You may know Dan Bilzerian, however, who is he and why is he famous actually? Well, he is a poker player, businessman, and social media influencer of Armenian-American descent.
Bilzerian was born in Tampa, Florida, on December 7, 1980, to corporate control experts Paul Bilzerian and Terri Steffen. He has a brother who also plays card games like Poker, Adam Bilzerian. Through his father, he has half-Armenian ancestry.
His father was known as a Wall Street corporate miner who established a trust fund for his two sons. Bilzerian claims to have majored in Business and Criminology at the University of Florida for four years, though it is unclear whether he ever graduated.
Who Is Dan Bilzerian?
Well, he has become the richest gamblers in the world. Now, let’s take a look why he is so famous these days.
1. In Poker World
Bilzerian came in 180th place in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event. Bluff magazine named him one of the funniest poker players on Twitter in 2010.
Tobey Maguire prosecuted Bilzerian for debt of honor winnings from no-contract poker games in November of 2011.
In the same year, Bilzerian publicly defended Alex Rodriguez against accusations of illegal gambling, claiming that he was present when the alleged gambling event occurred and that Rodriguez was not.
In November 2013, he claimed to have won $10.8 million in a single night of poker, and in 2014, he claimed to have won $50 million.
He claims that he no longer plays against experts, and that the most he’s ever lost in a single session is $3.6 million. Joe Rogan discussed his poker career on his YouTube podcast.
2. Ignite
The company which is owned by Bilzernian, Ignite International Brands Ltd., sells electronic cigarettes, CBD oils, vodka, and water bottles, among many other things. Ignite is a Toronto-based company that began trading under the BILZF ticker in January of this year.
Based on the reports, the company lost even more than $50 million in 2019, primarily due to marketing and office rental costs.
Bilzerian’s Personal Life
On March 9, 2011, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bilzerian swept and beat Tom Goldstein for a wager of $385,000, with Bilzerian driving a 1967 AC Cobra and Goldstein driving a Ferrari 458 Italia.
Bilzerian is said to have had two heart attacks before the age of 32 as a result of his drug abuse. He lived in the Hollywood Hills, Las Vega, and Los Angels in 2014, splitting his time between the three cities.
On August 28, 2018, Bilzerian and also Adam, and their father Paul flew to Armenia to take their oaths as Armenian citizens and join the Armenian Armed Forces. He also went to the Republic of Artsakh on the same trip, where he went to a firing range and fired weapons.
Due to the disputed status of Artsakh, the government of Azerbaijan sent a note of protest to the US, and summoned US Chargé d’Affaires William Gill to take an official note from the protest which was discussed to the US Department of State.
Bilzerian was placed on the international wanted list after a court in Baku issued an arrest warrant for him.
He and other family members donated $250,000 to the Armenia Fund two years later to support Armenia and Artsakh against Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He has also stated that he is “extremely disappointed” that Azerbaijan has chosen to attack Armenians.
The last fact about Dan Bilzerian, who is he and why is he famous, he announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the 2016 election in June 2015. After a tumultuous election, Bilzerian endorsed Donald Trump, praising Trump’s unfiltered and politically outrageous remarks.