Viral Creator on How He Used Poker to Pay All His Bills: Alexander Wolfgang | Ep.130 - Gent's Talk

[00:00:00] You're playing in the big game on tour?

[00:00:02] I'm playing tomorrow, yep. That'll be the biggest game of my life.

[00:00:04] Is there anyone in particular you're not looking forward to playing with?

[00:00:09] Alexander Wolfgang is a professional poker player who combines his poker skills with content creation to create engaging videos for his massive community of followers.

[00:00:18] Wolfgang Poker was the first poker vlogger to surpass 1 million subscribers.

[00:00:22] The persona that people see online, the Wolfgang that they see online, versus the one that exists offline.

[00:00:29] Is there a difference between the two?

[00:00:30] I mean, when was the last time you had a bad day?

[00:00:33] When my dad died.

[00:00:36] How long ago was that?

[00:00:37] Um, it's my emotions.

[00:00:41] Uh, three months ago.

[00:00:43] You said that you were able to parcel out those emotions, put them to the side.

[00:00:47] Do you ever find doing that actually hurts you?

[00:00:50] I think that's something that has become muted.

[00:00:54] Why do you think that's so uncomfortable for you?

[00:00:55] The reason I bottle a lot up, at least with my friendships, is I want to...

[00:01:19] Firstly, welcome to Jen's talk.

[00:01:21] Thank you.

[00:01:21] Um, we're here in Las Vegas at the North American Poker Tour with PokerStars.

[00:01:29] And, um, when I found out that I was going to be chatting with you, I saw Wolfgang Poker, and everyone just called you Wolfgang.

[00:01:37] And then when I looked you up, it was Alexander.

[00:01:40] Yeah.

[00:01:40] And when you came in the room, hey, I'm Alex.

[00:01:42] Yeah.

[00:01:43] So let's start there.

[00:01:44] It's kind of like an embodiment of my entire life.

[00:01:47] Like, I don't know what's going on.

[00:01:48] No one knows what's going on.

[00:01:49] I'm always all over the place.

[00:01:50] But yeah, my mom calls me Alexander or on my Ukrainian side, they call me Sasha.

[00:01:55] But we're not going to add more into the mix here.

[00:01:57] Poker people know me by Wolfgang.

[00:01:59] It is my middle name.

[00:01:59] So I'm not a complete phony here.

[00:02:01] Okay.

[00:02:01] I'm not like an odd future Tyler, the creator guy.

[00:02:04] Um, but yeah, Alexander for people outside of poker.

[00:02:08] Uh, people call me by my last name when I was in a paternity in college and call me Siped.

[00:02:12] Whatever sticks.

[00:02:13] But usually in poker, I just go by Wolf or Wolfgang because it has that ring to it.

[00:02:17] And like, in poker, there's like these wait lists and the, the thought behind it before

[00:02:21] I had my channel was just use my middle name because when there's 10 Alex's on the board,

[00:02:26] but there's only one Wolf on the one to go up and get my seat.

[00:02:28] So it's kind of the, the idea there.

[00:02:31] And how long have you been playing poker now?

[00:02:33] Uh, well, actually trying for like five years ever since I started my channel.

[00:02:37] My first hand of poker played, I was like 12 years old in Chicago with some of my friends

[00:02:43] and I was hooked ever since.

[00:02:45] Okay. So let's, uh, let's maybe go back a second then for people who know you just by what they see online

[00:02:52] and in poker tournaments, who's, who's the man sitting in front of me right now?

[00:02:57] Uh, this like from other people's perspective, no, from your perspective, who are you?

[00:03:01] Oh, okay. Well, I'm just a fun loving guy. I love the, love the gamble.

[00:03:05] I don't take anything too serious. I'm never too high, never too low.

[00:03:09] I'm kind of just always in the middle. Um, always trying to seize the moment.

[00:03:12] I love like sports of all kinds, soccer, skiing. I picked up surfing when I was in college.

[00:03:18] Um, you played soccer at one point too.

[00:03:19] Yeah. I played, uh, Chicago Fair Academy in Chicago and I thought I would go like not semi-pro,

[00:03:27] but I definitely thought I'd play all four years of college.

[00:03:30] Didn't really get into the schools that I wanted to like USC. Uh, and I did some of like the Ivy

[00:03:35] leagues on the East coast. Uh, Stanford was a big one I wanted to go to for soccer.

[00:03:39] So then I went to Pepperdine and just played club all four years.

[00:03:42] Did you ever want to pursue it like professionally? Like, was that the thing for you?

[00:03:46] I think growing up, that was definitely the thing was to pursue it professionally.

[00:03:49] But as I got older and I realized other kids were way more talented and like had a better build or taller,

[00:03:56] all that kind of stuff. I kind of realized that I should probably go in a different direction.

[00:04:01] And also sometimes when you put like, I've noticed it with poker too. Like when you put your all into,

[00:04:06] um, what you want to do or you think you want to do, sometimes you lose a little bit of lust for it.

[00:04:12] And I realized with like trying to be the best at, uh, soccer, I was doing too much where it just became

[00:04:19] more of a job and less of like what I actually love. So with poker too, it's kind of a cool thing

[00:04:24] because I have this balance with like YouTube and poker. So when I only play two times a week,

[00:04:28] I never get burnt out from poker and I can create the videos. Whereas if I was grinding tournaments

[00:04:33] in cash seven days a week, which I did a few years ago as a trial, just was not the move for me. I was

[00:04:38] losing the, uh, interest in going in every day and like playing. I've heard professional athletes

[00:04:43] talk about that very thing where, you know, when the off season, it's the off season. They're not

[00:04:49] practicing. They're not training necessarily because if they do that, then they lose that,

[00:04:54] they lose that lust for the game. They use, they lose the passion for it, you know,

[00:04:57] longer want to do it. And now I'm like, to your point, it's a job. How did you come to that

[00:05:03] conclusion? Cause a lot of people will dive headfirst into something thinking I got to get

[00:05:08] better. I got to get better. I got to get better. And it's all they do. Yeah. So with soccer was

[00:05:13] pretty easy. I just realized I wasn't going to be a messy, right. Or like my idol, David Beckham,

[00:05:17] like was not going to be him. So I knew I needed to pivot. I always was going to play club and like

[00:05:22] pick up and stuff and it's good exercise. So I wanted to keep that going. But, um, in terms of poker,

[00:05:28] uh, right when I graduated college, I kind of went all in on poker and not the content creation side.

[00:05:33] It was more just like trying to play for a living to pay all my bills. And it worked out in the

[00:05:37] short term, but I realized pretty quickly I was getting a little bit burnt out. So that's when

[00:05:41] I started meeting some of my friends like Rampage and I started watching more like Andrew Nimi videos.

[00:05:47] Um, and I started my own channel. I realized there could be down the line, a cool hybrid of

[00:05:53] making content like 40 hours a week and playing poker 20 as opposed to 60 and zero. Um, yeah.

[00:05:59] Can you find the content part gets tiring? Constantly having to think about, okay, I got to record this.

[00:06:06] I got to produce this. I got to put this out, getting caught in the numbers of it all.

[00:06:10] I mean, you're, how many subscribers now? 1.5 million. Okay. So that's a congrats by the way.

