WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:03.839 Two days after the main, Howard Letter calls me and says, Okay, Josh, 2 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:06.240 we're putting Full Tilt together and we want to bring 3 00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:07.759 you in as team Full Tilt. 4 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.279 Hey, this is Remco. Thanks for clicking on the video. 5 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:12.759 This is my brand new podcast called Face the Ace, 6 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:15.000 in which I talked to the most interesting people in 7 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:18.280 poker and go a little deeper into the topics you 8 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:22.600 most care about. Enjoy, Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to a 9 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:26.079 new episode of Face the Ace. The Ace today, mister 10 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:31.000 Josh Aria a career going back many decades, Lots to discuss, 11 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:33.960 lots to talk about. First off, if you enjoy the podcast, 12 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:36.159 please like the video, subscribe to the channel, leave a 13 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:39.479 comment for perhaps an idea on a future guest. Josh, 14 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:41.600 We're going to dive right into it. So as we're 15 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:44.039 sitting here, we are hearing some of the buzz and 16 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:47.240 the excitement of day eight of the main. To paint 17 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:49.880 the picture for people when this is happening. 18 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:53.600 A seven or day seven, I think sleep in the 19 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.640 main same thing you went on a run this year. 20 00:00:57.039 --> 00:00:59.759 We talked on the bubble briefly. It seemed like you 21 00:00:59.799 --> 00:01:02.119 were completely in it. You were in it mentally you 22 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:06.079 were totally making a run. Does it feel just as 23 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:08.280 exciting every time you get some chips in this one? 24 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:12.519 Yeah, this tournament's just different. I mean it's you start 25 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:16.519 to sense, like the environment, the atmosphere. You see the 26 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:19.840 media running around, like when the bubble, like it starts 27 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:24.599 a little before the bubble, because it's like getting to 28 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:26.879 day three and day four of a tournament is tough, 29 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:29.879 like not going broke day in and day out is 30 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:32.799 very hard. And then the media starts running around when 31 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:34.640 we're on the bubble, and that's a lot of fun. 32 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.200 And you know, you start hearing stories from people that 33 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:40.719 like this is their dream that there was one guy 34 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:44.159 that he said that he spent twenty three hours flying 35 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:47.560 here to play this one event and is actually the 36 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:50.680 guy that beat my set of sevens. But no, there's 37 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:54.560 so many cool stories, and then like I just there's 38 00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:57.599 times that I'm playing that I kind of you know, 39 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.840 zone out and uh start realizing just how fortunate I 40 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:05.200 am and just reminding myself because you know, we do 41 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:07.719 this every single day, day in, day out. We come 42 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:09.960 in here and we do the same thing, but the 43 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:12.759 main event's different. And then it's just like I remind 44 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:15.759 myself how lucky I am to be in this spot 45 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:19.520 and to be comfortable in this spot. So yeah, it's 46 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:21.840 the main event is just a different animal, and there's 47 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:23.599 no there's no close second. 48 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.360 Would you have given me a similar response when you 49 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:28.639 first was playing the main? 50 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:38.960 No, No, I was a very naive young kid that 51 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:45.319 expected you know, it was it's like my third or 52 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:49.199 fourth main that I ran deep in and just even there, 53 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:51.560 I mean, it was exciting being there. I remember the 54 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:56.919 adrenaline just pumping through me. But the thought of, you know, 55 00:02:57.080 --> 00:02:59.000 soak it in you might not get to do this 56 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:02.439 again never crossed my mind. It was just like, Okay, 57 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:06.360 see you guys next year. So now I know how 58 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:08.439 special this event is, so. 59 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:12.599 You're able to appreciate the one run you did have. Ah. 60 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:16.840 Absolutely, I love watching back and it's, uh, it's it's 61 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:22.360 really cool thinking about, you know, things that happened along 62 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:24.639 the way. There was one there was there was one 63 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:31.599 story that so I got really lucky against UH. I'll 64 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:34.120 think of who it was, but but like there was 65 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:39.439 like a five six seven flop and I had eight 66 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.840 ten and I jammed on the turn and I got 67 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:47.639 called by UH. Set of fives and banked the straight. 68 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:52.319 But I remember not even stacking my chips. I was 69 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:57.919 like so overtaken by the moment, Like it was like 70 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:01.000 two minutes before dinner break, I didn't even stack my chips, 71 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.319 and I just went to dinner break, and the people 72 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:05.280 that I was meeting at dinner thought that I had 73 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:07.479 gotten knocked out, like they looked at me. I was 74 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:13.280 like so shaken from it. But now it was there 75 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:15.439 was there was It was a lot of fun. It 76 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:19.319 was it was in the moment you forget, like you 77 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:23.000 don't feel it, or I don't. I get into a 78 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:25.000 zone and like when I'm making deep runs in a 79 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:30.160 tournament and and and I don't really feel what's going on. 80 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:33.879 I just play and it just time slows down. You 81 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:36.000 get in that zone and just you just play and 82 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:38.319 you're not thinking about You're staying in the moment. You're 83 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:42.040 not thinking about externals. But afterwards, when when I look back, 84 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:43.600 and it's just like, man, that was fun. 85 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:47.279 So the moment in time that you chose to make 86 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:50.639 your run probably a massive factor as well for how 87 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:52.560 the rest of your career played out, because it came 88 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.920 with so much attention on ESPN we're talking like that. 89 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:59.279 The game was peaking, numbers kept going up year over year, 90 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:02.160 and you were, all of a sudden, overnight sort of 91 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:04.879 poker mainstay. If you were at a table, it would 92 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:07.600 be like, oh, this is josh Aria's table, and that 93 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:10.360 has sort of carried on for years and years. How 94 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:12.720 was it to be sort of, you know, poker famous, 95 00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:13.360 if you will. 96 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:15.560 Well, at first, it was really hard, like very hard, 97 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:18.279 because that was back in the I don't know what 98 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:20.720 was what would you call the forums, like the two 99 00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:24.439 plus two forums. It was really hard because that was 100 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:27.639 I'd never really looked at the forums before. And now 101 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.879 all of a sudden, like I'll hear from somebody and Josh, 102 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.879 did you see what people were saying about you? And 103 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:39.519 and I've never been I always liked people liking me, 104 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:43.839 and as a kid, it just I wanted everybody to 105 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.639 