Dan Bilzerian is undoubtedly the richest and most famous poker player – but not for his poker skills.

Bilzerian, dubbed “The King of Instagram,” is most known for showcasing his opulent playboy lifestyle of females, firearms, and money. Many guys, particularly younger males in the poker world, respect his way of life.

From the outside, he seems like a role model to follow, especially as an aspiring poker player who is trying to make a name for themselves. In truth though, he is probably not the best person to have as a mentor if you play poker.

Short Biography

Daniel Brandon Bilzerian was born in Tampa, Florida on December 7, 1980.

He is the son of Paul Bilzerian, a wealthy Armenian-American businessman who specialized in corporate takeovers. Dan and his brother Adam were born into riches, but they seldom saw their father since he was always on business trips or working late at the workplace.

Their lives were turned upside down when Paul was convicted of security and tax fraud. Paul was sentenced to surrender his riches and declared bankruptcy after serving 13 months in jail. What happened to Paul Bilzerian’s money is unknown, although both Dan and Adam had trust funds, and many assume this is where Dan Bilzerian’s fortune came from.

All of this seemed to flow over into Dan Bilzerian’s life, as he became somewhat of a problem child, frequently getting into fist fights and eventually being expelled from school. He was even forced to spend his senior year at home, after carrying a machine pistol to school.

Dan entered the Navy after graduating from high school in the hopes of becoming a Navy SEAL, but was dismissed for fighting with one of his superiors and had to quit the program.

Dan Bilzerian then enrolled at the University of Florida, where he studied Commerce and Criminology for four years.

Whether he graduated or not is still unknown, but it appears that this is when Dan first became interested in poker.

He no longer had access to his trust fund, and after selling his gun collection, he turned to poker to support his education.

Career Playing poker. Could he be regarded as a professional poker player?

While Dan Bilzerian is a well-known poker player, he has not participated in many public events.

His first notable appearance came in 2009, when he competed in the World Series of Poker Main Event against professional poker players like Phil Ivey.

Bilzerian finished 180th and received a $36,000 reward. This is a good amount of money to win but it is by no means an indication that he has millionaire potential at poker tables.

His success in the 2009 World Series of Poker prompted him to accept a sponsorship deal with Victory Poker, an online card room that is no longer active.

Dan Bilzerian allegedly received $1,000,000 from the corporation in exchange for wearing their name on a t-shirt in all of the tournaments he participated in that year. He was also featured in a number of the company’s internet videos.

Nevertheless, Dan Bilzerian is said to devote the most of his time and attention to private, high stakes cash games with billionaires, and he is said to have transformed a $750 investment into more than $187,000 in a single game. That’s not a horrible turnaround. He has also claimed to have bet his whole net worth on one game and won big.

Then in 2013, he drew notice once more when he tweeted that he had recently won $10.8 million in a private cash game.

This victory has yet to be validated, and many people are debating it online.

Does he have an online poker career?

His online poker career is basically nonexistent as well.  There is little indication that Dan ever played online poker. Although there is a video Dan on YouTube is him playing online poker on Bill Perkins’ account but it did not look like he was very good to be honest.

Dan, a poker player who claims to have made millions of dollars, did not appear to know what he’s doing, continuously begging for advice and risking recklessly until his opponent collapses. In this recording, he does not appear to be a successful player who understands the intricacies of a sound poker strategy.

Another recent video from the PokerGo channel can provide us with a great perspective on Dan’s poker playing. Dan was seen playing poker in televised cash games from Las Vegas as part of the Poker After Dark 2021 roster.

It’s not nearly enough information to judge Bilzerian’s poker abilities. Yet, anyone can gain an understanding of how Dan behaves and plays at the poker table. He honestly isn’t all that good.

Dan revealed a massive online poker initiative, becoming an ambassador for GGPoker. There was a lot of talk about this sponsorship at the start but eventually, the partnership between Dan and the poker site ended prematurely.

Dan Bilzerian’s high stakes poker wealth

Dan claims to have gained millions by playing poker with affluent executives who are more than prepared to wager out of boredom.

The problem with private cash games is that their results cannot be verified for obvious reasons. As a result, they are an excellent tool to legitimize practically any quantity of money.

Dan claims to have made more than $50 million playing poker in cash games. That’s a huge claim to make, given that his stated path to riches began with a few hundred bucks, which he supposedly went to Las Vegas and converted into $10,000, launching his subsequent poker career.

Can Dan Make that much money?

Due to the nature of high stakes poker, yes. Playing poker against rich (maybe even drunk) people means that if you are good at poker, you definitely can make that much money but there is no way to confirm that Dan has actually made such amounts of money.

Daniel Negreanu, the poker legend who has played poker at the very highest level, corroborated this when he provided his perspective on the world of high-stakes poker cash games.

Dan’s tales about how he received the money to start his poker career, according to Daniel, may be a little shady. Winning millions of dollars in private high-stakes cash games, on the other hand, is quite achievable.

Is he worth Idolizing

From the outside, Dan Bilzerian looks like a great person to make your mentor, going as an aspiring poker player. He looks like a made man and a guy living the dream of every young man out there but the truth is that Dan Bilzerian ‘s very sketchy lifestyle means that it is best to look elsewhere for inspiration.

His story of being a broke college boy before getting rich with poker has been greeted with doubt in the poker world, his claims of winning over 50, million playing high stakes poker, while possible, has no proof to back it up and his career as a “professional poker player” is average at best.

Also as a man in his 40s, Dan Bilzerian had already suffered multiple heart attacks. This could just be him having a health issue or it could be directly as a result of the kind of life that he lives and displays for all to see.

In our opinion, you should not look to follow in his footsteps.