[00:06:16] That's a huge number. Thank you. When you get to that level though, you're constantly thinking,

[00:06:22] how do I get that to two? Yeah. 2.5. That's the fun of it for me at least. I mean,

[00:06:27] I love what I do and I hope it shows in my videos and I think it does. Um, I just love posting

[00:06:32] content when I don't post like a vlog for like 10 days, it eats me up inside. I'm like,

[00:06:36] I want to get more out that could kind of touch on the point you're trying to make, which is like,

[00:06:41] is it too much? Is there all this competitive thing? Like, Oh, someone posted, I got to post.

[00:06:45] They have a video that hit X amount of views. I need to do better and hit another one. That does

[00:06:49] get a little bit annoying sometimes, but as long as you take a step back and you're like, okay,

[00:06:55] I'm blessed. I really like what I do. And I don't really care how many views it gets or how often I

[00:06:59] post or what people are saying about me in the comments, then it's just really a fun thing. And it's a

[00:07:05] machine that keeps on going and opportunities like this. We're here with PokerStars playing in

[00:07:09] a massive game tomorrow. That's going to help fuel the brand and the channel as well. And, uh,

[00:07:14] yeah, just keep, keep it on going. The, you made a point just now about how when you post content,

[00:07:20] you don't really care about the views. You don't care about the comments and negative ones.

[00:07:24] I've had tons of conversations with creators of all sizes who talked about, you know, how sometimes

[00:07:28] it gets to them, you know, like when they see the comments and it really eats away at them,

[00:07:32] and they get triggered by it, or if they work so hard on a video and it doesn't perform as well as

[00:07:36] they had hoped, you know, they just sit there and they internalize all of it. And they're just

[00:07:40] constantly refreshing. Like, how's it doing now? How's it doing now? Yeah. Do you ever get caught in

[00:07:44] that? Or was it always like that for you at the beginning where it's just like, you don't care?

[00:07:48] Uh, in the beginning I definitely cared. And I think it was just a, uh, sheer quantity of it.

[00:07:53] Like I saw so much in the beginning, not like I had the worst channel ever, but I was definitely

[00:07:56] getting a lot of comments that were like, this guy sucks. These videos suck. And so actually I did

[00:07:59] something interesting. One like a holiday season, I did like sort of like a, I don't know how to put

[00:08:05] it, but I basically said roast me. I ended up looping in my mom, my sister, and I probably

[00:08:11] shouldn't have done that, but I should have just kept it on me. But I basically said like

[00:08:13] the best roast of me gets something. I forgot if it was money or if it was like a giveaway or

[00:08:18] something. And I got a ton of comments just roasting me. And I think that honestly, seeing that

[00:08:23] many things and knowing people were like taking it that seriously. I was just like, okay. So I kind of

[00:08:27] became numb to it after that. Now seeing the thing you said about my mom and my sister, that was a

[00:08:31] really bad idea and I shouldn't have done it. But, um, and they took it a little bit more personally

[00:08:35] and they're like, Oh, like, I, you know, but we all go through the stages. Right. And so like,

[00:08:41] uh, content creation was very new to me back then. I wanted to quickly like get over some of my fears

[00:08:46] of like, uh, maybe the way I look or like how I play, how I speak. Um, if I play too tight at the

[00:08:52] table, stuff like that. So I quickly got through that. And yeah, now every once in a while,

[00:08:55] I'll see a comment that I almost respond to. Like I, there's been so many times in the past

[00:09:00] like year where I'll type something out and then I'm like, okay, wait a second. Take a deep breath.

[00:09:03] Do I actually want to post this? Or do I like, do I want to engage in this negativity? No. So I

[00:09:07] usually always delete it. And I try to make a point of only responding to the positive comments,

[00:09:12] um, and reward those people. The last thing I want to do is respond to all the negative ones and all

[00:09:15] the nice ones. And they're like, well, he's only responding to negative. Maybe I'll switch up and

[00:09:18] they'll be like, this guy sucks. And then I'll actually be like, no, no, no. And then I'll trigger that kind

[00:09:22] of our result. Exactly. Yeah. I do. I think I do a pretty good job of managing all that. Um,

[00:09:28] what about balancing doing that and everything else that you want to do in your, in your personal

[00:09:32] life? Like, cause like you've got a mumbling persona at this point, right? Like the people that

[00:09:36] the persona that people see online, the Wolfgang that they see online versus the one that exists

[00:09:42] offline. Is there a difference between the two? Um, yes and no. No. And in the sense that I'm

[00:09:48] the same person, like I am in this interview and in my videos as I am, if you just caught me in the

[00:09:54] street, I'm still going to be super cool, super nice. I'm, I'm not like, like, like super energetic

[00:09:59] here and then really quiet there. But, um, yeah, I do have other hobbies that I don't show on the

[00:10:04] channel. Um, I I'm super into cold plunging right now would never put a shirtless picture of me on the

[00:10:10] channel, obviously. Um, but it's stuff like that. Um, how long have you been doing that?

[00:10:14] Uh, I've been doing that for like a year, but more seriously, the last like two months. So I

[00:10:19] signed up for like a membership to one of those like, uh, places where they have a infrared sauna,

[00:10:24] a cold plunge, and then this vitamin C shower. It sounds kind of funny, but they basically have

[00:10:28] this like attachment that goes in the shower and of course vitamin C, it's crazy. Yeah. It's good

[00:10:33] for your skin and obviously vitamin C, you know, it's good. You know, I don't get scurvy like the

[00:10:36] pirates. Uh, but yeah, so I've been doing that. I do like 40 minutes in the, in the sauna and

[00:10:41] then like about seven minutes in the cold plunge at like 38 degrees. Feels great. It's

[00:10:46] like this, when you come out of that, I just feel like I can do anything. It's really good

[00:10:50] for my mental state too, because like after a long weekend of grinding, I go into that,

[00:10:54] I kind of have like my me time and then, um, yeah, back on the grind. Do you find that

[00:10:59] it helps you, um, when you're like prior, do you do this intentionally prior to when you're

[00:11:06] about to play after during, or is it just whenever you get the opportunity to do it,

[00:11:10] you do it? If I could do it like a few hours before every big session, I would, but it's just

[00:11:16] not feasible. Um, like here, I'm not going to go research a place in Vegas and go cold plunge

[00:11:21] before tomorrow. I'm just going to take a nice shower. But yeah, when I'm in Dallas, which is

[00:11:26] where I live, um, I like to have a routine. I usually Monday to Thursday, I'll do that and it

[00:11:30] feels great, but it's also a health thing too. Like, so it's mental for sure. It gets me into a good

[00:11:35] mental state, but also just, I know the benefits like sauna, uh, it reduces so many, uh, illnesses

[00:11:41] down the line and cold plunging, the same thing. Um, burns a lot of calories too. So if I'm not,

[00:11:47] I'm not running a bunch on the weekend, which I don't do much cardio, it's nice just to sit in

[00:11:51] the sauna with my phone or watch some Netflix or something. And I know I'm losing like 500

[00:11:54] calories. It's kind of like a cheat code. Us poker players, we always find the easy way out of

[00:12:00] stuff. You know, we don't want to work too hard. So I think I definitely found that with the