like me. It would just it made life easier. And 106 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:50.839 I was an outcast as a teenager, didn't really have 107 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:53.399 a group of people, so I just I had that 108 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:59.399 pick me, uh vibe or whatever. So now I'm looking 109 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:01.519 at these news and people are saying shit about me 110 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:04.079 that I've never heard. This guy is a punk, this 111 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:07.959 guy's an asshole. Screw him. I can't believe he would 112 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.199 do that. He's poor sportsman. So now I'm seeing things 113 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:16.079 that I've never thought about myself. I've never seen or 114 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:19.279 heard anybody say this about me. Now I'm going to 115 00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:23.439 I have plans to go to the Borgata. It was 116 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:27.079 the September, the final table was in May, and plans 117 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.040 on my first poker trip after that and going to 118 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:32.519 the Borgota. But I'm scared to go, Like I'm like, 119 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:39.399 people hate me. It was hard. I went and got 120 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:43.720 through it and realized that people are so much meaner 121 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:45.800 on the Internet than they are in real life because 122 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:50.519 I didn't experience any of that in real life. But 123 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:56.920 I was young, and I'm a completely different person now, 124 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.519 very secure with who I am. I understand and that 125 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:05.800 you know people's views, people's views of me are through 126 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:10.399 their lens, and you know their opinion of me is 127 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:13.240 none of my business. And those are things that I 128 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:16.319 wish I knew back then. It was cool because I 129 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:19.639 was never coming up. I was never the best baseball player. 130 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:22.720 My best friend was better than me. I was never 131 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:25.480 the best pool player. I was always third or fourth 132 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.759 in our group of guys. There was a couple guys 133 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:34.160 in town that that that played better poker, you know, 134 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:36.279 because they didn't go broke. I would go broke. I 135 00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:39.079 would run up bigger bank rolls, but I would also 136 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:43.800 go broke. So so now all of a sudden people 137 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:47.600 like me because I did good in a tournament. It 138 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:50.560 was cool. A lot of cool things came with it. 139 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:53.600 You know, I got a sponsorship from an online site 140 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:57.120 that you know, provided for my family. So yeah, it 141 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:59.800 was cool. It was I I've always been able to 142 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.839 talk to people, so it did. It didn't It didn't 143 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.959 really affect me negatively, but yeah, the cool things that 144 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:09.839 came with it made it made it nice. 145 00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:13.399 Was the attitude that a lot of people remember you 146 00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:16.920 for in the for Maine. Was that almost more like 147 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:18.800 a defense mechanism. 148 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.439 No, it was just me. I mean I come from 149 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:25.399 the pool hall. I come from gambling with drug dealers 150 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:32.840 and and uh addicts and degenerates and and in the 151 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:37.879 pool halls. You know, you have to, you know, have 152 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:40.240 this bravado about you or you're gonna get run over. 153 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:45.279 And it's just where I come from. I've never, like 154 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:47.879 I said, I've never been the best at anything, so 155 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:52.840 I have to like you say put. I don't know 156 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:55.240 if it's a defense mechanism, but it's almost like a 157 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:59.080 costume where it's like I want you to feel it, 158 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:05.720 like I want you to if I'm not your biggest fear, 159 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:08.639 I want to make you feel like it. You know, 160 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:12.279 I want to believe that I'm your biggest fear. So 161 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:16.679 I mean, it's I'm just a competitor, and sometimes bad 162 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.759 things come up, and still to this day, I get 163 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:21.639 I get upset. I mean, and I did a good 164 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:23.840 job biting my tongue a few days ago, like I 165 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:27.600 took a six sick beat on day five. I think 166 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:30.879 I was in a guy jammed with a seven off 167 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:33.639 suit and I had two aces and I lost the 168 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:37.919 pot and it almost came out. I was I was 169 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:42.120 burning inside, like I couldn't believe that I lost this hand. 170 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:47.519 But you know, at fifty one, you're I'm able to 171 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:52.360 reel it back in and you know, a couple of 172 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:55.120 minutes to vent and then you know, I'm back to myself. 173 00:09:55.279 --> 00:09:59.600 But isn't that fire perhaps also the reason for your success. 174 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:02.279 One thousand perc one thousand percent, Like it's I'm a 175 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:06.360 competitor in nature, no matter what I do It's like 176 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:10.480 if if if we're leaving the house at the same 177 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:12.039 time going to the same place, I want to get 178 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:16.240 there first. You know, if if if we're leaving the 179 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:18.799 tea box on the golf course at the same time, 180 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:20.799 I want to get to my ball first. You know, 181 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:24.600 it's I just I'm a competitor and I always will 182 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:29.399 be like that's you know, that's what's allowed me to 183 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:34.879 continue to compete at you know, this age that I'm 184 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:37.639 at against kids that work a lot harder and a 185 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:41.200 lot smarter. You know, there's I've got something in me 186 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.120 that helps me compete with them. And that's what it is. 187 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:46.840 It is really cool, and we'll get deeper into this. 188 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:51.360 To have sort of seen your resurgence sort of twenty 189 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:53.200 nine ish and then you sort of built on that, 190 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:56.159 and for many years prior to that you were around, 191 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:58.600 but you you didn't have that same sort of presence, 192 00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:03.000 and yeah, that the same result. We'll get into what 193 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.960 turned things around, and I'm very curious how that wins. 194 00:11:06.120 --> 00:11:08.360 But what I'm curious about is purely from like a 195 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:11.720 skill and a game level, what it is now that 196 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:14.799 still makes you able to compete because all we ever 197 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:17.759 hear are the stories of the studying and all that stuff. 