed help I would understand. This seems pretty clear he could have come up with this money and decided to go the easier direction instead.

Again, the key component for me is that regardless of the expenses he has shouldered, the GoFundme is truly a vehicle to help Chris. It’s clear he would have taken on the added cost. I think he should have done so.

[Daly]

Nobody has life insurance anymore? If I dropped dead right now, wife would be an instant multi millionaire.

If she begged for $15k…I’d haunt any dummy who donated.

My family had some recent events go down where you tend to evaluate these sort of things. I think I said “If we would both just die we could live out the rest of our years comfortably”.

[Sidewinder]

Nobody has life insurance anymore? If I dropped dead right now, wife would be an instant multi millionaire.

If she begged for $15k…I’d haunt any dummy who donated.

lol

[dwai]

Texter gonna end up on an episode of forensic files, worth more dead than alive

[Mission146]

1.) I don't think there will ever exist a website that is as negative a social commentary as GoFundMe.

2.) Of course the tournament results are basically a lie. If, 'Lie,' is too strong for your liking, let's just say there are omissions.

3.) I mean, cash game results are evidently even a lie. At least, sometimes.

4.) As long as the fundamental nature of the campaign is valid, then I don't know that he needs called out. His father did, in fact, die. With the other one, she grossly overrepresented what her medical procedures were.

4a.). Would I donate to this guy? No. I don't give a fuck that his father died as I don't even know him; why would I ever donate (directly) to someone I don't know?

4b.) Do I think he should be publicly called out in a negative way? Not really. If someone is stupid enough to straight GIVE money to a poker player, then that's on them.

4c.) Also, if this guy is successful at all, then perhaps he could have covered the cost of a life insurance policy for his dad and they wouldn't have this problem.

4d.) I reiterate that I don't see anything wrong with what he is doing. He could have a net worth of 10M and if someone is stupid enough to donate money to him, then that's on them. I see, "Poker Player," and immediately think, "No money for you," it really doesn't matter what the circumstances are. They don't deserve the support of other people any more than I do, in terms of being given money, and I don't deserve anyone's support whatsoever...regardless what happens to me.

[JeffDime]

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/TheSaurus831/status/1685429665664839680

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/BigHuni/status/1685511900011122688

All I know about “The Suarus” is he was a huge sick to Druff on the space with Jaffe.

Another thing that got me thinking is this “expensive private autopsy”. Seems like they are mainly done when medical malpractice may have been involved. Nonetheless, they are a luxury most families don’t have the means to do.

Ultimately I just think this is reflective of the times we live in. A lot of people that gain some kind of following, whether large or small, can leverage it to get a few fazooles.

Look at our old buddy Spencer. Here is a video where he talks about the four houses he owns and why he still needed to create a godfundme.




I’m sure Chris would have preferred someone else tweeting out the GoFundme on his behalf. But got no takers.

[TheXFactor]

Chris probably already paid for his fathers funeral and now he wants to be reimbursed.

You guys are a bunch of suckers and will fall for almost any made up story.

[DJ_Chaps]

heh i keep forgetting thesaurus is into the poker scene. hes a well known battle rapper.

[JeffDime]

heh i keep forgetting thesaurus is into the poker scene. hes a well known battle rapper.

Just as an aside. I know “”battle rap” is its own genre…but the worst thing about going to the beach these days is the young kids blasting modern rap music. The shit is fucking awful. I know I grew up in the 90s and we all seem to be partial to music from our childhood (Not to mention the 90s had the best rap by a country mile and there is no fucking debate)…but JFC this shit is straight up noise pollution.