[00:12:03] saunas. Okay. So the, the poker thing, what was it about it that just suddenly made you go,

[00:12:08] I can actually do this seriously. Do you were, you said that you just started doing it because you

[00:12:13] thought, okay, maybe this is a way that I could pay my bills. At one point in there, did you go,

[00:12:18] I'm actually good at this. I want to pursue this further. So I don't think I've ever like verbalized

[00:12:24] out loud. Like I am good at poker. I just, I tried to play my best and post videos that are

[00:12:30] entertaining, but also educate people. I do have a coach that makes me better. And I can say that

[00:12:35] compared to when I started, I'm leaps and bounds better. But I'd say like in the first two years of

[00:12:42] me, like having a very small bank or like when I first started, it was less than 5k and I would just

[00:12:47] run it up, pay my rent, pay my car, groceries, and then kind of had to recycle that. So I knew like

[00:12:53] after a year or so of doing that with no other income, I was good enough at least to beat the low

[00:12:58] stakes. So then taking the leap to like 2.5 or 5.10, that was more propelled by like my YouTube

[00:13:06] channel. So I had like YouTube income coming in and some sponsors and stuff that helped make sure

[00:13:11] that if I had a bad hit or if I knew that I wasn't supposed to be playing those stakes, but I wanted to

[00:13:15] do it for the videos, I could take a hit, right? Because I had like other income. But in the beginning,

[00:13:19] I knew I was good enough to beat the low stakes. It was, yeah.

[00:13:22] Was there something about the psychology of playing poker that was initially difficult for

[00:13:31] you to overcome? Because like I play casually and whenever I have conversations with poker players,

[00:13:38] the ones who play in tournaments regularly, a lot of it is sort of just being present,

[00:13:41] being consciously aware of what people are doing. And in my mind, I'm just constantly thinking,

[00:13:45] I'm like, I don't even know how to pay attention to all of that when all I'm thinking about is what I

[00:13:49] have in my hand, what's on the board to let alone think about what five other people have.

[00:13:53] Yeah.

[00:13:54] How do you develop that skill set?

[00:13:58] It's definitely something that takes time. I think as a content creator, that has given me a lot of

[00:14:02] skills too, because when I'm playing poker, I have all those same thoughts that you have,

[00:14:05] but then I also have, I have to take notes on every hand because my editor isn't at the table.

[00:14:10] So he needs to know exactly how each hand is going. So I'm on a notepad. People are always like,

[00:14:14] why are you texting so much? I'm like, I'm not. I have to literally recap every single thing

[00:14:18] that just happened in the past hand. Meanwhile, another, the cards don't stop coming. So I got

[00:14:22] to keep peeling cards, making sure I'm playing properly, making sure the camera is good and all

[00:14:26] that. But it's just the multitasking comes with the job. So if you want to be a poker player,

[00:14:32] you got to be a good multitasker and also be able to be cognizant of everything going around you.

[00:14:36] YouTuber, same thing. I think the hardest skill to master, and I wouldn't even say I've mastered

[00:14:43] at this point, but it's not going on tilt, right? So like you lose a big pot and you don't just give

[00:14:48] away your chips in the next 30 minutes. Easier said than done, but that's one of those things

[00:14:55] that once you master it, it's so powerful because you just see every, every table I play at, you see

[00:15:01] that guy that loses a hand in a disgusting way. You shouldn't have lost. He had an 80% chance of

[00:15:05] winning. The guy spikes the river on him and throughout the next 60 minutes, everyone's picking on him and

[00:15:10] his chips are gone. So if you can get, if you can get through that, I, I, it's definitely one of the,

[00:15:14] people always ask me like, what, what should I be doing at low stakes? I'm like, well,

[00:15:18] try to practice good bankroll management. Don't bluff so much. You don't really need to. And, um,

[00:15:24] try not to be on tilt. Yeah. So when you say being on tilt, just for people, like for context,

[00:15:28] people don't understand like you're basically your emotions are running high at that point. You're ready

[00:15:32] to just, you're getting aggressive when you shouldn't be. You're not really playing your best way.

[00:15:36] Exactly. Which happens to us in everyday life sometimes.

[00:15:40] It's really distancing yourself from your emotions and trying to make the best decision based on what's

[00:15:44] in front of you, not like what happened in the past. So that's happening to you in real time. How

[00:15:49] do you distance yourself from those emotions? Those emotions are coming at you hard and fast and

[00:15:53] you're feeling them. So in that moment, how are you just sort of going, okay, I'm going to park these

[00:15:59] emotions over here because now I need to focus on everything else. Cause that, like I just said,

[00:16:03] this can apply to whether you're in business and in a relationship, whatever the case may be,

[00:16:07] when those emotions are high, you got to know how to sort of park them for a moment so you can.

[00:16:12] Yeah. It's super tough. Um, I don't really know how I've gotten good at that. Maybe it's a flaw

[00:16:18] outside of poker because if people are always saying, Oh, share your emotions more, you know,

[00:16:23] it's good to cry or it's good to like do this stuff. It's like, okay, well, I think poker is

[00:16:27] honestly training me to distance myself from a lot of emotions, but specifically in poker,

[00:16:33] the way I'm good at it is I think about the equities. I just, I'm a math guy, right? So if

[00:16:38] I know I made a good decision, I got it in good and he sucked out on me and won, I'm not going to be too

[00:16:42] mad at myself. I'm not gonna be mad at the dealer. Um, all that kind of stuff. Cause I got it in good.

[00:16:48] So that's kind of how I deal with it. Now, if I make a bad play myself, now I might go on a small

[00:16:53] bit of tilt because I'm like, why did I do that? Immediately after putting in a bad call, I'll be

[00:16:56] like, crap, why did I, why did I do that? But I'm curious when you said people were telling you to

[00:17:02] show your emotions more, why? I think just like people, my personal life, I, I'm like I said in the

[00:17:09] beginning of the interview, I'm not, I'm never too, too, uh, I'm not, I'm not a polarized person. I'm

[00:17:14] more kind of in the middle, definitely lean on the positive side. I think I exude positivity, but,

[00:17:19] um, yeah, I think I definitely, uh, could be more, uh, talk about my emotions more.

[00:17:27] I think that's something that has become muted. Um, I think because of poker, but I have, uh, I

[00:17:34] haven't talked about this, but I have signed up for, um, uh, online therapy to, to talk more about

[00:17:39] my emotions. I'll be here with a random person. So I probably should be doing that with people close

[00:17:43] to my life, but I'm going to start with the therapist, talk more about my emotions and be

[00:17:46] more comfortable about that digging deep and just kind of like going through those things.

[00:17:50] Um, why do you think that's so uncomfortable for you? I don't know. I don't know. That's what we're

[00:17:55] digging up in the therapy, but, um, I don't think it's a bad thing to not talk about emotions so much,

[00:18:00] but it's just for something, for some reason, diving super deep into topics kind of gives me a

[00:18:08] little heebie-jeebie a little bit. I kind of like being like more surface level and like fond and like

[00:18:12] nothing's ever like too serious. Yeah. Well, I mean the fact that you're doing like congrats,

[00:18:17] like congrats on doing that because firstly that self-awareness and second, you're taking the step

[00:18:21] to actually do something. You're not just going, yeah, I'm kind of aware this is a thing, but I'm

[00:18:24] not going to do anything about it. You're actually going and doing something about me. So it's good.