198 00:11:17.879 --> 00:11:20.919 But what is it? Is it experience and perhaps the 199 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:23.759 live element that make you successful. How would you define them? 200 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:27.519 It's definitely the live element. Like I I'm good at 201 00:11:27.559 --> 00:11:30.759 live poker, like I when I get to look at 202 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:34.480 a guy in the eye and you know, evaluate, And 203 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:37.399 but also I've worked on my game a lot. Like I. 204 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:41.039 I'm surrounded by the best players in the world. Like 205 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:43.720 I talk to Daniel mcgran who every day. I talked 206 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:45.600 to Sean Deep every day. I talked to Matt Glance 207 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:48.600 every day, Dan Wyman every day. There's a laundry list 208 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:52.399 of and even some of the people like with Poker Steak, 209 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:54.519 I talk to these people that post on Poker Steak, 210 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:57.399 and I have the best players in the world. At 211 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:00.960 my dispense, I'd be a complete idiot it to not 212 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:04.120 soak up everything that I can. And that's just one 213 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:08.600 thing I've always done is my whole life. I've remained 214 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:14.039 the dumbest person in the room and absorb everything that 215 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:17.240 I can. So I ask a lot of questions. I 216 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:20.360 work in the gray area. I question like, I ask 217 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:23.639 a lot of questions, like when somebody that's not that 218 00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:27.240 good or isn't supposed to be that good is doing good? 219 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:30.919 I want to know what they're doing, like I ask questions, 220 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:34.320 and because they're doing something right, there's something there. It's 221 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:38.879 not just pure luck. So I do my poker has 222 00:12:38.919 --> 00:12:45.279 definitely improved on a technical aspect, but at the same time, 223 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:50.440 I've dealt with a lot of personal issues that I 224 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:53.960 want to succeed. Whereas there were many times in the 225 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:59.039 past where I was unwilling to accept the pain of 226 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:02.480 trying hard, and that was a stumbling block that I 227 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:05.639 got over where I was like it was so much 228 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:10.440 easier just to dump off eternally, Like internally, it was 229 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:15.120 easier just to punt because I could just tell myself, oh, 230 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:17.080 I punted it and it didn't hurt that bad. But 231 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:19.559 I was afraid of feeling the pain of trying my 232 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:26.080 best and failing. But now it's I try my best 233 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:29.600 and I'm I'm happy with the result and I'm not 234 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:30.399 afraid of the pain. 235 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:36.159 So when you have that massive success at the start 236 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:39.440 and sort of launch you into poker fame, also coming 237 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:41.399 into a lot of money, having to sponsorships on top 238 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.200 of that, you you know, have like another big almost 239 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.519 million dollar score, you know nine, it seems like, you know, 240 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:51.600 unstoppable in a way of cashing the fifty k in 241 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:54.759 twenty eleven. So everything sort of seems to be rolling forward. 242 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:56.960 But from the way you say it, it's almost like 243 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:01.039 you were slowly fading or slowly falling. When did the 244 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.639 sort of the falls start and how deep did you fall? 245 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:06.120 I mean, I felt pretty hard because I didn't care. 246 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:11.799 I was in a marriage that I hated. I was 247 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:18.320 stuck there because I loved my kids immensely, and I 248 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:21.440 was afraid of the situation that my kids would fall 249 00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:25.879 in had I left. So it's a horrible decision. Like 250 00:14:26.039 --> 00:14:28.120 if I could go back, I would have left a 251 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:31.879 long time ago. I don't know. I'm extremely happy. I'm 252 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:33.639 not saying I wish I would have done something different, 253 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:37.559 But it was a bad decision to put my ex 254 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.879 wife through and to put my kids through in a 255 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.000 very unloving relationship. What I was doing was really bad, 256 00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:48.600 Like it was destructive. It was extremely destructive to me, 257 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:52.720 to my ex, to my entire family, my kids. But 258 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:57.159 I went through the motions, and you know, finally, when 259 00:14:57.159 --> 00:15:01.240 my kids got a little older, I left the relationship, 260 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:10.440 and that's when life turned around, relationships, career, everything, it was, 261 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:16.080 it was, it was. It was really muddy for a 262 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:21.240 little while, Like it was really muddy, but you know, 263 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:25.320 relationships with my kids and my family, my dad, my brother, 264 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:32.200 my sister. It's a hundred x of what it was 265 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:41.039 like from two thousand, two thousand to twenty nineteen. Yeah, 266 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:49.679 it was everything came together. I got the most positive 267 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:54.000 human being on the face of the earth. Like my 268 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:59.960 wife now is an incredible, incredible human that I love 269 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:07.000 spending time with, and like I can't imagine how she 270 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.519 was attracted to the person that I was in twenty 271 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:11.320 nineteen because I was a fucking disaster. 272 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:15.000 When you say disaster, give us like an example. Was 273 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:16.320 it your attitude? Was it? 274 00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:19.720 Just everything habits, like everything. I was on drugs or 275 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:22.279 not drugs. I was well, yeah, drugs. I was taken 276 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:25.879 adderall every day. I was taken adderall every day. I 277 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:29.679 was taken ambient to go to sleep, and thought that 278 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:31.960 I needed it. You know, I thought I was diagnosed 279 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.799 by a doctor with ADHD, and you need to take 280 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:39.759 thirty milligrams of adderall in the morning, you know, take 281 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:44.279 another fifteen out at another fifteen milligrams of adderall and 282 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:47.639 then and then you know you have that much adderall 283 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:49.480 pumping through your system, how are you going to go 284 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:53.120 to sleep? Well, just take an ambient. Same doctor prescribes 285 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:56.279 the same ambient. I didn't care about my poker results. 286 00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:58.639 I mean I had you know, I own a bar 287 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:03.000 in Atlanta, and I'm not a big spender. Uh so 288 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:09.799 I don't need that much money. I was fine, But yeah, 289 00:17:09.799 --> 00:17:13.559 I was. I was just a disaster. I was. I 290 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:20.640 would look at things very negatively, but yeah, just like 291 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:26.440 it was just it was so awesome meeting. I couldn't 292 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:31.240 wait to introduce Rachel to my kids, and it was. 293 00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:35.839 But yeah, it's been we've been together. We met shortly 294 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:41.920 after I was separated, and we've been together like seven 295 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:47.839 years now, and it's, uh, it's it's it's a pleasure 296 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.119 waking up every morning and living life with her, and 297 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:55.200 and like, uh, it's it's made me a different person, 298 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:59.519 and it's made me in my old days or in 299 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:04.480 my young days. I should have wanted to impress my kids, 300 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:08.079 impress my dad, even if I even if I didn't 301 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:13.400 like my partner, I should want to impress my dad, 302 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:17.119 my kids. But I didn't. I guess I wasn't mature 303 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:20.599 enough to so there wasn't anybody that I was really 304 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:24.680 responsible to except for myself. But now it's like, I 305 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.160 want to live life to impress my wife, Like when 306 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:29.960 I do something cool, like I mean, she sees it 307 00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:33.240 before I say, oh did you see that or whatever 308 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:36.319 and like and so it's I just I want to 309 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:39.839 impress her every day and I want to I want 310 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.640 to be a better person for her because she deserves it, 311 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:47.079 and it just makes me so much happier with myself. 