ShareAlex Dreyfus, Cary Katz and Rob Yong have proven that entrepreneurs can thrive in the poker industry.
The entrepreneur with perhaps the most success in the poker world is Cary Catz. He was the founder and CEO of College Loan Corporations for fifteen years.
With the help of investors including Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth, Katz launched Poker Central in 2015. The first ever 24/7 poker channel didn’t last long, and Katz eventually launched PokerGo, the wildly successful poker streaming service.
Catz didn’t begin playing poker competitively until 2004. Since then, he’s gone on to rack up over $30 million in tournament earnings. He has also proven himself in the highest stakes, as he is currently ranked fourth on the PokerGo Tour leaderboard with over $2.5 million earned and 1,727 points.
Rob Yong has been a staple in the poker community as both a high stakes regular and a British casino owner. Since 2007, Yong and Dusk Till Dawn have been focused on providing a welcoming environment for low stakes players. The casino has also gone on to become a key partner with partypoker.
Yong has also proved himself at the tables. He has 23 tournament cashes for $465,509 spanning 15 years. His largest cash came in the World Series of Poker Europe 2019 in the €25,500 No Limit Short Deck High Roller for $135,160.
Some of Yong’s most profitable play has come at the poker table. In this massive pot with Leon Tsoukernik, he won a whopping $940,000. He’s been in other six-figure pots, including a $404,850 pot against Dylan Gang and a $486,500 pot versus Rob Yong.
Recently, Yong has been advocating a poker union, and has pledged $1.2 million to help kickstart the campaign. In a video on Twitter, Yong explained that the initial pledge would help stabilize the union during its infancy.
RE: Global Poker Organisation/Lobby
— Rob Yong (@rob_yong_) September 5, 2021
Thx 4 feedback.This is my commitment to this project, 5 years of “something”, $1.2m for basic running costs + my time,gives time 2 try & get it self financing
Please RT/like 4 awareness if you wanna support this long shot đź’Ş
Cheers Rob 🙏 pic.twitter.com/nZg1RTPPD4
Dreyfus rose to fame in the poker world without laying a finger on a poker chip. Not surprisingly, the successful entrepreneur found his greatest poker achievements on the business side of the game.
The Frenchman found his first success in the industry as the co-founder and director of Winamax, the first French online poker room and sports betting website. His next project was one of his most successful.
As the CEO and owner of Chilipoker, an online platform, the company made $11.7 million in 2009. Chilipoker became the first European company to aid a U.S. casino group toward regulation by offering technology and services.
Throughout his involvement with the poker industry, Dreyfus had a vision to “sportify” the game of poker. He envisioned a player-centric league where the emphasis was on points and rankings.
His vision eventually came to fruition with the help of Chinese investors in the form of the Global Poker League, complete with team rosters and a draft. Some pros were also interested and even competed in the first season.
Although he saw some success with the Global Poker Masters, a similar team-based poker league, the GPL never did pan out. A majority of the matches were online, and, although they were live streamed, fans weren’t as invested as Dreyfus hoped.
Dreyfus did hit a rough patch with loans from Fedor Holz and Hendrik Latz, but he has since moved into the crypto world as the CEO of chiliZ. It’s an esports block-chain venture where fans can influence their favorite team’s gametime decisions with the use of its official currency, $CHZ. It follows the model of European football and Socios.