[00:18:28] But I also agree with you. There are times and places where to show those emotions, right? It's not,

[00:18:32] you know, whoever's willing to listen, suddenly you're just going to unload everything to them.

[00:18:37] So when you're seeking a professional or even a friend, having those conversations actually helps. And I

[00:18:41] wonder if that would actually help you more when you're at the poker table, because at some point

[00:18:47] those emotions are going to boil to the surface, whether you even, no matter how good of a handle

[00:18:51] you think you have on them. Yeah. No, I definitely agree with you. Last thing I want to do. I think

[00:18:56] the reason I bottle a lot up or at least with my friendships is I want to, I want people to leave,

[00:19:04] like say I hang out with a friend for three hours. I want them to leave that in a happier mood,

[00:19:08] you know, like I want them to enjoy being with me right now. So I feel like me talking about stuff

[00:19:13] that I not want to talk about, but like could, that is like deeper. It, I don't know. It just

[00:19:19] changes the vibe. And like, I always just want to be like having fun and like making people happy

[00:19:23] and stuff. So is that a people pleasing compliment? I'm definitely a people pleaser. Yeah.

[00:19:28] Yeah. Cause I wonder if that just ultimately creates surface level friendships.

[00:19:31] Like they don't actually really get to know who you are. I definitely say I'm, uh, instead of like,

[00:19:37] what's the phrase? It's like friends with everyone, but friends with no one. I'm the opposite of that.

[00:19:42] I have like very deep friendships for sure. Um, like long lasting ones. Um, but at the same time I do,

[00:19:48] I am a people pleaser. Like I, I hardly ever start arguments myself, like all that kind of stuff.

[00:19:54] Do you find that that frustrates you though? Cause I imagine there's a lot that you probably want

[00:19:59] to say at times that you're just like, Nope. I do a good job of biting my tongue sometimes. Like I'm with

[00:20:04] a friend and I don't agree with something like a girlfriend's doing or I don't know, something like that.

[00:20:09] I know when to say things and when not to, or I'm not going to like overstep, but yeah, I mean,

[00:20:13] if it's a best friend, of course I'm going to speak my mind, but yeah, there's definitely a game to it for sure.

[00:20:18] Um, it just depends like what your friendship is with that person. Like what, like where you guys bond and

[00:20:24] like what's important to you guys. Are you guys just like that chill, the chill friendship that's going on on a Friday,

[00:20:28] Saturday night having fun? Are you guys the ones that are like hanging out, uh, you know, during the

[00:20:33] week is, I don't know, there's, there's levels to certain things, but I've definitely called friends

[00:20:37] out before. Don't get me wrong. Have you called yourself out? Uh, in terms of like what? Like

[00:20:43] just for yourself, like to you, like not necessarily in front of other people, but just like when you're

[00:20:48] doing something that you're like, this is not how I should be. Particularly if like something's

[00:20:52] upsetting you or bothering you and you're like, instead of dealing with it, you're like, no.

[00:20:55] I don't know. I don't really know if I probably haven't. No.

[00:20:58] It's, it's a hard exercise to do because it requires you to like really go and you just messed up.

[00:21:03] I'm really trying to think here if I've ever gotten mad at myself.

[00:21:08] I also don't have a great memory. That's one thing that, that is really bad, but, um, no, I'm going to say

[00:21:16] no, I haven't called. Okay. I'll give that a side of caution there. Cause then if I say yes, you're going to talk

[00:21:19] about it and then I'm about to make something else. I don't remember. Yeah.

[00:21:23] This is the vomit you've all been waiting for.

[00:21:27] I just dragged the pot like a champ. Game on.

[00:21:31] Look at the camera, the lights and the action.

[00:21:34] Look at the brain, look at the reaction. Look at the way that we're taking advantage.

[00:21:38] Come on!

[00:21:39] I see the look in your eyes.

[00:21:41] It'd be the look of surprise.

[00:21:43] Oh, God.

[00:21:44] That's just a part of the game.

[00:21:49] That was one for the cameras, wasn't it?

[00:21:53] I like your style, huh?

[00:21:57] I win!

[00:22:16] Okay. So let's move back to the poker piece then. So when you play in these tournaments and you're

[00:22:21] sitting at the table and something doesn't go your way, you said that you're able to sort of

[00:22:26] parcel out those emotions, put them to the side. Do you ever find doing that actually hurts you?

[00:22:33] Because now you may not necessarily be as emotionally invested in the outcome.

[00:22:40] No, I think poker is, it can be a pretty emotionalist game. Like you could just be

[00:22:46] just playing the numbers and the exact strategy you should and I think you'll do perfectly fine.

[00:22:52] I think that's why like when they did that game with computers versus people, the computers were just

[00:22:57] so good. Like there's no emotion there, right? It's just pure GTO, exactly what you should be doing.

[00:23:03] Um, so.

[00:23:05] Sorry, GTO?

[00:23:06] Uh, game theory optimal. Like a thing people say to play perfectly, you play GTO. Yeah.

[00:23:12] And, um, so you're playing in the big game on tour?

[00:23:16] Playing tomorrow, yep. That'll be the biggest game of my life.

[00:23:29] Um, a few things, I guess. Obviously the stakes. But like, one of the hardest things in poker as you

[00:23:35] move up in stakes is distancing yourself from the money and kind of taking the emotions out of it and

[00:23:40] making the right decision in each moment. Now when you're talking about, uh, raising a Honda

[00:23:43] cord on the flop and, and like calling off a, a G wagon on the river, that's, that's a little bit

[00:23:49] hard, uh, easier said than done, right?

[00:23:51] Sure. Um.

[00:23:52] You're making me nervous as you're talking about it.

[00:23:54] Yeah, it's intense. And so that's like one of the things I'm a little bit nervous about is

[00:23:58] just the sheer size of it. Obviously I'm not going to play in a game that I'm not, um,

[00:24:02] that's going to make me go broke if I lose all the money. I'm not, I can't do that and then not

[00:24:06] be able to post videos. Right. Sorry. We're good in that aspect. However, just the sheer size of it,

[00:24:12] I don't want that to become a factor. I don't want to play too tight where someone raises me 20k and

[00:24:18] I make a fold that I shouldn't have. And now it's all over the TVs and people are like, well,

[00:24:21] things tight, that would be a bad outcome here. Right. Cause the goal of going on this is to have fun

[00:24:25] and to bring new people into my channel and promote the game of poker and not look like a complete,

[00:24:29] uh, tight ass. Right. So, um, yeah, are you, are you worried what other people think?

[00:24:35] Only in that aspect? Cause I get that comment so much. Like in the beginning when I was really

[00:24:39] trying to play, I was, I was not taking many chances. Right. And I think that's kind of stuck

[00:24:44] with me a little bit in super high. Um, I don't know the right word for it, but in big pots,

[00:24:50] sometimes I err on the side of caution as opposed to aggression and gambling. So this is a big game.