312 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:50.559 So when I look at your your career arc as 313 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:53.240 far as tournament results, the one thing that does stand 314 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:55.599 out is that throughout all those years, as you mentioned, 315 00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:57.519 you know it it was like a steady decline from 316 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:00.759 two thousand onwards, the results are still there. You're still 317 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:02.960 playing all these events. You're still you know, getting in 318 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:05.039 the mix, and you know, lots of close calls in 319 00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:08.920 big events. So what was it that did motivate you 320 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:10.960 to keep doing that? Because it almost sounds to me 321 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.039 as though you might as well have couldn't just you know, 322 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:15.519 driven off to Alaska to go fishing for a couple 323 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:15.920 of years. 324 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:21.079 Well, I mean I love competing. Vegas is fun, you know, 325 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.480 it was I was younger and I was doing the 326 00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:28.599 wrong things in Vegas. I uh, you know, I was. 327 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:31.960 I was around like there was like a six or 328 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.640 seven year stretch where like I had a locker at 329 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:39.079 Shadow Creek, I was gambling really high in the casino. 330 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:46.400 So I was having what I thought was fun, very destructive, 331 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:49.240 Like I mean I was, I was winning or losing 332 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:54.400 two to five hundred thousand a year in the casino. 333 00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:57.839 And now I don't cammel at all. I was having 334 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:02.400 fun and h it was, you know, taking my mind 335 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.240 off you know, the other stuff that was not right 336 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:05.839 in my life. 337 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:09.319 Was there a turning point as far as the gambling goes, 338 00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:12.079 where you realize, like why am I doing this still? 339 00:20:12.440 --> 00:20:15.559 I mean the turning point was when I got separated 340 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:21.039 and it wasn't fun anymore. Like I didn't need to 341 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:24.640 get that high from gambling. I didn't need. It wasn't 342 00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:27.359 doing for me what it did before. I wasn't escaping 343 00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:33.200 from anything. Yeah, just like as soon as I made 344 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:36.240 the move in twenty nineteen, just like the desire to 345 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:38.079 go gamble huge just stopped. 346 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:43.480 It's funny because you you had that big moment happened 347 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:48.000 in your life where separation, meeting your your now wife Rachel, 348 00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:52.039 and then all of a sudden, like a cascade, the 349 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:55.400 results came pouring in. And I'm not one to say that, 350 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:58.359 you know, momentum is real or you know, if you 351 00:20:58.359 --> 00:21:01.640 do good things you get nice, but in your in 352 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:04.519 your sort of career arc or even even just looking 353 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:07.559 at the pure results, everything just started clicking it. 354 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:13.000 Yeah, it did. That was when I started getting really 355 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:18.279 close to Matt, Glance, Dan and Sean and so now 356 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:21.440 I have these great players that I talked to, and 357 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:23.920 I just you know, they're typing in hand histories and 358 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:26.160 I half understand them, and I'm just like reading them 359 00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:29.160 through them, reading through them and like over and over 360 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:33.880 and over and like not acting, you know, acting like oh, 361 00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:36.640 it's just a hand history, but like you know, then 362 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:39.319 asking some questions about it and just absorbing it all. 363 00:21:39.480 --> 00:21:45.920 And I kind of had a new found desire for success. 364 00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:51.920 I found myself, you know, getting super short in a 365 00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:58.920 tournament and not giving up. I found myself noticing spots 366 00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:02.920 that I'd never noticed before, or because I guess my 367 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:09.319 mental space was now clear for some strange reason. But yeah, 368 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:14.720 I started caring and and you know, things started happening. 369 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:19.839 And you know, the funny thing is is that in 370 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:25.079 the beginning of twenty twenty, during COVID, I had plans 371 00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:29.240 of being done with poker, like I took a job 372 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:32.319 at poker Steak. And the reason I took my job 373 00:22:32.359 --> 00:22:34.960 at poker Steak is because I was I mean, in 374 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:38.119 twenty twenty, I was like forty six, forty seven and 375 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:42.599 thinking about this is the decline of my career. I mean, 376 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:45.960 I don't like to study. If I wanted to study, 377 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:47.680 it wouldn't have to be the decline of my career. 378 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:50.640 But I understand that studying is part of improving in 379 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:54.599 today's day and age. But so I took this job 380 00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:56.599 at poker Steak thinking that, you know, I'm going to 381 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:01.119 cut down on the stuff that I do. And then 382 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:04.079 all of a sudden, so my job starts to August first, 383 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:07.000 twenty one. I'm a head of Poker Steak World Series 384 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:10.000 rolls around because it's in uh, it's in November and 385 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:15.400 twenty one, and I just had this clarity that I 386 00:23:15.079 --> 00:23:20.000 hadn't had in many, many, many years. This desire to compete, 387 00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:23.359 this desire to want to be at the table and 388 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:25.240 not at a video poker machine or not on the 389 00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:29.960 golf course or or at some club or I was 390 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:33.400 one hundred percent content in where I was at any 391 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:36.119 moment of the day, and things just started working. And 392 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:38.640 I won a couple of bracelets in one Player of 393 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:42.880 the Year, and I still wasn't sure that I was 394 00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:46.480 going to continue like this. This may have been my 395 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:49.240 swan song. It might have been, you know, this is 396 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:51.920 a good way for me to to start working my 397 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:55.880 way out of poker. But then you know, twenty twenty 398 00:23:55.880 --> 00:23:58.519 two World Series rolls around and I make back to 399 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:01.160 back twenty five K final tables and I win to 400 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:04.759 I win one point two million. I'm one point two 401 00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:09.920 million winner the first week of the World Series. I 402 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:13.480 don't know, it's just uh. I love my time at 403 00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:19.240 the table. It's a total different mindset and person that 404 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:24.119 I was, and I will always love competing no matter 405 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:26.279 what it is. Like we could go out there and 406 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:28.160 see who could throw a bottle of water into the 407 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:30.559 trash can first, right, I would have so much fun. 408 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.799 I would look like a kid, and poker gives that 409 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:36.880 to me. And as long as I'm able to compete, 410 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:42.720 and as long as I'm able to continue to I 411 00:24:42.759 --> 00:24:47.720 love wreckon Havoc, and I love seeing these really smart 412 00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:52.200 guys struggle with me. So you know, as long as 413 00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:54.599 that's going to happen, I mean, I could see myself 414 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:56.720 coming out and or I guess it's not coming out. 415 00:24:56.759 --> 00:24:59.759 I'm here now. I could see myself competing at the 416 00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:03.279 World Series and until they roll me out of here, 417 00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:03.799 I guess. 