Faces of Gaming: Darren Elias, BetMGM Poker Ambassador – The “End Boss” of poker, record-holding champion and household man – CDC Gaming

Darren Elias started enjoying on-line poker in faculty and have become the number-one-ranked on-line participant. In 20 years {of professional} poker, he received an estimated $20 million {dollars} and is acknowledged within the poker world as a consummate competitor {and professional}.

His nickname, “The End Boss,” displays the respect many poker professionals have for his capacity to dominate late levels of main tournaments.

He powered by way of on-line poker within the 2000s to develop into the number-one-ranked on-line participant in 2009. Pivoting to stay tournaments, Elias holds the document for 4 World Poker Tour titles – probably the most in historical past. All earlier than his 40^th birthday.

Elias is understood for his technically expert event play and as a mannequin of disciplined poker by way of emotional management and his capacity to stay goal. He is acknowledged amongst poker professionals as a bridge between the glory days of on-line poker and as we speak’s excessive curler poker elite.

But within the extremely aggressive world of elite poker gamers, Elias expresses that his driving aim alongside profitable at poker is time spent along with his household.

Moving round
Darren Elias’s father was a school soccer coach, and Darren moved along with his household a number of instances earlier than highschool.

“My dad was a school soccer coach. I believe I moved seven instances earlier than highschool, principally across the East Coast. He was at Vanderbilt, after which LSU once I was in elementary and center college, after which took a head coach job in Erie, Pennsylvania, once I was in highschool.

“I don’t want to say I was isolated, but because I was moving around so much, I was kind of on my own and gravitated more towards games and being on computers, because I was constantly making new friends and having to pack up and move every three or four years.”

Cutthroat
Elias remembers his first publicity to enjoying playing cards was along with his household, particularly enjoying in opposition to his grandmother.

“At seven or eight years old, we would play cards at family get-togethers and with my grandmother where we would play for quarters. She was cutthroat. She’d take all my quarters and brag about going to the laundromat with my money, so she was a good inspiration. We played pretty tough against each other,” Elias remembers.

Moneymaker
In highschool, Elias was impressed by watching Chris Moneymaker on tv, which was the beginning of his poker journey.

“I think around 2003 I was a junior in high school, and we would all sit and watch Chris Moneymaker, and then we all started playing Texas Hold’em. I was always a little more into it than my friends. I would go home and read a book about poker or start to play online and then created an account. That’s when I fell in love with the game and started to take it a little more seriously. So, by the time I went to college, I was playing pretty much full time online, not for a ton of money, but playing a lot,” Elias remembers.

Poker took over
Elias went to varsity in Southern California the place he was a math and physics main hoping to at some point work at NASA.

“I used to be a two-sport All-American in highschool, swimming and water polo, and attended University of Redlands in California on a water polo scholarship.

“I was looking to get out of Erie, Pennsylvania, so I went to a small Division Three school in Southern California, where for the first two years I was swimming and playing water polo before poker really took over and got serious.” Elias mentioned.

Not typical
Not your typical faculty scholar, Elias began enjoying on-line poker in faculty, which led to profitable an preliminary $15,000 (which he ‘spun up” to $100,000). His capacity to maintain profitable led to greater video games and journey throughout the nation and Europe, all whereas not but 21 years outdated,

“I didn’t have some huge cash initially, and on-line poker was fairly good again then the place you may make some huge cash. I used to be in a position to construct a pleasant bankroll to set as much as play larger video games. I ultimately began enjoying in stay tournaments once I was sufficiently old, however it’s a must to be 21 to play in Las Vegas.

“In some California card rooms, you could play at 18; so, when I was 18, I started to play more in person and travel to jurisdictions where I could play, so I would go to places like Monaco or London. I was in Europe a lot before I was 21, trying out the live game,” Elias recalled.

Resistance
Elias’s poker enjoying journey schedule naturally involved his dad and mom.

“There was a lot of resistance from my parents initially.“I totally understand their perspective and had to prove to them that I was responsible for a couple years. I wasn’t some crazy gambler running all over the place. I treated it very seriously. I kept good records and spreadsheets, I chose which games I was playing in, and always tried to treat it like a business, which I think they saw.  I sat down with them and worked out where I was going to finish college. I’m still going to get my degree, just in case. But it may take a little longer, maybe a different degree than I started with, but I’m going to keep playing poker to see where this leads me,” Elias mentioned.

