Interview with Wolfgang Poker's Alexander Seibt

Poker vloggers have taken center stage in recent years, using creative video content to attract masses of people to the game we all know and love. One such poker vlogger just hit an incredible milestone, roping in a simply astonishing number of fans in what’s by definition a limited niche. We are talking about Alexander “Wolfgang Poker” Seibt, who just became the first poker vlogger to surpass one million subscribers on his YouTube channel.

We reached out to Seibt to get to know him a little more and ask him about a wide variety of topics, including: his beginnings, the creation of poker content, what differentiates his Wolfgang Poker channel from other poker vlogs, his passion for soccer, and what he thinks about his future in the industry. He also told us about an interesting trip he plans to take to Antarctica.

Alexander was born in Chicago. His father is German, thus explaining his middle name being Wolfgang. That’s where his nickname comes from: “I inherited that name from my grandfather, and when I made my YouTube channel I didn’t hesitate to call it Wolfgang Poker since it sounded much better than Alexander Poker.”

Wolfgang discovered poker for the first time with friends in Chicago, “Several years ago some friends (Randall and Reese) taught me how to play in a basement in Chicago. It wasn’t even a normal game, but a $5 flip. I was lucky enough to win that flip, and I wanted to start playing more often thinking I would have the same luck. We played a couple of times a month and then at university in California I met people who showed me what Texas Hold’em was like. Also there I started watching The Trooper on YouTube and Andrew Neeme, who were my inspirations.”

Once he graduated, he needed to earn money, so he started editing videos for some YouTube channels. Once he had that experience, he thought about his enthusiasm for poker and saw that other people were having success with their poker vlogs. “I thought I could do the same, since I was good at editing and I loved playing poker. I combined the two and had good examples of other vlogs that were getting good views. I thought I could do something similar, as long as I maintained the quality of my videos.”

Wolfgang Poker’s First Videos

Four years ago Wolfgang uploaded his first video, where he introduced himself as a fan of the videos of Mariano Grandoli, Andrew Neeme, and Johnnie Vibes. He showed off hands he played in a $1/$3 session at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, and said the goal of the channel was to learn and grow as a player along with the people who watched the videos.

This is how he remembers it: “My first goal with the videos was to try to win $300 with each one, since that was the amount I sat down to play at the cash tables at that time at the Bicycle Casino and in Agua Calientes in Palm Springs. It was difficult for me to reach that profit per video, but when I did it was a great feeling, since it was like a freeroll every time I went to play. Sometimes the views on the videos would go down for a few months, but I still really enjoyed the process of creating them.”

Alexander during our interview

When asked if there were a turning point where Wolfgang thought his vlog could become something serious and grow, he answered “Yeah, around Vlog #100 I realized I was needing more time to travel and play, so I hired an editor for the videos. I think that I was then able to be freer and my videos took a leap in quality. The views and the channel began to grow.”

A few months ago he started working with Lucas, his new editor, and he is very happy with Lucas’ work: “He is incredible and helped me a lot with YouTube shorts, Instagram reels, and Tik Toks, which is what is most seen today. I think we make a great team together, and the views began to grow exponentially. It was essential to reach one million followers.”

Wolfgang Poker: The first poker vlogger with 1 million subscribers

A few days ago Wolfgang became the first poker vlogger to reach one million subscribers. What did that mean to him? “It meant a lot and that all the hard work was worth it and validated everything I have been doing. I never saw numbers as parameters of success, but seeing the gold plaque and having that recognition makes me feel very proud. It is very surreal to go back and think about the first videos I made four years ago.”

When asked what is different about his channel, he said “I think that many players identify with the low stakes shorts that I upload. And it is important to know that many views come from people who do not play poker, so my task is to make the video entertaining so that they continue watching and perhaps convert to poker fans in the future. For example, some of my shorts have more than 80M views, and it is impossible for them all to be from poker players, but they make me feel good as a content creator, since I am helping to bring new players to the game.”