418 00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:07.559 So then the competitive spirit was sort of reignited for 419 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:11.359 to success. And then what I find fascinating with you 420 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:15.400 winning POY Now you're seemingly in contention. Every year you 421 00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:18.480 play big volume, you get your chances at winning a bracelet. 422 00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:21.240 Of course, you know everything has to click, but at 423 00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:22.920 this point, as you mentioned, you know you're not a 424 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:26.400 big spender, so we're not maybe chasing buying an even 425 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:29.480 bigger house or living in a nicer place. What is 426 00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:31.599 now the motivation to show up every day? 427 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:34.160 I just want to impress my wife. I just I 428 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:40.200 love the I love the way that she sweats so hard. 429 00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:46.119 And it's like I give a lot of people, my family, 430 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:50.880 my friends, like I have really good people in my 431 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:55.359 corner and they love sweating it. And I love the 432 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:58.759 fact that when I get deep, I bring so much 433 00:25:59.079 --> 00:26:02.480 excitement to the people that are following me, and that's 434 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:08.000 like my happy place. Like I remember I was Pads 435 00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:11.480 on his story a week or a couple of weeks ago. 436 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:15.279 He's like, what's your happy place? And and I was like, man, 437 00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:17.480 it's sad to say, but my happy place is at 438 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:20.119 a final table with the World Series of Poker. Just 439 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:23.720 because I'm bringing so much excitement and joy to all 440 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.240 the people that have been following me for twenty five 441 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:26.960 thirty years. 442 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:31.440 That's that's amazing. And the one thing on the resume 443 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.519 that I think might still be a goal to chase 444 00:26:34.599 --> 00:26:37.480 Es to win that fifty k PBC. You've had, You've 445 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:39.799 had you've had more, probably more Casher than most people 446 00:26:39.799 --> 00:26:42.559 in that event. But more importantly, you've had two runner 447 00:26:42.599 --> 00:26:44.440 up finished. And I can tell by looking her face 448 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:47.680 that one's things. But what does that event mean to you? 449 00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:55.279 It's fun, It's a different fun. It's rolling your sleeves up, 450 00:26:57.799 --> 00:27:01.799 running in the mud against the best players in the world, 451 00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:07.480 and it's fun. It's exhausting, it's it's it screws with 452 00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:11.720 your head, but you know it's that's my kind of fun. 453 00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:15.400 You know, let's get dirty, you know, it's uh playing 454 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:18.640 cheap events. You know, that's a different kind of fun, 455 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:22.680 you know, having fun, talking, laughing with a bunch of people. Yeah, 456 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:25.880 that's that. That's that's a small amount of fun over here. 457 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:31.000 But my kind of fun is in the fire. I 458 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:33.160 want to be in the fire and I want to 459 00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:41.279 inflict pain. I want to feel pain. Yeah, it's it's 460 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:45.960 I just think about this clip I've seen I've seen 461 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:49.319 before of like a boxer when they're like ten rounds 462 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:52.200 deep in a nasty fight and he's like, this is 463 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.039 my kind of fun. This is my kind of party. 464 00:27:55.240 --> 00:27:59.319 And uh, yeah, this that's my kind of party because 465 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:03.519 it's it's grueling. You're staring down the best players in 466 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:06.759 the world, guys that play three and six thousand limit 467 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:11.400 poker every you know, every day you're playing Benny Glacier, 468 00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:16.519 You're I mean you're playing Uri Sewn Dee Daniel mcgron 469 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:20.359 or you're playing the best of the best, And uh, 470 00:28:20.680 --> 00:28:22.039 that's that's my kind of party. 471 00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:24.640 So the two runner up finishes. When you think back 472 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:26.559 of those now, and of course one of them being 473 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:30.119 very very recent, is that a sense of pride or 474 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:32.359 do you feel perhaps a sense of like, you know, 475 00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:35.200 what if and and and how much how much? How 476 00:28:35.240 --> 00:28:37.240 much emotion is attached to those close calls. 477 00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:42.599 Not much, because when I'm in the moment, I'm not 478 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:47.200 thinking about anything other than that second in time. What 479 00:28:47.240 --> 00:28:50.839 does my resume look like with a first place instead 480 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:54.759 of a second place? Yeah, it's a little bit more, 481 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:59.279 but you know, I for me, it's so much more 482 00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:02.839 of the journey and enjoying and and and remembering the 483 00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:10.400 journey and accepting thinks that there's so many situations that 484 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:14.920 that could have been different along the way, But no, 485 00:29:16.279 --> 00:29:19.359 I don't think of, oh what could have been? I 486 00:29:19.400 --> 00:29:24.000 don't think about anything other than, you know, enjoying the 487 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:28.160 journey and giving it the best that I have. And 488 00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:31.720 in those two particular tournaments, I gave it my best. 489 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:36.359 I brought everything I could to the table and accept 490 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:40.839 the consequences if and luckily, I don't have to look 491 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:45.799 back to any of to either of those two and 492 00:29:45.799 --> 00:29:49.440 and say, oh, man, I I didn't have my best 493 00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:54.359 And so I'm totally at peace with both results. 494 00:29:55.079 --> 00:29:57.240 In my sort of view, you're one of the few 495 00:29:57.279 --> 00:30:01.359 players with consistent good results in fifty K that is 496 00:30:01.400 --> 00:30:05.440 not synonymous with Bobby's room. I don't often hear you 497 00:30:05.480 --> 00:30:08.359 as part of a Bobby's Room story. Why did you 498 00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:10.160 never make that jump. 499 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:18.200 Because two reasons. Number one, I don't like the feeling 500 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:21.680 of feeling less than when I go in that room 501 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:27.799 and see those players Jason Mercier, Eric Wass, Brian Rast, 502 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:32.720 ray d Oppenheimer, I feel less than. I feel like 503 00:30:32.759 --> 00:30:34.440 the fish, and I don't like that feeling. I like 504 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:38.000 the feeling of feeling like I'm the best player, and 505 00:30:38.759 --> 00:30:41.359 no matter what would happen, no matter how much money 506 00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:44.160 I won, I could not go into that arena and 507 00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:46.240 feel like the best player, and so I would feel 508 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:48.680 like a fish, and I don't enjoy that feeling. That's 509 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:52.759 the number one reason. Number two reason is I don't 510 00:30:52.880 --> 00:31:00.480 really enjoy poker that much. I don't enjoy what it 511 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:05.440 takes to be the best. So playing poker is kind 512 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:09.960 of boring to me. Playing I'm sorry, playing cash poker 513 00:31:10.359 --> 00:31:12.799 is boring to me. In less I'm playing higher than 514 00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:14.960 I can afford. And if I'm playing higher than I 515 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.359 can afford, then then it's exciting. Obviously. I think I've 516 00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:23.240 played one cash game in the past four years, and 517 00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:28.119 that was because I texted ODB one night and they 518 00:31:28.119 --> 00:31:30.599 were playing like three and six hundred at the Bollagio 519 00:31:31.079 --> 00:31:34.160 and I was bored. I was into. It was before 520 00:31:34.160 --> 00:31:36.440 I lived here and I was in town by myself, 521 00:31:36.920 --> 00:31:38.799 and he's like, yeah, we have a fun lineup, come play. 522 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:40.359 So I went played and I had fun. It was 523 00:31:40.359 --> 00:31:43.160 a fun lineup, like Nacho was playing he's always a goofball, 524 00:31:43.200 --> 00:31:46.200 and Nick Wright was playing and ODB and it was 525 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:49.880 it was. It was a good time. But yeah, that's 526 00:31:50.079 --> 00:31:52.240 I think that was. That may have been in twenty 527 00:31:52.279 --> 00:31:53.799 twenty three, was the last time I played. 