[00:24:56] I probably kind of have a little bit of that come out as well, but I need to make sure to just also

[00:25:01] think about like what looks good on TV. And if there is a chance where I can gamble a little bit,

[00:25:06] then to do it. Well, ultimately you kind of want to make sure that you're having fun in the process,

[00:25:12] but it makes me wrong. Don't get me wrong. I love to gamble. I love to take these like random spots

[00:25:15] here and like do this like crazy stuff. Like I called, but for different stakes, right? Cause

[00:25:20] like, uh, even like for a 60, uh, so this crazy thing I did where I called six nine offsuit for

[00:25:26] 6,800 bucks. That's a lot of money to call with a really trash hand. And I'll do that in like that

[00:25:31] kind of game, right? Because that's more like my bread and butter. Now, am I going to call like a

[00:25:34] 50 K thing with six nine off? Definitely not. So that's the kind of the thing I'm thinking about

[00:25:39] for tomorrow. Like because there's only six people on the table, you have to play more hands.

[00:25:43] And if there were nine, it's just a strategy thing. Um, there's going to be some interesting

[00:25:48] dynamics for sure where I'm going to be putting some uncomfortable spots with some trash hands.

[00:25:52] So we'll see how it turns out. Is there anyone in particular you're not looking forward to

[00:25:57] playing with or against? Uh, I'm looking forward to playing against everyone. However, in terms of

[00:26:02] just like how good they are, probably Jason Kuhn, dude's a legend. Uh, but that being said,

[00:26:07] his name is iconic. So I got to play with him. And if he takes some money from me, then he does.

[00:26:11] He said, that's the tax, I guess. Is there a way, like, do you have a strategy for how you're going

[00:26:16] to separate, um, that nervousness from the moment? Cause some nervousness is good. It means you care.

[00:26:23] Um, but too much of it can really impede how you think and how you process things. And again,

[00:26:28] all of these, while we're talking about poker, these lessons apply to everything in life,

[00:26:32] right? Is there a strategy that you do or apply where, you know, in this case you're really,

[00:26:37] you're nervous, it might become too much and you're like, okay, I got to tailor that back a little bit.

[00:26:44] I shouldn't let myself get to the point where I get too nervous. Um, I think that's just the mental

[00:26:50] side of it. Right. So I've been in these spots before. I'll tell myself that and sure. The money

[00:26:55] is four times bigger than I've played for before, but as long as I believe in my talents and in the

[00:27:01] goal of me going on it, I don't think I'll get to a point where it will be uncontrollable. Yeah.

[00:27:07] Maybe little things here, palm sweating, maybe the pulse is going a little bit more. I'll for sure

[00:27:10] have to wear a hoodie, you know, in certain spots, but, um, it won't get uncontrollable. Yeah.

[00:27:16] Is there advice you would share with, let's say a newer player who has aspirations to play at the

[00:27:22] level that you're playing at? You gotta really love it. Right. Cause in order to be the best,

[00:27:27] you gotta put in the work and you have to study like four times as much as you play. Um, you.

[00:27:35] So when you say study, what exactly are you studying? Um, so there's different ways to do it. You can

[00:27:41] watch live streams of other people and just kind of see what they do. You can get a coach, you can

[00:27:46] play online and then download all those hands and evaluate them through like computer software

[00:27:52] or a coach will do that for you. Um, experience is a good way to quote unquote study, just playing

[00:27:59] more volume. A lot of the older players, like 70 plus, uh, 70 plus age, they don't study at all. I

[00:28:08] would, I mean, I can't speak for all of them, but most of them don't study. They just have seen so

[00:28:11] much. So they know what to do in certain spots that pretty closely mimics what perfect poker is

[00:28:17] because they've just seen hundreds of thousands of situations. Um, is there a particular player

[00:28:22] that you look up to that you've learned a lot from? Uh, a lot of different people. I mean,

[00:28:28] my icon growing up was Juan Tom Dawn. I really liked Daniel Negreanu's table presence. I think I try to

[00:28:35] embody a lot of that and his hand reading ability, super cool. I interviewed Daniel and we had a full

[00:28:40] length conversation about that exact concept you shared earlier, not to get, when you get tilted or if

[00:28:46] you get upset by something like you really got to control your emotions. He talked about,

[00:28:50] I forget which tournament he played where he, I guess, messed up something and he knows he messed

[00:28:55] up and he couldn't get over it. And it ended up costing him the whole thing because he started

[00:29:00] off with his ego being like up here. These were his words. He's like, my ego was really high

[00:29:04] and I thought that I was going to do much better. And when I wasn't playing as well as I could,

[00:29:09] it got to me and I ended up losing everything. Yeah. So it's interesting to hear that you look up to

[00:29:14] him, but you also seem to apply the same. Yeah. I look up to him in the sense that he's a great

[00:29:18] ambassador for poker. And as my channel has grown, I understand like the power that comes with it and

[00:29:24] also the responsibility too. Right. So a lot of people are saying that I'm getting them into poker.

[00:29:30] And so I need to be a good ambassador. I need to be like super positive. I need to, you know,

[00:29:33] not have like these outbursts at the table that other people are known for. That's their image.

[00:29:37] I'm trying to be more just like, like an example. I don't think people really need to look up to me.

[00:29:43] Like I want to be like that guy, like a poker playing YouTuber. But I think,

[00:29:47] um, I think I'm doing a good job of just kind of bringing new people into the game and just

[00:29:51] showing them like the fun side of poker, as opposed to like headphones, glasses,

[00:29:54] like all that serious stuff, like trying to just squeeze out every bit of equity.

[00:29:57] I'm more showing them like what poker can be if you're just trying to have fun.

[00:30:00] Do you feel a heavy amount of responsibility because you have that channel where now people are

[00:30:07] looking up to you and you represent, you know, the fact that some of these people are jumping

[00:30:10] into poker, wanting to play poker and now you carry that weight?

[00:30:14] Hmm. Yeah, a little bit. I think most of the, the weight on me comes from like me when I started

[00:30:20] the channel five years ago, if I would look back at that person and be like, I'm, we made it. We're

[00:30:25] here now. That person would say, keep going. Um, so yeah, I think that's where it comes. Like,

[00:30:31] keep going, keep pressing. Like, okay, you have a lot of subs, you're doing a lot of cool things,

[00:30:34] but there's always more like there's new ways to innovate. There's new games to show. Um,

[00:30:39] there's new people to play with new tournaments, all that kind of stuff. Like don't be complacent

[00:30:45] because like, that's not what's gotten me to this point.

[00:30:48] You talked about positivity earlier. Um, just earlier today, we had a conversation with Rob

[00:30:54] Mariano, who's also known as Boston Rob. And in that conversation I had with Daniel Negreanu,

[00:30:58] they both talked about constantly being positive, being positive, positive, positive. It helps them

[00:31:04] get forward. It helps them move forward as they're playing through tournaments and whatnot.

[00:31:07] You've said something similar and I'm very fascinated and curious to understand why that's

[00:31:13] so important, but also how you do that, especially when you've got so much else going on.