Planes and resorts
Playing poker on-line out of his faculty dorm, he would take part in satellite tv for pc tournaments the place he would qualify for aircraft tickets and resorts in larger tournaments. Like I mentioned, not your typical faculty scholar.

“I would play online and qualified for tournaments all over the world: Australia, I went to Melbourne, London, Paris, Madrid, Monte Carlo. Eventually, China, I went to Macau, but that was later when I graduated. I was enjoying it as a young twenty-something getting to see the world and play a game that I loved. I thought it was great,” Elias declared.

Could not do each
I requested Elias concerning the tipping level that led him away from his profession goals of working for NASA to a choice to develop into an expert poker participant.

“I needed to resolve the summer season once I turned 21. I used to be working with this one professor who was connected with NASA, and I had an internship in Hawaii to work at this Mauna Kea Observatory.

“It was also the first summer I was eligible to play the World Series of Poker, and I couldn’t do both. So, I had to choose, and I decided to go with poker. I changed my major to creative writing, and those courses were a little more flexible, the professors were more comfortable with my travel,” Elias mentioned.

Like Doyle Brunson
While stretching out faculty and touring, Elias entered right into a stage as a wandering gambler, residing from event to event.

“I used to be a wild 22-year-old street gambler. I keep in mind I used to be enjoying in a giant event in Biloxi, Mississippi and I had $200,000 money in my trunk. I used to be driving throughout the nation, stopping at casinos, and actually didn’t know the place I used to be going to stay, the place I used to be going to settle. I used to be simply trying to the subsequent event, to the subsequent recreation.

“I did that for a couple years, and ended up back near my family in Pennsylvania, where I settled in Philadelphia, and that was my home base for operations where I was still traveling and playing a lot. I started playing a little more in Atlantic City. I had this brief phase where I was a road gambler, like Doyle Brunson, back in the day, I guess,” Elias remarked.

Darrenelias
Before turning into well-known in stay tournaments, Elias established himself on-line as one of many strongest web event gamers on this planet.

Playing below the display screen title “darrenelias,” he achieved two World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) titles, an FTOPS championship and have become primary in on-line event rating in 2009. He finally earned greater than $8 million in on-line winnings.

He continued till on-line poker’s notorious Black Friday.

“In April 2011, the U.S. government basically banned online poker in the United States, and, every website you would pull up had been blocked, your money frozen. A lot of players relocated to different countries where you could still play for a brief time. I got an apartment in Canada, in Ottawa, where I would go up and play online poker. I didn’t want to permanently relocate out of the United States; so I think that’s why I shifted more to playing in person,” he mentioned.

Work ethic and a spotlight span
I requested Elias what made him such a profitable on-line participant.

“I think I had a good work ethic and a very long attention span. I don’t mind sitting in front of a computer for 12 or 14 hours doing the same thing. I can get locked in and observant, paying attention. I was always one who would observe how everyone played and took notes, probably more so than my peers. Where a lot of players would just play kind of a rote strategy that’s the same against everybody, I was trying to adapt, watch what my opponents were doing and build counter strategies to beat them more so than some other players; so I think that was a big part of it.”

Between 2009 and 2012, Elias went from enjoying tournaments carrying sun shades and headphones. He was studying the stay finish of his craft.

“I had a lot of struggles in live poker at that time, while I was still doing very well and winning online. I was living in Philadelphia, playing a lot online, but losing in live tournaments. Having a losing year as a poker player is something that happens, but you don’t want to have many consecutive losing years.”

Back-to-back
Elias’s breakout got here in 2014, when he received the WPT Borgata Poker Open, profitable $843,000, and weeks later profitable the WPT Caribbean occasion. Between 2014 and 2018, Elias received a document 4 WPT championships: the Borgata Poker Open (2014), WPT Caribbean (2014), the Fallsview Poker Classic (2017), and the Bobby Baldwdin Classic (2018).

These victories resulted in a record-breaking 4 WPT titles cementing him as probably the most profitable participant in World Poker Tour historical past.