528 00:31:56.319 --> 00:31:59.680 That's crazy because the cash grind and those guys they 529 00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:03.400 always seem to be like the very very top of 530 00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:05.920 the game, and with your competitive spirit, I just assumed 531 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:09.599 that you wanted to also measure yourself against those guys. 532 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:12.319 But there's also a sense of like, like I don't know, 533 00:32:12.440 --> 00:32:16.920 humble nature in perhaps accepting that I don't have to 534 00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:18.000 step in that ring. 535 00:32:18.119 --> 00:32:19.880 If it was fun, like if it was a good 536 00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:22.960 group of guys and it was like but then it 537 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:26.839 would be like seventy percent work, thirty percent social like 538 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:29.559 it would be I would be going to make money 539 00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:32.680 in the end, but also enjoying time doing it. I 540 00:32:32.759 --> 00:32:34.599 just don't want to go sit at a table with 541 00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:38.519 a bunch of people that I don't really know. And 542 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:46.799 I'm very like introverted. So this, like the social part 543 00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:50.319 of forty five days in a row is it wears 544 00:32:50.359 --> 00:32:53.519 on me a lot. Like Rachel will tell you, I like, 545 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:56.160 she's the same way. We just we stay at home, 546 00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:59.519 we don't go out much, we we hang to ourselves 547 00:32:59.640 --> 00:33:04.359 and uh so, so putting more social stuff in my 548 00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:08.440 life is not a formula for a happy life. 549 00:33:08.519 --> 00:33:10.480 I'm just I'm just glad that on one of the 550 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:12.240 final days of the summer, you're willing to sit down 551 00:33:12.279 --> 00:33:13.559 with me. Sure. 552 00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:15.559 No, You've always been great for poker. 553 00:33:15.960 --> 00:33:21.200 So the arc up has been established, and now it 554 00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:24.839 seems like you're just comfortable living and operating in this space. 555 00:33:25.319 --> 00:33:28.720 But I do want to jump back a little bit too, 556 00:33:29.079 --> 00:33:32.400 when you were sort of gambling and golfing and having 557 00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:34.640 that routine. And just for the people that are listening 558 00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:38.039 to this or even watching this, what an average day 559 00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:41.000 for josh Aria look like at sort of the heyday 560 00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:43.839 of your distractions as you as you call them. 561 00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:55.160 I'd wake up eleven thirty or twelve, probably grab a 562 00:33:55.279 --> 00:34:01.480 huge coffee, go play ornament, and not care what happened, 563 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:05.799 kind of you know, try to spin it immediately. If 564 00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:08.840 the spin didn't work, then I'd head to Shadow Creek 565 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:13.000 and you know, gamble playing golf. Maybe go somewhere else, 566 00:34:16.119 --> 00:34:20.960 go sit down on a video poker machine until I hit 567 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:25.840 something big or I felt a lot of pain from 568 00:34:25.880 --> 00:34:28.320 the amount that I was losing. I was losing big numbers. 569 00:34:28.679 --> 00:34:35.840 It was insane, insane the numbers that I was I 570 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:38.440 probably lost one hundred and fifty thousand in a day 571 00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:47.960 playing video poker. Yeah, it's crazy, you know. I always 572 00:34:48.039 --> 00:34:50.239 I have a decent relationship like an I, but I 573 00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:54.440 haven't really gambled in Like I said before I was 574 00:34:55.719 --> 00:34:59.159 twenty nineteen, really slowed down the gambling. But I mean 575 00:34:59.199 --> 00:35:04.039 I messed around a little, like win or lose thirty 576 00:35:04.119 --> 00:35:08.039 or forty thousand in a year in the casino. Now 577 00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:11.440 it's like zero. Like now I might win or lose 578 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:14.840 five K in a year for like the past four years. 579 00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:15.440 I want. 580 00:35:15.559 --> 00:35:19.599 I want to ask my host for my lifetime because 581 00:35:19.639 --> 00:35:22.599 I'm interested, and I actually I don't. I know, I 582 00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:24.960 can go online and look at the P and L 583 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:27.400 statements for the year, but I don't know if it 584 00:35:27.440 --> 00:35:30.280 goes back lifetime. I'm interested to see how much money 585 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:33.079 I've lost in the casino in my life, because it's, uh, 586 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:35.960 it's pretty fucking disgusting. 587 00:35:36.119 --> 00:35:38.480 The fact that you're still afloat with that kind of 588 00:35:38.519 --> 00:35:43.039 habit that what does that speak for? Or Two, I 589 00:35:43.079 --> 00:35:45.960 put myself in good situations. I've always been a good gambler, 590 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:49.239 except for video poker, because video poker was always like 591 00:35:49.320 --> 00:35:51.880 I could go zone out. I'd play poker, and I'd 592 00:35:51.880 --> 00:35:53.400 have to talk to people all day and I'd have 593 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:59.039 to be social all day. Now like going in and 594 00:35:59.239 --> 00:36:01.719 playing like five ten k worth and video poker at 595 00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:05.760 the end of a poker session was always my like 596 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:07.480 like I would decompress from the day and just sit 597 00:36:07.480 --> 00:36:08.800 there and zone out and I wouldn't have to talk 598 00:36:08.840 --> 00:36:10.840 to anybody. And people would always ask me, why do 599 00:36:10.880 --> 00:36:11.760 you play video poker? 600 00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:13.840 It's so boring. It's just the same thing over and over, 601 00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:17.800 but it just it It lets me gamble. It would 602 00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:22.800 let me gamble and remove all human interaction. I could 603 00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:26.039 sit there in my own little world, smoke cigarettes, drink 604 00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:29.599 diet cokes and just be a d J. I don't know, 605 00:36:29.639 --> 00:36:34.199 But like in every other aspect of life I had. 606 00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:37.199 I would always find an edge in whatever gambling I'm doing, 607 00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:41.079 whether it's sports or whether it's pool gambling or anything 608 00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:44.559 golf gambling. I always had an edge. So and I've 609 00:36:44.599 --> 00:36:49.320 always had a knack of finding my way in into 610 00:36:49.480 --> 00:36:53.440 affluent groups and people with money. So just that like 611 00:36:53.719 --> 00:36:57.599 old pool hustler in me that that I've never had 612 00:36:57.639 --> 00:36:58.639 a problem making money. 613 00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:03.159 So in world of high stakes gambling, you mentioned the host. 614 00:37:04.360 --> 00:37:07.400 What were the perks, the or the stuff that came 615 00:37:07.719 --> 00:37:09.679 that came with living that lifestyle. 616 00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:12.360 I had it all. I would stay in a two 617 00:37:12.440 --> 00:37:15.119 bedroom penthouse at the top of the first it was 618 00:37:15.119 --> 00:37:18.159 at the top of the belagio. Then my guys moved 619 00:37:18.159 --> 00:37:19.800 over to the area and I would stay in the 620 00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:23.440 two bedroom penhouse in the area. I had a locker 621 00:37:23.440 --> 00:37:26.679 at Shadow Creek. They bought me clubs that would stay 622 00:37:26.719 --> 00:37:31.719 at Shadow Creek, limos back and forth Shadow Creek, like 623 00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:34.119 I would stay there the whole summer. I would stay 624 00:37:34.119 --> 00:37:38.119 either since two thousand At first I used to stay 625 00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:41.360 with my friend during the summer up until like two 626 00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:44.079 thousand and five, But then like from two thousand and 627 00:37:44.119 --> 00:37:48.559 five to two thousand and twenty, I would stay in 628 00:37:48.599 --> 00:37:52.360 a two bedroom penhouse for the entire summer for forty days, 629 00:37:52.719 --> 00:37:54.519 and my bill at the end of the month was 630 00:37:55.559 --> 00:37:58.000 my tips. And even one year I was gambling so 631 00:37:58.039 --> 00:38:01.000 big they covered my tips and my dry cleaning. Most 632 00:38:01.039 --> 00:38:03.239 other years I would have to cover my tips and 633 00:38:03.280 --> 00:38:05.079 that was about it. Everything else was comped. 634 00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:10.239 For someone who wants to sort of use the word 635 00:38:10.360 --> 00:38:12.239 hustler in like a positive light, I've heard you say 636 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:14.320 that before, that it's it's not supposed to have that 637 00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:17.639 negative content. No, it's not so for someone with the 638 00:38:17.679 --> 00:38:21.400 hustler mentality and always finding an edge, it's it's almost 639 00:38:21.639 --> 00:38:27.159 funny to me that you're accepting all these gifts because 640 00:38:27.159 --> 00:38:29.239 they know that the sucker will keep coming back. 641 00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:32.880 It was cool, like I would just like I understood, 642 00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:36.840 like the the theoretical loss, I understand. I always understood that, 643 00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:39.760 like I'm giving up like one percent or something or 644 00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:43.280 one and a half percent. So in my head I 645 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:47.639 was I was may it was okay with me because 646 00:38:48.159 --> 00:38:50.880 all this other convenience stuff was worth it, and I'll 647 00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:53.079 give up that edge. You know. Now I'm staying at 648 00:38:53.079 --> 00:38:55.679 the area and I have transportation back and forth whenever. 