Every poker player wants to be in Las Vegas, putting their money on the line and shooting for the moon, or at the very least a WSOP bracelet. But while some players have the bankroll, the skills, and this year most importantly, a COVID vaccination, not everyone is so lucky.
If you can’t make it to Sin City this autumn, the chances are you’ll want to live out your dream vicariously by following updates of live WSOP Events, reading articles about the biggest winners and losers, and gorging on poker via social media memes and positive story shares in equal measure.
Watching a video blog from one of your favorite poker players is a guaranteed way of getting even closer to the action. We’ve dug out five terrific YouTubers who will make you feel like you’re really there.
Get ready to like and subscribe to a thrilling six weeks in the gambling capital of the world in the company of poker content makers who know their pull-focus from their quick-fades.
1. Brad Owen
It’s impossible not to love Brad Owen, the popular YouTuber who has practically grown up on YouTube. Owen fills his videos – almost all of which are in Las Vegas – with poker strategy at the felt as he plays hand after hand. He’s climbed the levels brilliantly over the past few years and feels like one of poker’s own.
Brad Owen’s videos have garnered a massive audience over the years. His most recent video has obtained 719,000 viewers so far, with 1,945 comments! Owen has a whopping 494,000 subscribers to his channel.
2. Drew Gonzalez
The so-called full-time poker player, streamer, and content maker is growing a loyal following for his ‘Bet on Drew’ Twitch and Twitter channels, and his YouTube videos are a lot of fun. Taking you on a ride from lower down the pecking order, Gonzalez posted a recent video walking viewers through a nightly tournament at Resorts World, rounded out by his catch-ups with friends.
With an easy charm and fun style, Gonzalez is impossible to root against. If he plays a lot of cheaper tournaments at the Rio this summer, he could be a YouTuber you really invest in the success of over the coming months.
That feeling you get walking in to the #WSOP
Im excited!!! 🤩#DrewsWSOP pic.twitter.com/IFFam0KUge
— Drew (@BetOnDrew) October 2, 2021
3. Daniel Negreanu
What is there left to say about perhaps the most unmissable poker player on Earth? ‘DNegs’ Vegas video blogs have become as much a staple of the action as Norman Chad’s ex-wife jokes and the overhead lights in the Thunderdome. Negreanu’s madcap lifestyle is laid bare in this reality TV series for poker nuts, with ‘Kid Poker’s quest for a seventh WSOP bracelet surely due to end soon.
Negreanu has left PokerStars, joined GGPoker, and gotten married in the past few years, all of which are featured in detail on his highly entertaining video blog series. If you want to know how the World Series headlines are made as they happen, following Daniel Negreanu’s life in the form of his WSOP Vlogs is essential. What can you expect? We’ll let the big man tell you!
4. Felipe Ramos
Another GGPoker pro who will be at the felt this Autumn is the multi-talented Brazilian player Felipe Ramos. From music, to his friendship with Neymar, family life with fellow poker player Natalie Ramos (nee Hof), to taking on the best players in a variety of poker tournaments, the man with the permanent grin is as great company on camera as he is in person.
There’s only one time we can remember the South American poker icon not smiling and that is in the recent WSOP online bracelet event he finished in second place. All-in on the river with ace-jack against ace-six, Ramos managed to pair his jack and still lose to a six on the flop and river. Ouch.
5. Ryan DePaulo
We’re not the first to say that we enjoy Ryan DePaulo’s YouTube videos, but we might be the first to say that we really, really, really, really enjoy them. The man who famously won a WSOP bracelet hanging out in a parking lot to get mall WiFi is hilarious, and his goofy lifestyle only adds to the charm of his pursuit of greatness, glory, and perhaps somewhere to buy a new hat.
DePaulo is the Vegas hero we all need, even if we’re not honest enough to say that we love him. Witty, unfiltered, and in his own words, a degenerate gambler, DePaulo has 91,800 subscribers. And if that figure doesn’t top six figures by late November, it will be the crime of the series.
