I Just Won $2.8 MILLION DOLLARS in a Game of Poker?!

And why I'm giving 20% of it away to pigs...

I just took a break from my self-enforced poker “retirement” to play a tournament… and scored the biggest win of my life!

Post-Win Interview

A Poker Romantic Comedy

As many of you know, I used to be professional poker player. But five years ago, after a long and very protracted breakup, I finally quit the game. Many thought I was silly to do so—after all, poker has been *very* good to me. I won a gargantuan EPT tournament barely two years into my career. I won multiple online “Majors” vs 1000s of people. I even won a World Series of Poker bracelet with the love of my life. And yet by the time I officially quit in 2019, I’d grown to loathe everything poker. It had devolved from a source of joy, into a tiresome repetitive chore.

The reasons for this were manyfold. Firstly, modern poker is far harder than it used to be—the arrival of “solver” software that calculates GTO (Game Theory Optimal) solutions to every thinkable scenario pushed the game away from the soul-reading street smarts days of yore, into a rigorous, study-driven practice of rote memorization—not a bad thing per se, but the long hours of dry clinical study didn’t exactly suit someone already on the verge of burn-out. Plus, these solvers democratized the strategies that had once set pros from the amateurs, taking away more and more of my edge.

But there was a deeper reason I’d fallen into such a dark place: audience capture. I was so in need of being seen as a “pro” to other people, to be respected and feared as a player, that identity had become like a black hole that consumed any playfulness I had once felt when sitting down at a table. By the end, a mere mention of poker would create a negative visceral reaction in my body.

Anyway, I’m pleased to say this love-hate relationship seems to have come full circle, because a few weeks ago, an old friend suggested I come to the Bahamas for the World Series “Super Main Event”. This was no ordinary tournament: the organizers, GG poker, had laid on the biggest guarantee of all time: a $50 million prize-pool. Their brave move paid off: nearly 2000 people ponied up the $25,000 entry fee, utterly smashing all records for a buy-in of that size. And somehow, I outlasted nearly all of them to finish fourth for a record-breaking $2,800,000.

Pleased

So what happened?! Well, it definitely wasn’t down to practice! I’ve only played an handful of times in the past five years, and my brain was comically slow at the mental calculations I could once do with ease. But perhaps this lack of prep was exactly what was needed, because I felt finally free to play my preferred game: intuitive, playful and unpredictable. I made some wild folds, some wilder calls, many of which were completely off the GTO charts. And these were all televised on the livestream, where tens of thousands of viewers could see my cards, and I knew were likely calling me a giant fish. Old “pro” Liv would never have had the guts to do that.

Some Data Points for the Woo

But also (and this is where we so off the charts you might think I’m crazy)… but I’m starting to believe this result in part happened because something, whether it was the game, or the spirit of Win-Win itself, wanted it to happen. Here’s why:

A few days before the tournament I saw a tweet about yet another instance of unnecessarily poor treatment of factory-farmed pigs in America that was so miserable I couldn’t get it out of my head. I’ll spare you the details unless you want to click the link, but it kept replaying in my mind til the first morning of the tournament, when in the shower trying to get myself psyched to play, I made an out-loud pledge to the universe to donate 20% of whatever I win to improve the conditions of factory-farmed animals. And then I score the biggest win of my life, translating to $560,000 to this cause.

If that’s not manifesting a win-win, I dunno what is.

Now of course, one data point does not a theory prove. But for another: the only other time I made a huge tournament pre-pledge (this time for 50%, also to charities I really cared about)… I won that World Series of Poker Bracelet with Igor.

Also very pleased

So take from these anecdotes what you will, but personally, I’m convinced. They demonstrate how even a zero-sum game like poker can still create positive externalities if you choose to do so. And given that the meaning of life is about finding meaning in life, I’m choosing to believe that even in this world of so much suffering, there is a playful, game-loving force out there (or living within us) that wants awesome, benevolent stuff to happen.

I call this force Win-Win, and I’m choosing to believe that when we put our minds & money where our mouth is by **pre-committing** to mutually beneficial outcomes (in whatever it is we do), this force can help nudge us further in that direction. Am I crazy? Perhaps. But these stories are very real, and if I can’t talk openly about these beautiful concepts with you, my dear Win-Win readers, then why even have this blog?

But on the more practical side of things, I’m excited for the next puzzle: how to optimally deploy this money for maximum positive impact for factory farmed animals. I’ll do my best to share here what I learn as I do.

Imagine living your entire life like this, never able to turn around? If someone forced their dog or cat to live like this, they’d be thrown in jail.

As for poker, I’m not going back to being a pro any time soon, at least not in the old sense. But I’m definitely got a new love for the game again, and would like to gather some more data points, so I’ll probably play a few more tournaments this coming year.

And most importantly: if any of you would have a similar story to share, please do so below! Or if you’d like to try a similar win-win experiment of your own (poker, business or otherwise), I hope this serves as inspiration. Keep me posted.

Much love,

Liv