649 00:38:56.280 --> 00:38:57.719 All I have to do is call down and say, hey, 650 00:38:57.760 --> 00:39:00.239 I need to car to the Rio, and I'd go 651 00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:02.360 downstairs to Sky Sweets and I'd have a car drive 652 00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:04.079 me to the Rio. I never had to make a 653 00:39:04.119 --> 00:39:06.760 reservation at any of the restaurants, so so I knew 654 00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:08.519 I was giving up a little the best of it, 655 00:39:08.679 --> 00:39:11.440 but all the cool things that came with it, like 656 00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:17.400 made me cool. I mean it was, I'd yeah, it was. 657 00:39:18.719 --> 00:39:22.599 I was definitely blinded by the glitter and the glamour 658 00:39:22.760 --> 00:39:27.559 and uh. 659 00:39:25.440 --> 00:39:27.840 Do do you think do you think it's It's almost 660 00:39:27.960 --> 00:39:31.920 surprising that you were able to stay in your lane 661 00:39:31.920 --> 00:39:33.760 with video poke Werd, because there's so many stores of 662 00:39:33.760 --> 00:39:36.679 people who start somewhere and then it starts to cascade 663 00:39:36.719 --> 00:39:38.840 and all of a sudden they find themselves on the outside. 664 00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:41.760 No, I I there was a part of me that 665 00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:44.800 there was a line, like I would never put my 666 00:39:44.880 --> 00:39:47.679 family at risk. I knew I had bills, I knew 667 00:39:47.719 --> 00:39:50.280 what I had to do, and I trusted my ability 668 00:39:50.280 --> 00:39:53.360 to make money. So when it got bad, when when 669 00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:57.519 when it when it was really sideways, I could draw 670 00:39:57.559 --> 00:39:59.480 the line and say I'm done. Like if I blew 671 00:39:59.840 --> 00:40:02.679 x them out, it's like okay, that's it. I'm done 672 00:40:02.679 --> 00:40:04.719 for the year. I'm done till my bankroll gets back. 673 00:40:06.239 --> 00:40:09.320 And and I was in on a lot of things 674 00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:14.360 that like I'm good at making money and uh so 675 00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:19.440 you know, it just it would take away, like but 676 00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:22.440 I don't care, like, uh as long as the bills 677 00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:26.320 could get paid, and and it didn't matter to me, 678 00:40:26.599 --> 00:40:30.599 like money is just money. It's I don't I don't 679 00:40:30.639 --> 00:40:33.719 have nice things, like I mean, I don't. I mean 680 00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:35.039 I have nice things. 681 00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:37.440 But like there's not the goal to have nice things. 682 00:40:37.519 --> 00:40:41.239 Yeah, like it, having a one hundred thousand dollars car 683 00:40:41.440 --> 00:40:48.000 doesn't make me any happier than my regular car or 684 00:40:48.039 --> 00:40:53.239 whatever normal car. I don't need designer things. I I 685 00:40:53.320 --> 00:40:55.760 wear one hundred dollars Nikes every day, and I wear 686 00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:59.079 T shirts and hoodies and and you know, once in 687 00:40:59.079 --> 00:41:00.679 a while, I'll go for an nice meal. I don't 688 00:41:00.679 --> 00:41:04.280 wear jewelry. I you know, it's so I don't need 689 00:41:04.320 --> 00:41:05.639 all that extra stuff. 690 00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:08.360 I'm going to put a hypothetical in front of you, 691 00:41:08.840 --> 00:41:11.800 and I might be way off here, but could it 692 00:41:11.880 --> 00:41:14.320 be that the best thing that ever happened to you 693 00:41:14.880 --> 00:41:17.159 was not getting a piece of full tilt. 694 00:41:18.280 --> 00:41:24.639 I've talked about that, so often, so yes one. So 695 00:41:24.679 --> 00:41:26.360 I don't know if I've told this story before, but 696 00:41:27.159 --> 00:41:32.559 so Full Tilt is in the later stages of building 697 00:41:32.840 --> 00:41:37.199 their ambassadors. Right after two oh four, two thousand and 698 00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:39.760 four main event, I'm on the phone. I'm living in 699 00:41:40.599 --> 00:41:43.480 I'm living in a house that I bought before the 700 00:41:43.519 --> 00:41:48.360 main event, and Howard Letter calls me. It's two days 701 00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:52.280 after the main Howard Letter calls me and says, Okay, Josh, 702 00:41:52.280 --> 00:41:55.599 we're putting Full Tilt together, and you know we want 703 00:41:55.599 --> 00:41:57.840 to we want to bring you in as team Full Tilt. 704 00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:04.719 Here there's our offer. You pay us four hundred thousand 705 00:42:05.559 --> 00:42:08.639 for X amount percent. I don't remember what it was, 706 00:42:08.719 --> 00:42:11.159 but it was a fair deal. Like it was it 707 00:42:11.239 --> 00:42:14.159 was whatever it was, Yeah, ownership would I would have 708 00:42:14.199 --> 00:42:17.119 had ownership in it. And then but we'll also give 709 00:42:17.159 --> 00:42:18.960 you a piece of the player's pool. So now I 710 00:42:19.039 --> 00:42:22.400 call my agent. He was my friend at the time. 711 00:42:22.440 --> 00:42:27.559 And then right after the final table, Brian Basbaw tells me. 712 00:42:28.280 --> 00:42:29.559 He's like, you know, I think we can make some 713 00:42:29.559 --> 00:42:32.239 money off you. And now he goes from friend to 714 00:42:32.280 --> 00:42:36.000 agent and so I talked to Brian and I was like, Brian, 715 00:42:36.239 --> 00:42:39.679 Howard just called me you know, four hundred thousand. And 716 00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:44.519 my dad had always taught me buy a house. If 717 00:42:44.599 --> 00:42:46.679 you can buy a hostle cash, just buy a house. 718 00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:48.559 So now in the two thousand and four made event, 719 00:42:48.559 --> 00:42:50.440 I was getting staked, so I had like one point 720 00:42:50.480 --> 00:42:53.559 two million. I'd never had more than one hundred thousand 721 00:42:53.599 --> 00:42:56.559 in my name my whole life. So now I'm weighing 722 00:42:56.559 --> 00:43:00.719 the decision buy a houstle cash, invest in full till, Like, look, 723 00:43:01.119 --> 00:43:04.400 why are we going to use your money to invest 724 00:43:04.440 --> 00:43:08.320 in full tilt when I can get a company to 725 00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:12.360 pay you three hundred thousand a year. Yeah, let's not 726 00:43:12.360 --> 00:43:14.199 go with full till. So I thought about it for 727 00:43:14.239 --> 00:43:17.000 a long time, and I was mad at Brian for 728 00:43:17.039 --> 00:43:20.760 a long time because I didn't realize it then. But 729 00:43:21.519 --> 00:43:24.519 now Brian is one of my closest friends. He was 730 00:43:24.559 --> 00:43:28.880 the efficient in my wedding. I'm so grateful for Brian 731 00:43:28.920 --> 00:43:30.840 in my life. Like he got me to the Choice 732 00:43:30.840 --> 00:43:35.519 Center back in twenty fifteen, which was a huge milestone 733 00:43:35.639 --> 00:43:39.480 in my life of realizing some things. I think my 734 00:43:39.639 --> 00:43:43.599 paycheck would have been two hundred and fifty thousand a 735 00:43:43.639 --> 00:43:48.440 month for like twenty four months before it got shut down, 736 00:43:48.639 --> 00:43:51.400 and I obviously would have moved to Vegas, and it 737 00:43:51.440 --> 00:43:55.079 would have been I was not prepared for that kind 738 00:43:55.119 --> 00:43:58.039 of money in Las Vegas at that point in my life. 739 00:43:58.119 --> 00:44:01.519 It would have been absolute distruction. It would have been 740 00:44:01.559 --> 00:44:05.360 bad on my kids. It would have been horrible for me, 741 00:44:06.880 --> 00:44:09.960 so as I'm so grateful to Brian for all that. 742 00:44:10.360 --> 00:44:11.199 And you bought the house. 743 00:44:11.440 --> 00:44:13.519 Oh yeah, I bought the house. Yeah, I bought the house, 744 00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:18.400 and yeah, yeah. I mean there's part of me that's 745 00:44:18.440 --> 00:44:20.559 like because I'm around Eric Lingern a lot. You know. 746 00:44:20.880 --> 00:44:24.239 Eric Lindren and I used to be really close friends 747 00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:29.239 until we had a falling out, and I'm seeing him 748 00:44:29.320 --> 00:44:33.199 just get two fifty a month, month after month after month, 749 00:44:33.920 --> 00:44:38.800 and he was fucking his money off like at warp speed, 750 00:44:38.880 --> 00:44:42.920 doing the dumbest things. And I wouldn't have been near 751 00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:47.719 on that like that level, but like it could have been. 752 00:44:47.800 --> 00:44:50.079 It would have been ugly and in more ways than 753 00:44:50.360 --> 00:44:53.679 just In more ways than just I would have been 754 00:44:54.800 --> 00:45:00.360 drugs for sure, women. I mean, it would have been bad. 755 00:45:03.079 --> 00:45:06.599 A lot of poker fans these days might not have 756 00:45:06.639 --> 00:45:09.320 been even around for the sort of heyday that you 757 00:45:09.840 --> 00:45:12.880 fully lived when the money was running from the sky 758 00:45:13.440 --> 00:45:17.000 in that period of time. What was that like, because 759 00:45:17.119 --> 00:45:19.400 because I'll give you one piece of context here, I was, 760 00:45:19.480 --> 00:45:22.079 I turned twenty one and eighty. First WSP that I 761 00:45:22.119 --> 00:45:24.960 worked was nine, and that's in nine it was still 762 00:45:25.159 --> 00:45:27.199 you know, five K patch deals where I had for 763 00:45:27.239 --> 00:45:29.360 ten k. You know, oh, you're on the main feature, 764 00:45:29.440 --> 00:45:33.000 we'll double it. And the agents Brian included were running 765 00:45:33.199 --> 00:45:36.000 like around like maniacs, patching people up. And then you 766 00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:37.679 know there was all the all the suites that they 767 00:45:37.760 --> 00:45:40.039 had at every single poker room had their own suite 768 00:45:40.079 --> 00:45:43.559 in the hallway. But prior to that, it must have 769 00:45:43.599 --> 00:45:46.440 been even crazier. What do you remember from that era 770 00:45:46.519 --> 00:45:47.559 and how wild it was? 771 00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:53.360 One main thing that that seeing the way that Eric 772 00:45:53.440 --> 00:45:57.840 used to gamble was just one of the wild memories 773 00:45:57.880 --> 00:45:59.760 that I have. Like I remember one time flying into 774 00:45:59.800 --> 00:46:04.840 Vague and called Eric, told him I'm headed out to 775 00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:06.880 the house and he's like, oh, we're at TPC Summerlin, 776 00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:10.440 just just come straight here. So I get to TPC 777 00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:15.119 Summerlin and i'm and find out where they are and 778 00:46:15.159 --> 00:46:18.559 I go out to number seven. Say so, I get 779 00:46:18.559 --> 00:46:20.440 out to number seven and I see Doyle Brunson in 780 00:46:20.480 --> 00:46:24.199 the bunker and then I see Doyle Brunson pick his 781 00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:27.199 ball up in the bunker, put a tee down, and 782 00:46:27.239 --> 00:46:29.239 put his ball on top of a tee in the bunker, 783 00:46:30.800 --> 00:46:32.039 and I was like, wait a minute, what the fuck 784 00:46:32.119 --> 00:46:34.400 is going on? So after the hole, it's like, yeah, 785 00:46:34.519 --> 00:46:37.400 you know, that's Doyle gets to teaed up anywhere. And 786 00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:40.599 I was like, oh, okay, Doyle's seventy five years old 787 00:46:40.679 --> 00:46:43.719 or seventy years old whatever, you know, And Okay, Eric 788 00:46:43.800 --> 00:46:46.719 golf's pretty decent, so fine, it could be kind of fair. 789 00:46:47.719 --> 00:46:50.599 It's like, what are y'all playing for? We're playing fifty 790 00:46:50.599 --> 00:46:54.719 thousand a hole? Fifty thousand a hole, Like I'm just like, 791 00:46:55.599 --> 00:46:59.320 you mean to tell me you're playing fifty thousand a 792 00:46:59.320 --> 00:47:02.000 hole against one of the greatest gamblers that's ever lived. 