[00:31:19] How do I say so positive? Yeah. I think it's just in my DNA. I'm just, I love life. I think

[00:31:26] we shouldn't take it for granted. Um, there's more to life than just kind of being in a hamster

[00:31:33] wheel. And I'm trying to show people like, not exactly. You need to follow my footsteps here,

[00:31:38] but you should do what you love and then good things will come. Like, even if I wasn't making

[00:31:44] decent money and I wouldn't have the followers, I still love this. I love making videos that people

[00:31:49] want to watch at least, or that I want to watch. And then I would keep posting, like,

[00:31:54] even if I wouldn't get the views. So that's, that's why people should watch my videos is because

[00:31:58] I'm making them really for me. And then I'm stoked that other people enjoy them so much,

[00:32:03] but in terms of just being positive all the time, I don't know where that comes from. I,

[00:32:07] I guess now it's easy to look at him. People look at me and be like, okay, it makes sense.

[00:32:11] Why is positive? You know, he's got a lot of good things going from a lot of good opportunities,

[00:32:15] but I don't think it really comes from that. I think it's just who I am. I've always been just

[00:32:22] like stoked on life. And if something goes wrong, you just kind of brush it off and onto the next.

[00:32:28] When was the last time you had a bad day?

[00:32:30] Uh, when my dad died.

[00:32:32] How long ago was that?

[00:32:33] Um, it's my emotions. Uh, three months ago.

[00:32:39] I'm sorry.

[00:32:40] Thanks.

[00:32:42] Can I ask you about it?

[00:32:44] Yeah, but you might not get through this interview.

[00:32:46] Yeah.

[00:32:49] What was the...

[00:32:51] Actually, I'd probably prefer not because then I'm just going to be violent.

[00:32:54] Yeah.

[00:32:54] That's okay.

[00:32:55] Probably the one thing that I can't hold my emotions back from.

[00:32:58] Okay.

[00:33:00] Um, how do you get through your bad days?

[00:33:05] That's a good question.

[00:33:06] Um, probably a mix of keeping...

[00:33:14] Recently, I've been trying to keep myself busy with things that give me enjoyment.

[00:33:17] So I've been going to college football games, making more blogs,

[00:33:20] traveling to new spots, meeting new people.

[00:33:23] I really like building new connections and new experiences.

[00:33:26] I get bored with, uh, the same thing over and over.

[00:33:31] Um, other than that, just, like, doing things that make you happy.

[00:33:34] So, like, a certain meal.

[00:33:36] I really like certain types of foods that will, like, get me out of a rut or some fresh air.

[00:33:42] Cold plungers.

[00:33:42] They always seem to snap me out of it, literally.

[00:33:44] Yeah, they have that effect.

[00:33:45] Um, yeah, just a mix of just, like, doing things that make you happy, obviously,

[00:33:51] is the easy answer to what gets you out of a rut, I guess.

[00:33:53] Is there something you're not doing that you would want to do?

[00:33:59] Not right now.

[00:34:00] Right now, kind of, if something pops in my mind, I'm...

[00:34:03] I'll go do it.

[00:34:04] Yeah.

[00:34:04] Um, yeah.

[00:34:08] I mean, I don't know.

[00:34:11] Not just giving you a surface-level answer.

[00:34:16] No, I think I'm...

[00:34:17] Right now, I'm doing almost everything that I'd like to do.

[00:34:20] I'm a good balance between family and work.

[00:34:24] If something sounds cool to do on the weekend, like a big event, I'm pretty much going to it.

[00:34:30] Um...

[00:34:30] How do you balance the family life and everything you have going on?

[00:34:36] Um...

[00:34:36] Because the stuff that you're doing between the content, the poker tournaments,

[00:34:40] the various side projects and businesses, like,

[00:34:43] that just constantly eats up more and more of your time.

[00:34:47] Now, you've got to intentionally carve out time for family, for friends, for relationships,

[00:34:51] for you time.

[00:34:52] How are you balancing that?

[00:34:54] How do you navigate those things?

[00:34:55] That's one of the hardest things I'm trying to do right now,

[00:34:58] and also a reason I signed up for the therapy,

[00:35:01] is to figure out a better way to have, like, a work-life balance.

[00:35:06] So in my mind, I do a decent job.

[00:35:09] Other people have expressed there could be less time away from home

[00:35:14] and less, um...

[00:35:16] Uh...

[00:35:16] Less grinding and more kind of a balance.

[00:35:19] And some of my, like, friends in poker,

[00:35:21] like I was hanging out with my buddy Rampage, Ethan, today.

[00:35:24] Um...

[00:35:25] And he's expressed an interest in the future of having more downtime,

[00:35:30] more just, like, enjoying what he's built kind of thing,

[00:35:32] as opposed to continuing to grind.

[00:35:34] Now, me personally, I...

[00:35:35] I'm really competitive.

[00:35:36] I want to keep going.

[00:35:37] I love what I do, so that's going to be harder for me

[00:35:39] just to turn that switch down all the way to, like, 10%.

[00:35:43] But that being said,

[00:35:46] I...

[00:35:47] I could tone it back a little bit.

[00:35:48] I think I do go pretty crazy.

[00:35:50] Like, if people have been watching my Instagram stories

[00:35:52] for the past few weeks, it's like,

[00:35:53] every single day I'm in, like, almost a different city.

[00:35:56] I'm never anywhere for, like, more than two or three days.

[00:35:59] I'm just always trying to do stuff, make new videos.

[00:36:01] My DMs are just flooded with people inviting me

[00:36:03] to other cool games, like, baseball teams, football teams,

[00:36:07] professional sports guys that are just like,

[00:36:08] I watch your videos, let's play.

[00:36:10] I just want to show those videos.

[00:36:11] I think it's, like, awesome that they want me

[00:36:13] to, like, showcase their game on the internet.

[00:36:15] So I feel like it's responsibility to do it,

[00:36:16] but also I love it.

[00:36:18] So if you know that you need to find better balance,

[00:36:21] what steps are you taking to make that happen?

[00:36:24] I'm not doing a good job, and I'll be honest,

[00:36:28] I'm saying that I need to do that,

[00:36:29] but then, like, this next week,

[00:36:31] I was supposed to have Monday to Wednesday off

[00:36:33] before I go on a trip on Thursday.

[00:36:36] And I just found out that I need to do something

[00:36:39] on Monday and Tuesday, so now I'm only at Wednesday off.

[00:36:41] And instead of being like,

[00:36:43] it's just such a good opportunity

[00:36:44] that I don't want to say no,

[00:36:46] so I really shouldn't.

[00:36:47] Do you have a hard time saying no?

[00:36:48] Yes, I do.

[00:36:49] I do.

[00:36:50] But...

[00:36:50] I do too, so I can sympathize with you.

[00:36:56] A really good phrase or quote that I heard,

[00:36:59] like, I don't know, eight years ago,

[00:37:01] really stuck with me, which is, like, say yes more.

[00:37:05] And so, like, a lot of people will find

[00:37:07] reasons to not do things.

[00:37:09] Like, no, I can't because I worked all day and I'm tired.

[00:37:11] No, I can't because I...

[00:37:13] Well, Monday's not a good excuse

[00:37:14] because that's probably a good excuse,

[00:37:15] but I can't because, you know,

[00:37:17] I did that yesterday or I'm not feeling it.

[00:37:19] But what I like to do is say yes

[00:37:21] and then figure out...

[00:37:23] Just say yes and put myself in the deep end.

[00:37:26] Essentially, like, if I don't...

