The Wall Street Journal called me about Dan Bilzerian

[Dan Druff]

He contacted me because he had seen an old post of mine where I talked about my 2007 encounter with him at Harvey's Lake Tahoe.

The reporter is doing an article about Dan Bilzerian and his father. Among other things, he is trying to figure out where Dan Bilzerian's money really comes from.

He had the following questions for me:

"How is Dan Bilzerian viewed in poker?" I said that Bilzerian is generally liked, as there aren't any stories about him cheating people in poker, or anything like that. I also added that some people like his blunt, tell-it-like-it-is persona, and others wish they could live his lifestyle.

"Does the poker community believe he made his money through his poker play?" I said that nobody believes that. It is assumed that Bilzerian came in with family money. However, Bilzerian also isn't regarded as a fish. I said that he is seen as a fairly good player who wants to play big, but not someone who's a huge winner.

"Do you know anyone who could give insight about Dan's poker results in his earlier days, such as 2007-2008?" I said that I didn't, as I didn't pay much attention to games other than my own.

"Can you describe what happened in 2007 when you saw Dan in Lake Tahoe?" I said that, in early 2007, a then-unknown Bilzerian was known as "the suitcase guy" at Harvey's Lake Tahoe, where he walked around the casino carrying a suitcase with $100k in it. I said that he complained the 5-10 NL game was way too tight there (which it was). I mentioned that I asked if he wanted to play $100/$200 limit with me, and he said he wanted $100/$200 NL, which I declined.

I also stated my opinion that Bilzerian was in the right when he sued that movie studio, as they very clearly breached their contract with him. (If you don't remember, Bilzerian funded a movie $1 million with the agreement he would get a certain amount of screen time, and then the director cut much of his part, and he no longer had the agreed-upon screen time.)

There were a few other questions, but that mostly covers it.

Should be an interesting article. I will bump this thread when it comes out.

[Dan Druff]

BUMP

Article to appear in WSJ tomorrow (9/16).

Supposedly I am quoted regarding my encounter with Dan in Lake Tahoe in 2007.

Interestingly, I was almost called into court over something I witnessed on that same trip (not related to Bilzerian, and not related to me), but they ended up not needing me.

When I left for that trip I didn't think it would be memorable in any way.

[Dan Druff]

BUMP:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/dan-b...ker-1410897368

[ShadyJ]

lol @ anyone who thinks he made his money playing poker.

[Pooh]

I'm assuming we don't need to read this since it will be read verbatum on radio?

[nunbeater]

He made 50 million playing poker in the last year? Shit, guess the IRS can stop their silly little investigation now

[BeerAndPoker]

[Benford]

Is that Bliz's PFA freeroll donation for tonight?

[TheXFactor]

If you read other interviews, Dan Bilzerian claims he made all his money from just playing poker.

In a couple interviews, Dan admits he received a lot of money in a trust, but had to give up 1/3 of that to the government.

How much money was in that trust? $100 million? $200 million?

No doubt he makes money off rich jerkoffs in private poker games.

How much money does Dan pay for pussy every month?

[JUSTIFIEDhomicide]

How much money does Dan pay for pussy every month?

That much

[Sheesfaced]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/for-d...ent-1410892550

Article today about his Dad. Pretty interesting read.

[DirtyB]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/for-d...ent-1410892550

Article today about his Dad. Pretty interesting read.

That's the lead story on digg.com now. After they ditched user comments, that site is pretty good.

[NaturalBornHustler]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/for-d...ent-1410892550

Article today about his Dad. Pretty interesting read.

On one hand I think this guy is a fucking boss for outsmarting the government at seemingly every turn, but on the other hand I think his son's need for attention will somehow fuck him eventually.

When you are extremely wealthy, from let's say "unconventional" methods be them illegal or not, the LAST thing you want to do is draw attention to yourself. Dan is not only drawing said attention, but basically him and his family have hoisted a giant middle finger at the government and adopted a "catch me if you can" mentality. That could easily backfire. The last thing you want is the government intent on getting you, because they will find a way or make up a reason.