793 00:47:02.880 --> 00:47:06.719 And yeah, So that like shit like that was all 794 00:47:06.800 --> 00:47:09.880 the time. I mean there was times that like the 795 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.920 Golden Nugget took on like a new owner at one 796 00:47:14.960 --> 00:47:17.920 point where it was like a dude, I don't remember 797 00:47:17.960 --> 00:47:20.239 who it was that bought the and he was trying 798 00:47:20.239 --> 00:47:23.480 to make Golden Nugget in downtown cool again and invited 799 00:47:23.519 --> 00:47:26.800 some poker players down there to shoot dice. Well, we 800 00:47:26.880 --> 00:47:29.000 go down there and shoot dice and it's just a 801 00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:36.320 few poker players and Eric blows like a big number. 802 00:47:36.559 --> 00:47:40.480 And so it was like, I mean, money just wasn't 803 00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:44.679 a thing like nobody. Money was so easily to you know, 804 00:47:45.599 --> 00:47:50.440 came about so easily. Poker was really easy to the 805 00:47:50.480 --> 00:47:54.079 guys that were really good, and there was just money 806 00:47:54.159 --> 00:47:58.719 being thrown around from sites that like websites were paying 807 00:47:58.760 --> 00:48:02.079 two hundred and fifty thousand and for a main event 808 00:48:02.199 --> 00:48:05.679 patch just just if you made the final table of 809 00:48:05.719 --> 00:48:09.280 the main event. For like two years, there was like 810 00:48:09.559 --> 00:48:11.599 five different companies that if you put their patch on, 811 00:48:11.599 --> 00:48:15.360 they'd pay you two fifty And that's just for one tournament. 812 00:48:15.679 --> 00:48:17.559 You're not an ambassador for the year. All you're doing 813 00:48:17.599 --> 00:48:19.199 is sticking and patch on for two hundred and fifty 814 00:48:19.199 --> 00:48:19.840 thousand dollars. 815 00:48:20.119 --> 00:48:21.119 And you were with Bodog. 816 00:48:21.440 --> 00:48:24.119 I was with Bodog, and I got to do some 817 00:48:24.159 --> 00:48:27.679 really cool things with Bodog, like I, uh, that was fun. 818 00:48:27.760 --> 00:48:31.000 I got to experience it with David and uh and 819 00:48:31.079 --> 00:48:34.239 then uh, you know that was for three years and 820 00:48:34.280 --> 00:48:39.280 that but that ended up going away. But yeah, I 821 00:48:39.280 --> 00:48:43.760 mean it was it was fun. We we I mean, 822 00:48:43.960 --> 00:48:46.880 we were I was friends with you know, all the 823 00:48:46.960 --> 00:48:50.119 suits in the casino and so like we would go 824 00:48:50.159 --> 00:48:51.599 to a club and we would just have a booth 825 00:48:51.599 --> 00:48:55.639 and we would never pay a thing, and uh yeah, 826 00:48:55.679 --> 00:48:59.519 a lot of debakery. It was. It was the things 827 00:48:59.559 --> 00:49:01.360 that I'm not proud of you. 828 00:49:01.360 --> 00:49:02.559 You were also much younger. 829 00:49:02.719 --> 00:49:03.519 Yeah, the. 830 00:49:05.159 --> 00:49:10.000 Sharp contrast between the big win and the money you 831 00:49:10.039 --> 00:49:12.039 came into and then all of a sudden the opportunity 832 00:49:12.239 --> 00:49:15.039 that led to is is kind of crazy when you 833 00:49:15.119 --> 00:49:18.119 mentioned just in the same sentence saying I never had 834 00:49:18.119 --> 00:49:20.280 more than hundred thousands of my name prior to that. 835 00:49:21.320 --> 00:49:25.039 What was the initial you know, struggle or grind, like 836 00:49:25.400 --> 00:49:28.079 to even get to Vegas to play in the WSOP 837 00:49:28.559 --> 00:49:31.320 And did you did you forget where you came from 838 00:49:31.719 --> 00:49:34.679 once you got rich, because it feels like you hit 839 00:49:34.719 --> 00:49:38.519 the ground running being a successful guy once the money 840 00:49:38.559 --> 00:49:39.000 showed up. 841 00:49:39.280 --> 00:49:41.280 Yeah. I just I don't think that I was that 842 00:49:41.559 --> 00:49:43.920 cerebral about it, Like I didn't think about it like 843 00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:46.159 I didn't I took a lot of it for granted, 844 00:49:46.239 --> 00:49:49.320 Like I never took a I never like stared at 845 00:49:49.320 --> 00:49:51.440 into space and was like, wow, this is just me 846 00:49:51.559 --> 00:49:53.639 every year now. I never thought of it like that. 847 00:49:54.199 --> 00:49:56.199 I was a very cocky kid that thought I was 848 00:49:56.239 --> 00:49:58.280 the best and thought I was always going to win, 849 00:49:58.400 --> 00:50:01.800 and thought that I belonged there. Yeah, it was. It 850 00:50:01.840 --> 00:50:07.440 was very contrast to my later years where I'm so 851 00:50:07.599 --> 00:50:11.360 grateful for every opportunity that i have, and I look 852 00:50:11.400 --> 00:50:13.880 around and I see all these people that you know, 853 00:50:13.960 --> 00:50:16.239 they come and they play the main event because it's 854 00:50:16.239 --> 00:50:19.920 a once in a lifetime dream and it's just like, yeah, 855 00:50:20.199 --> 00:50:22.440 it's really nice to see that stuff, and because I 856 00:50:22.480 --> 00:50:24.119 get to be grateful about it. 857 00:50:24.159 --> 00:50:27.679 But then like when you first came to Vegas, there 858 00:50:27.719 --> 00:50:30.760 must have been perhaps a dream or an ambition, and 859 00:50:31.039 --> 00:50:34.159 how did you put together whatever the the idea was 860 00:50:34.159 --> 00:50:36.159 for the trip, because we're talking you're win your first 861 00:50:36.199 --> 00:50:38.559 bracelet in nineteen ninety nine. Yeah, and that was also 862 00:50:38.840 --> 00:50:41.280 prior to the poker boom, so poker wasn't as visible. 863 00:50:41.519 --> 00:50:43.719 It wasn't as it wasn't as obvious to go through 864 00:50:43.719 --> 00:50:44.519 the world troops. 865 00:50:44.280 --> 00:50:47.400 Of pokel I had been. I had been any time. 866 00:50:47.519 --> 00:50:50.519 So I was hustling the games in Atlanta, and anytime 867 00:50:50.559 --> 00:50:52.880 that I had a bankroll of like one or two K, 868 00:50:53.639 --> 00:50:54.920 I would get in my car and I drive to 869 00:50:54.960 --> 00:50:57.639 Biloxi and I'd play ten twenty until I went broke, 870 00:50:58.159 --> 00:51:00.639 and then eventually I'd stop going broke. Eventually I got 871 00:51:00.639 --> 00:51:02.960 to be good enough to where I could beat those people. 872 00:51:03.559 --> 00:51:07.480 And then and then a friend of mine that I 873 00:51:07.559 --> 00:51:10.000 knew from Atlanta, he had moved to Biloxi and he 874 00:51:10.039 --> 00:51:12.079 was playing a lot of poker down there, and he 875 00:51:12.119 --> 00:51:14.800 would go to the World Series and play cash for 876 00:51:14.840 --> 00:51:18.559 the whole World Series. So I talked to him, and 877 00:51:18.599 --> 00:51:20.440 he's like, Josh, you should really come out and try 878 00:51:20.440 --> 00:51:22.760 the World Series of Poker. So I came out and 879 00:51:22.800 --> 00:51:25.320 I won the second tournament that I played. The first tournament, 880 00:51:25.840 --> 00:51:28.119 the first tournament that I played, I stayed up all 881 00:51:28.199 --> 00:51:31.280 night playing video poker, went and played the tournament and 882 00:51:31.559 --> 00:51:33.960 lasted like two hours, and then slept for twenty hours, 883 00:51:33.960 --> 00:51:38.760 and then won the next tournament. So success came quick. 884 00:51:39.599 --> 00:51:43.760 Success coming quick to a kid that's already cocky and 885 00:51:43.800 --> 00:51:48.639 thinks that he's better than everybody else is not the 886 00:51:48.639 --> 00:51:53.559 best formula. I instantly thought I belonged, and instantly, no 887 00:51:53.719 --> 00:51:58.360 matter who I was against, I thought that I would win. 888 00:51:59.320 --> 00:52:03.760 That's kind of uh the attitude that will drive a 889 00:52:03.800 --> 00:52:05.920 lot of people to successes well in sports, right where 890 00:52:06.320 --> 00:52:08.280 they think they have an edge, and it also makes 891 00:52:08.320 --> 00:52:11.760 them carry that and and makes makes them successful in 892 00:52:11.760 --> 00:52:14.880 a way because it keeps them, you know, chasing whatever 893 00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:16.320 is coming up. I just. 894 00:52:18.159 --> 00:52:21.239 And one thing that I've been thinking about with lately 895 00:52:21.639 --> 00:52:27.000 is I'm okay with being wrong. So like and being 896 00:52:27.039 --> 00:52:31.360 wrong and being wrong or losing is very good for 897 00:52:31.400 --> 00:52:36.800 me because I learned from it and I grow from it. 898 00:52:37.079 --> 00:52:39.360 If you just win every time, and you just you, 899 00:52:39.360 --> 00:52:42.679 you have this mindset that everything I'm doing is correct. 900 00:52:42.719 --> 00:52:44.519 I don't need to change, I don't need to improve. 901 00:52:45.119 --> 00:52:47.440 But when you when you're wrong and when you lose, 902 00:52:47.719 --> 00:52:51.239 that's when you That's when I start questioning and and 903 00:52:51.400 --> 00:52:59.199 and you know, questions and questioning my my theory and 904 00:52:59.280 --> 00:53:05.159 my my gameplay and whatever I bring to the table evolving. 905 00:53:05.320 --> 00:53:09.639 That is very important for me and for me to succeed. 906 00:53:10.480 --> 00:53:13.000 Awesome, Well, it's been great having you on the show. 907 00:53:13.239 --> 00:53:15.639 Love all the stories. Hope you guys at home listening 908 00:53:15.679 --> 00:53:18.599 watching enjoyed having Josh. Are you on the show? I 909 00:53:18.639 --> 00:53:21.440 would say, please like the video again, subscribe to the channel, 910 00:53:21.599 --> 00:53:23.800 leave a comment down below. Follow this guy on social 911 00:53:23.880 --> 00:53:26.800 media for whatever he goes deep in next and I'll 912 00:53:26.800 --> 00:53:28.519 say until next week, we have a new guest on, 913 00:53:28.599 --> 00:53:30.079 so thanks for watching and we'll see you soon.