To introduce Dan Bilzerian is redundant. Fans call him ‘The King of Instagram’, but to call him the King of the Internet would be no exaggeration.
It was Hugh Hefner who showed the world how to make yourself a brand by living an uninhibited lifestyle, and promoting it on media. For the last 5 years, Dan Bilzerian has not only embraced this brand formula, but taken it to the whole new level.
Bilzerian is an enigma, being described as Hunter S Thompson, Hugh Hefner, and Tony Stark all rolled into one. This infographic by live casino comparison portal RightCasino.com shows the many faces of Dan Bilzerian.
A lot of questions have been asked and concerns have been ranged about his reckless lifestyle. For example, the man has already suffered three serious heart conditions, and he is not even 40. In 2011, he flew between Maui and Las Vegas in the month of August in three days as he was engaged in an around-the clock tournament. This left him diagnosed with pulmonary embolism. This is hardly a surprise, because apart from his frequent travelling, Bilzerian is known for heavy drinking and heavier promiscuity.
But the most significant question on everyone’s mind is this: How does Dan Bilzerian fund his lifestyle?
The two obvious answers are investments and poker winnings. Since making his first appearance in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, Bilzerian claims to have won $50 million by playing poker, usually in private games with billionaires. On the business front, Dan Bilzerian describes himself as a ‘venture capitalist’ and seems to have done pretty well as a business man.
He started Victory Poker, a popular online poker room, and recently, he signed a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with bgo. To his credit, he has also given $0.1 million in charity, especially to help Typhoon Haiyan victims.
In his interviews, Bilzerian talks about how he was making $90,000 in some weeks as a college student by playing poker.
There is nothing surprising here. It is all too possible to become millionaire at the poker table. And while stories of tragic loss and debt abound in the world of gambling, millionaire winners are not a rarity either. A great example is Phil Ivey, who many regard as the best poker player in the world. He kicked off 2014 by winning $3.5 million at the Aussie Millions. To date, he has amassed $21.25 million in live tournament.
But coming back to Dan Bilzerian, a recent feature about him listed opinions and speculations of whether Dan Bilzerian even has that kind of money. The article also talked about he inherited money from his father, and there is a whole debate on whether he won enough through poker before the trust funds became accessible, or whether his trust funds allow him to take part nosebleed-stakes games so that he keeps going on and on with a never-ending bankroll.
But whatever the source of his funds is, Bilzerian lives the fantasy life, and many vicariously take part in it through Instagram.
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