[simpdog]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/for-d...ent-1410892550

Article today about his Dad. Pretty interesting read.

On one hand I think this guy is a fucking boss for outsmarting the government at seemingly every turn, but on the other hand I think his son's need for attention will somehow fuck him eventually.

When you are extremely wealthy, from let's say "unconventional" methods be them illegal or not, the LAST thing you want to do is draw attention to yourself. Dan is not only drawing said attention, but basically him and his family have hoisted a giant middle finger at the government and adopted a "catch me if you can" mentality. That could easily backfire. The last thing you want is the government intent on getting you, because they will find a way or make up a reason.

But Dan has made most of his money playing poker

[cmoney]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/for-d...ent-1410892550

Article today about his Dad. Pretty interesting read.

On one hand I think this guy is a fucking boss for outsmarting the government at seemingly every turn, but on the other hand I think his son's need for attention will somehow fuck him eventually.

When you are extremely wealthy, from let's say "unconventional" methods be them illegal or not, the LAST thing you want to do is draw attention to yourself. Dan is not only drawing said attention, but basically him and his family have hoisted a giant middle finger at the government and adopted a "catch me if you can" mentality. That could easily backfire. The last thing you want is the government intent on getting you, because they will find a way or make up a reason.

I agree. Even if the IRS thinks there is a chance they are right they will just jack your money and then it is up to you to prove it is legit which can take forever. A recent case comes to mind with Joe Francis and Girls Gone Wild. The IRS grabbed 100 mil from his company accounts. You have to believe this is in part because of how he showed such disdain for the legal system in his other cases. The IRS eventually released the money.

[ToasterOven]

No doubt he makes money off rich jerkoffs in private poker games.

Why is there no doubt? There seems to be conventional wisdom that the guy does very well in private nosebleed games, but that would be a good way for him to account for piles of cash, too.

He seems more likely to be the rich jerkoff than the guy that makes the money, just based on his persona.

[cmoney]

No doubt he makes money off rich jerkoffs in private poker games.

Why is there no doubt? There seems to be conventional wisdom that the guy does very well in private nosebleed games, but that would be a good way for him to account for piles of cash, too.

He seems more likely to be the rich jerkoff than the guy that makes the money, just based on his persona.

He has had a bunch of people come out and say they played "high stakes" with Dan in games. However, the stakes that have been confirmed are still no where near the stakes you would need to be playing to win 50 mil in a year.

The most suspicious thing about this is that not one person has verified they have played in a game with him at the levels needed to win that amount of money. I have seen him post tweets when stuff like "never bluff a sheik lost 3.5 mil yesterday, but won 10 mil the next day " but that could just be his way of leaving a trail so when he gets 10 mil headshot from some random bank in the middle east he can pay the IRS their cut and say it was from Sheik in Saudi Arabia that owed it to him. As long as the IRS gets their cut at this point I am not sure how much they dig.

[Dan Druff]

The problems with Dan's "I made the money myself" claims:

1) Nobody has ever come forward and said, "I've played with Dan Bilzerian, and he kills the games I've been in."

2) His stories about building up his poker bankroll are dubious, at best. Sold off his guns in college in order to keep playing poker? I doubt it. When I saw him in Tahoe in January 2007, he was walking around with $100,000 in a suitcase, and nobody knew who he was. He even confirmed to the WSJ reporter that the Tahoe thing was pretty much at the very beginning, so what happened to the "I played in college and ran it up from nothing" story? Where did he win the $100k that he showed up with in Tahoe?

3) It's more than just a coincidence that the guy with the super rich dad also happens to be the one who ran up a poker bankroll from nothing, and now makes $50 million per year.

4) Nobody has verified that Dan plays high enough to have won that kind of money. A frequent player in his games told the WSJ that Dan's claims are false.


I think Dan would have done better with a hybrid Daddy's money and poker winnings story, such as his dad giving him $5 million and he used his poker skill to run that up to $50 million. Or something like that.

[Pooh]

I wish my dad gave me 5 million......

[jsearles22]

I wish my dad gave me 5 million......