[00:37:27] If I don't have the energy to do something,

[00:37:29] but a friend really wants me to go do something,

[00:37:31] I'm probably going to say yes.

[00:37:32] So it's kind of, like,

[00:37:34] this balance of, like, doing those things

[00:37:37] and then also, like, taking time for myself

[00:37:39] and the people I care about.

[00:37:41] But I'm usually a yes-sayer.

[00:37:43] It's just there's so many cool things

[00:37:45] that have come because I've taken a chance

[00:37:46] and I did something when I didn't want to.

[00:37:48] Are you worried that they won't be there

[00:37:50] if you said no?

[00:37:52] No.

[00:37:53] But it's, like, as I...

[00:37:55] So, like, even in this past year,

[00:37:56] I can think of probably, like,

[00:37:57] five or ten times that I was, like,

[00:37:59] on the fence going on a trip.

[00:38:00] But I just pushed myself.

[00:38:02] I'm like, let's just do it, right?

[00:38:03] I'll get sleep when I come back.

[00:38:04] Whatever.

[00:38:05] And on that trip,

[00:38:06] I met three or four cool people

[00:38:08] that are now still message

[00:38:09] or there'll be something down the line

[00:38:10] that comes from those people

[00:38:12] I met on that trip.

[00:38:14] So then, going forward,

[00:38:15] it's hard for me to be like,

[00:38:17] okay, you know,

[00:38:18] maybe I don't need to do this one

[00:38:19] because it's like,

[00:38:19] what if I meet someone cool on that trip?

[00:38:21] You know, because I did, like,

[00:38:22] seven times this year.

[00:38:23] I literally met...

[00:38:25] Like, last year,

[00:38:27] I met someone at a football game

[00:38:28] I wasn't going to go to

[00:38:29] because my friend bailed on the trip.

[00:38:31] I ended up driving all by myself

[00:38:32] seven hours

[00:38:34] and to Mississippi.

[00:38:35] I met a guy there

[00:38:36] who introduced me to another guy

[00:38:37] who then six months later

[00:38:39] told me that

[00:38:40] one of his friends' dad

[00:38:42] has a private jet

[00:38:43] and wants to fly me out

[00:38:44] for a poker game.

[00:38:45] If I wouldn't have gone

[00:38:46] and it was one of the coolest experiences

[00:38:48] of my life, right?

[00:38:49] Playing poker in a hangar

[00:38:51] with a jet

[00:38:51] and, like, a helicopter.

[00:38:53] It was awesome.

[00:38:53] Like, it was super cool

[00:38:55] and people still ask me

[00:38:55] about that game all the time

[00:38:56] but if I wouldn't have

[00:38:57] driven seven hours by myself

[00:38:59] after my friend bailed on me,

[00:39:00] I wouldn't have met that guy

[00:39:01] who interested me to do this guy.

[00:39:02] It's just like this can't affect.

[00:39:03] It's like sometimes

[00:39:04] you just gotta do stuff

[00:39:05] and it's like...

[00:39:07] Then that's, like,

[00:39:08] the coolest things

[00:39:08] that come out of,

[00:39:09] like, nothing, you know?

[00:39:11] So, the game

[00:39:12] that's coming up tomorrow,

[00:39:14] you said.

[00:39:17] What's the percentage

[00:39:18] between nervous and excited?

[00:39:21] It's pretty much, like,

[00:39:22] 75-25 at this point.

[00:39:24] Excited.

[00:39:24] Yeah.

[00:39:25] Yeah.

[00:39:25] The nervousness is just, like,

[00:39:27] a little bit of

[00:39:28] pre-big game anxiety, right?

[00:39:30] It's like, okay,

[00:39:30] thinking about certain things

[00:39:33] but I've played

[00:39:34] so many streams before

[00:39:35] that I think

[00:39:35] as soon as I get

[00:39:36] under the lights

[00:39:37] and I'm at the table,

[00:39:38] chips are in front of me

[00:39:39] and the card,

[00:39:39] I'm touching the cards,

[00:39:40] I'll be good.

[00:39:41] Yeah.

[00:39:42] Is there a technique

[00:39:43] that you do

[00:39:44] that gets you

[00:39:46] really zoned in?

[00:39:47] Like, you talked about

[00:39:48] some of those little

[00:39:49] intricate things

[00:39:49] where it's like

[00:39:50] when you're sitting there

[00:39:50] you got the lights,

[00:39:52] you touch the cards,

[00:39:52] like, you're really

[00:39:53] getting present.

[00:39:54] Is there a technique

[00:39:55] that you apply

[00:39:56] to stay present?

[00:39:58] Not really.

[00:39:59] I think breathing

[00:39:59] is important, though.

[00:40:01] Maybe I'll take

[00:40:02] a few deep breaths

[00:40:03] and just kind of, like,

[00:40:03] remind myself

[00:40:04] where I'm at.

[00:40:06] But no,

[00:40:07] I kind of just

[00:40:07] push through it.

[00:40:08] I'm not really

[00:40:09] doing anything

[00:40:10] super special.

[00:40:11] There's no sauce here.

[00:40:13] yeah.

[00:40:14] You said you had a coach?

[00:40:16] Mm-hmm.

[00:40:17] What's something

[00:40:18] that you learned

[00:40:18] from the coach

[00:40:19] that you still apply today?

[00:40:21] Because someone, again,

[00:40:22] who sees the YouTube channel,

[00:40:24] sees you playing

[00:40:25] in these games,

[00:40:26] would probably not assume

[00:40:28] that you've got a coach,

[00:40:29] that you work with someone.

[00:40:31] One, why is that important?

[00:40:32] And two,

[00:40:32] what's the biggest thing

[00:40:33] you've learned from them?

[00:40:36] Yeah, I think having a coach

[00:40:37] is definitely important,

[00:40:38] even as a YouTuber

[00:40:39] where most of my income

[00:40:40] comes from YouTube.

[00:40:41] It's still,

[00:40:42] as I push myself

[00:40:43] through the stakes,

[00:40:44] having a coach is important

[00:40:45] because they'll

[00:40:45] keep you grounded.

[00:40:47] They'll also remind you

[00:40:48] where you started, right,

[00:40:49] when you started working

[00:40:49] with them, like,

[00:40:50] where, you know,

[00:40:51] your ground floor was.

[00:40:53] But also, like,

[00:40:54] as I play bigger and bigger,

[00:40:55] the money does matter.

[00:40:56] Just knowing that I have

[00:40:58] the right tools

[00:40:59] and fundamentals

[00:41:00] to, like,

[00:41:00] get me through certain spots

[00:41:01] and know that I'm playing

[00:41:02] it correctly is massive.

[00:41:03] And it's one thing

[00:41:04] to, like,

[00:41:05] give away, like,

[00:41:06] $200 or $300

[00:41:06] in a smaller game

[00:41:08] and then $2,000 or $3,000

[00:41:09] or $20 or $30

[00:41:10] in a massive game.

[00:41:11] So having a coach

[00:41:13] definitely helps you

[00:41:13] prepare for those bigger spots.

