You think you’re flash because you tipped 30% at Pizza Express last week? Check out the guys who spend it like it’s Monopoly money
1. Dan Bilzerian
While most ballers have gone into retirement, Bilzerian is still flying the flag for hedonism as a lifestyle, by surrounding himself with guns and semi-naked women who definitely aren’t there just for the money. Oh, they are Dan? Sorry, we stand corrected.
WATCH IT! Bilzerian wangs a pornstar from the roof, nearly killing her in the process.
2. Phil Ivey
He might not flaunt it at the biggest clubs in Vegas, but Ivey can mix it with the best when he wants to. He takes private jets to gamble it up at the biggest casinos around the world and, just like me and you, doesn’t bother to stoop down to pick up loose change when he drops it. Unlike Ivey you don’t have to hire a private jet to find casino games – find them online at casinoreef.com.au.
3. Antonio Esfandiari
Anyone that sets up a club called Rocks and Rings, dedicated to showing people how to party ‘one nightclub at a time’ has a place here. He even made it rain in a nightclub, although 1,000 $1 bills is a bit cheap, no?
4. Matt Marafioti
Bought a house for $2m when he was 21, along with a $30k watch, $10k bracelet, $5k bracelet, $1k jeans and $2.3k ostrich shoes. He once walked into a car dealership and, when asked if he knew what model he wanted, replied, ‘One that costs at least $150k’.
WATCH IT! Matt talks a bad game.
5. Tom Dwan
There’s no doubting Dwan’s a sharp, intelligent poker player. But in real life? Over to you Tom… ‘If you offered me the choice of a $2 bottle of Coke, or a $200 bottle of Coke that came in some sort of fancy blue container or something, I’d be, like… Sick, two hundred dollar bottle of Coke? Ship it.’
6. David Williams
Diamond-encrusted toothpick? Check. Rolls Royce? Check. David Williams is so baller he even got himself disqualified from the 2001 Magic: The Gathering World Championship.
7. Alec Torelli
Torelli was no stranger to champagne or Tom Dwan’s underwear back in the day. He was always concerned with those less fortunate than himself too. Recalling one party he said, ‘We drank a magnum of Veuve and hung out in the Jacuzzi on the balcony. It was all bras and underwear in that bubbling water. When the sun came up, everyone headed inside, we ordered food and shut the curtains. I woke up at noon. The party was over and the condo was messy – but nothing the maid couldn’t handle.’
8. Stu Ungar
Ungar set the mark down, with a fast lifestyle that saw him conquer most of life’s speed bumps with a little cash. Ungar’s friend Mike Sexton remembers that Ungar used to walk into packed restaurants without a reservation. ‘He’d give $100 to the maître d’ and say, “Benji [Benjamin Franklin] just made the reservation.”’
9. Andrew Robl
If you’ve seen him on TV he certainly doesn’t sound like a baller, but Robl was part of the ‘Ship It Holla Ballas’ crew and once bet a friend that he couldn’t live in a Bellagio bathroom for a month. It soon became obvious he could and Robl bought out early for $40k.
WATCH IT! Want to see a man with awful facial hair cocooned in a bathroom? Be our guest.
10. Alan Sass
Another member of the Ship It crew, Sass once took PokerPlayer to dinner and said that he liked to order, ‘Everything, and then eat what I feel like.’ He did.
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