Wolfgang Poker vs. Other Poker Vloggers

With the 1 million subscribers, Alex surpassed subscriber counts of channels of some of the biggest names in the game, including Daniel Negreanu, Brad Owen and Doug Polk, as illustrated in the image below:

To the best of our knowledge, there are only two poker-related YouTube channels that have more subscribers than Wolfgang: PokerStars (1.5M) and Alejandro “PapoMC” Lococo (2.5M), who uploads poker and freestyle videos. Alex didn’t know that Papo had so many subscribers, and we gave him new motivation: “I thought I was the first and now I find out that I have work to do. It’s a good motivation to try to reach it and I will do my best to continue growing.”

Wolfgang gets along very well with other vloggers like Mariano, Brad Owen and especially Ethan “Rampage” Yau: “Rampage is my best friend in the poker world. He is an incredible person and I would be his friend if I had met him outside of poker. He is having a great time playing High Stakes and achieving good results in live tournaments. He is a good example to follow and I hope he can achieve something similar in the future.”

We asked which poker vloggers Wolfgang would choose to play a 6-Max Sit & Go and these were his choices: “I would choose Rampage first without a doubt. Then to the Next Gen boys who are very funny. And lastly I would choose Johnnie Vibes, Andrew Neeme, and Brad Owen.”

Wolfgang Poker: On his soccer fandom and live tournaments

Alex inherited his passion for soccer from his father, who is a fan of the Bayern Munich club in Germany: “I played soccer when I was younger and I always watch Bayern Munich games. They told me that Sergio “Kun” Aguero will be at the WSOP Paradise, so I’m going to take his shirt so he can sign it.”

With Ethan “Rampage” Yau during a soccer match

Alexander’s specialty is cash games, and on his Hendon Mob profile he has only half a dozen results with accumulated winnings of $20K. In 2023 he made his first cashes at the WSOP, including a 1,497th place finish in the Main Event for $15K. He will be present in the Bahamas to play the WSOP Paradise, where he will play some tournaments, as well as cash tables that will be played in parallel.

You can see his experience in the 2023 Main Event during Day 3 in this video:

Getting to know Wolfgang Poker Better

We asked Wolfgang several more questions, including putting him to the test with a speed round:

What do you enjoy most about being a poker vlogger? “What I enjoy most is the freedom of poker to do what I want and play where I want, to be my own boss. It has its pros and cons, since when you are not in the mood to create content you will earn less money, but when you create content and do it you enjoy it is very rewarding.”

What advice would you give to someone thinking about launching their own vlog? “First I would tell them to enjoy what they do and to make sure their goal is not just money. That they try to find their own style without copying others, since people like something new and refreshing. And lastly, try to be consistent, as it will pay off.”

Speed Round:

Best poker movie: “Rounders”
Best social media: “Instagram”
Best WSOP Main Event champion: “Stu Ungar“
One poker vlogger you admire: “Rampage”
Favorite poker TV show: “The Big Game”
Player to face heads-up in a tournament: “Neymar or Sergio Aguero”
Run it once or run it twice in a big pot?: “Once”
Chop or no chop in heads-up during a tournament: “Don’t chop unless my rival agrees to give me the trophy”
Biggest pot you have won: “$29K”
Favorite poker hand: “7-7”
Biggest stakes you have played for: “$50/$100”

Wolfgang Poker’s Goals for 2024 and Poker in Antarctica

When asked about his 2024 goals, Wolfgang replied, “One of my goals for 2024 is to play in fun environments such as home games of famous actors, athletes or sportsmen who have poker as a hobby. That way I will be able to show how poker has grown in the last five or six years. My main goal is to play bigger, cooler games with interesting people and to continue to motivate people to play poker. It would also be nice to win some live tournaments.”

Alexander currently lives in Dallas, but would like to visit and play in new places: “Yes, there are many places that I would like to visit and play, like Australia, where Rampage was recently and told me that he loved the place to the point that he thought about moving. I would also like to know and play in Malta, Macau, and a country in South America like Brazil or Argentina.”

Next year he plans to travel to a place that is known as “the end of the world”, home to penguins and somewhere that no one has filmed a poker vlog: “I’m going to accompany an aunt on a trip to Antarctica. First I will travel to Buenos Aires, and from there I will go south to reach the frozen destination. We will see what I can find for poker, but I am going to film something since it is a unique destination.”