[00:41:16] Something that I've,

[00:41:17] something that I've learned

[00:41:18] from my coach Alvin,

[00:41:20] hmm,

[00:41:21] oh, definitely a lot of stuff,

[00:41:22] but it's all, like,

[00:41:23] nerdy things,

[00:41:23] like,

[00:41:24] don't fold some,

[00:41:25] don't call,

[00:41:26] you got a three-better fold,

[00:41:27] like,

[00:41:28] certain spots,

[00:41:29] I know I should be

[00:41:30] four-betting,

[00:41:30] ace-queen off,

[00:41:36] care about,

[00:41:37] but,

[00:41:39] yeah,

[00:41:40] just more on,

[00:41:40] like,

[00:41:40] a basic level.

[00:41:42] Just when I make

[00:41:43] a good hand,

[00:41:44] go for value,

[00:41:45] bet thin on the river,

[00:41:48] bluff only in spots

[00:41:49] where I can pick up

[00:41:50] additional equity

[00:41:51] on the turn in the river,

[00:41:52] don't just go for

[00:41:52] some crazy bluff

[00:41:53] for TV,

[00:41:54] and just,

[00:41:55] yeah,

[00:41:55] this always reminds me,

[00:41:56] like,

[00:41:57] to play good poker

[00:41:58] because I don't always

[00:41:59] need to put on a show,

[00:42:00] like,

[00:42:00] my shorts and my vlogs

[00:42:02] will,

[00:42:02] with editing

[00:42:03] and the cartoon aspect

[00:42:05] of it and the music

[00:42:06] and stuff,

[00:42:06] that'll be the show.

[00:42:07] I can play solid poker

[00:42:09] sometimes and I don't

[00:42:09] have to worry about,

[00:42:10] like,

[00:42:10] trying to do too much

[00:42:12] and let my editor

[00:42:13] kind of make the video

[00:42:15] until I have a masterpiece,

[00:42:16] yeah.

[00:42:17] Two more questions

[00:42:18] for you.

[00:42:20] What's one lesson

[00:42:21] that you've taken

[00:42:22] from playing poker

[00:42:23] at this level

[00:42:23] that you apply

[00:42:24] in your daily life

[00:42:26] that works for you,

[00:42:27] helps you move forward,

[00:42:28] helps you succeed?

[00:42:31] I think in poker,

[00:42:34] when you either

[00:42:34] win a big pot,

[00:42:35] lose a big pot,

[00:42:36] you always just,

[00:42:37] the next cards

[00:42:38] are coming at you,

[00:42:39] right?

[00:42:39] So you have to just

[00:42:40] kind of almost forget

[00:42:41] what happened

[00:42:42] and move on to the next.

[00:42:43] Obviously,

[00:42:43] you can pick up things

[00:42:44] around the table,

[00:42:45] how certain people

[00:42:46] played certain hands,

[00:42:46] so you don't want

[00:42:47] to forget that,

[00:42:47] but if you want

[00:42:48] a big pot,

[00:42:49] it's important to come

[00:42:50] back down to the middle

[00:42:51] and just be composed,

[00:42:52] right?

[00:42:53] Meanwhile,

[00:42:53] if you lost a big pot,

[00:42:54] you don't want to be on tilt,

[00:42:55] you want to come back

[00:42:56] up to the middle,

[00:42:56] so I think in life,

[00:42:57] I've definitely noticed

[00:42:59] myself doing a better job.

[00:43:00] I've always been pretty good

[00:43:01] at it,

[00:43:02] but I think through poker,

[00:43:03] I've gotten better at

[00:43:05] keep putting one foot

[00:43:06] in front of the next,

[00:43:07] right?

[00:43:08] If something bad happens,

[00:43:09] you know,

[00:43:09] there's a better day ahead.

[00:43:10] If something good happens,

[00:43:11] you know,

[00:43:11] just be cautious

[00:43:11] because something could happen,

[00:43:13] right?

[00:43:14] And just never

[00:43:15] getting too down on myself

[00:43:16] about like,

[00:43:18] I don't know,

[00:43:19] anything.

[00:43:19] Like if a video does bad,

[00:43:21] whatever,

[00:43:21] I'll post another one.

[00:43:22] Next one will do good.

[00:43:23] You just got to kind of

[00:43:24] stay more like level.

[00:43:25] Yeah.

[00:43:26] And if you can go back in time

[00:43:29] and talk to young Alex,

[00:43:33] give him one piece of advice

[00:43:34] on this journey,

[00:43:36] this process,

[00:43:37] before he started all of this,

[00:43:39] something you know today

[00:43:41] that you wish he knew

[00:43:42] when you were starting.

[00:43:43] What's that piece of advice

[00:43:45] you've done?

[00:43:45] Specifically with YouTube,

[00:43:47] consistency is key.

[00:43:48] I would tell myself

[00:43:48] not to miss postings.

[00:43:51] I think there was like

[00:43:52] eight months

[00:43:52] where I stopped posting

[00:43:53] for a little bit.

[00:43:54] It was through COVID

[00:43:55] and we had other stuff

[00:43:56] going on there,

[00:43:56] but consistency is key.

[00:43:59] Always enjoy what you do

[00:44:01] because it shows.

[00:44:04] And never take yourself

[00:44:06] too serious probably.

[00:44:07] It's just,

[00:44:08] you know,

[00:44:08] let's have fun with it.

[00:44:11] Thanks so much, Alex.

[00:44:12] Yeah, appreciate it.

[00:44:12] It was great.

[00:44:13] Thank you.

[00:44:13] Wish you the best of luck

[00:44:14] on the big game.

[00:44:15] Yeah.

[00:44:16] I'll be rooting for you.

[00:44:17] Thank you.

[00:44:17] It's going to be fun.

[00:44:21] I bet.

[00:44:22] Honestly,

[00:44:22] like just thinking about,

[00:44:23] you know,

[00:44:24] playing in a game like that

[00:44:25] makes me nervous.

[00:44:26] My hands got sweaty

[00:44:26] as you were talking.

[00:44:27] I'm like,

[00:44:27] I can't,

[00:44:28] you know,

[00:44:29] imagine betting a G-Wagon

[00:44:30] on something.

[00:44:32] But honestly,

[00:44:33] I've yet to do it,

[00:44:34] but I use that reference

[00:44:35] now because I anticipate

[00:44:36] tomorrow I might be in a spot

[00:44:38] where I'll have to call off

[00:44:39] a G-Wagon

[00:44:40] or maybe I'll even

[00:44:41] have a good hand,

[00:44:42] hopefully,

[00:44:42] and be able to bet that.

[00:44:44] Yeah.

[00:44:44] Maybe I'll do that

[00:44:46] in the vlog.

[00:44:46] Positive thinking.

[00:44:47] Kind of kind of thing.

[00:44:48] How much I bet,

[00:44:48] I'll just say,

[00:44:49] and Jason Kuhn

[00:44:50] raised me a G-Wagon.

[00:44:51] Yeah,

[00:44:52] exactly.

[00:44:52] Come back to this.

[00:44:53] I love it.

[00:44:54] And I wish you the best of luck.

[00:44:55] Thank you so much

[00:44:55] for having this conversation with me.

[00:44:56] Thank you.

[00:44:57] Appreciate it.

[00:44:57] Thank you.

[00:44:58] Thank you so much,

[00:44:58] everybody.