“That was a whirlwind to win the primary one at Borgata. My spouse is from New Jersey, and we have been engaged on the time. So, to have her there, my household was there, my mother got here, my brother got here, and to have them there at your property on line casino to win your largest accomplishment in poker was fairly cool.

“That was awesome and that momentum carried. The next tournament I played was in St. Martin, in the Caribbean, and there was definitely some momentum effect. When you’re doing well things kind of go in your favor in poker. You’re able to find some plays you might not play and maybe luck is on your side a little more. I was definitely riding the heater there. I think, at the time, I was the only player to win back-to-back world poker tour events in the same season, so that was super fun, and it was a great run,” Elias said.

The End Boss
I requested Elias concerning the repute that earned him the nickname “The End Boss,” alongside along with his self-described capacity to be goal.

“Yeah. I believe that got here from gamers who actually don’t need to play in opposition to me and being associated to as the ultimate boss in a pc recreation. I appear to do very nicely in the long run recreation of poker tournaments. If I obtained down to 2 gamers, I often received. I’m a reasonably sturdy heads-up participant, so a number of instances on the finish of the event you’re going through me and I used to be all the time fairly good at closing out a event and getting the win.

Insane highs and lows
Press descriptions of Elias usually paint his type as stoic, extraordinarily disciplined, emotionally managed, troublesome to use, elite at heads up play, and robust in excessive stress conditions. I requested him the place that type of type got here from.

“I mean, in poker the highs and lows are insane. I think if you’re going to ride that roller coaster emotionally that’s pretty difficult. A lot of things are out of your control, so I’ve always kept an even keel and tried to be more focused on the process than the results. You can have a great hand and be 99% favored to  win, and play it perfectly, when something crazy can happen and you can lose. You can either get upset about that and let it affect you, or you can just accept that as part of the game and move on. So, I’ve always tried to stay levelheaded and keep an even keel,” he mentioned.

Bracelet
With an extended listing of championships behind him, Elias lastly received his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2025, a win that had eluded him for years.

“I have been playing the World Series of Poker every year since I’ve been 21, so that’s nearly 20 years now. Up until recently I hadn’t had a ton of success. Last year I played an online bracelet event, an $800 event, and ended up winning it for about $200,000. That was my first bracelet, and definitely takes a little weight off your shoulders, and my buddies are busting my chops a little less about not having any bracelets,” he mentioned.

Bridge
Darren Elias represents a singular bridge between on-line poker and as we speak’s stay tournaments. As he talked about this, he pointed over his shoulder to a photograph of him enjoying in opposition to poker icon Doyle Brunson. “I’d say I’m probably one of the few players who grew up in the online generation, but still played against the old timers. I’ve played against Doyle Brunson, RIP. I have a picture of us playing right here. There are all of these old-time legends I played with in my career, but also still have a foot in the online technical game. I know the young kids, their screen names, how they play, that kind of thing. So definitely a bridge between the two,” Elias said.

More expertise, much less bravado
I puzzled what Elias considered how the sport has modified in 20 years.

“Well, firstly, I’d say gamers have gotten higher. I imply, I believe that occurs in any sport or self-discipline as folks determine issues out and are nearer to the tip aim of enjoying optimally. The expertise and computer systems have been an enormous a part of it.

“If you look at the biggest tournaments in the world, most of the professionals or winning players in there are technical people who study a lot, they know all the spots. Really what they’re trying to do at the highest level is take the human element out of the game, which was a huge part of it 10 or 15 years ago, where it was more mano a mano, when it was more ego and bravado; that kind of thing. Now it’s much more technical,” he remarked.

AI and poker bots
“I used to be employed in 2019 to play in opposition to the very best pc bot on this planet. Open AI and Carnegie Mellon owned this pc software program, they usually wished to check it. That was the beginning of, I’d say, the pc evolution, the place I used to be on this pc experiment, enjoying in opposition to a robotic all day.

“They had a staff of pc scientists working with it, however they weren’t poker gamers, so it was attention-grabbing speaking to them, attempting to repair some issues. I used to be shocked at how shortly this pc system obtained higher. It went from two weeks of enjoying terribly and getting smashed to being the very best participant on this planet, simply from studying and enjoying in opposition to me.

“Talking with the team and getting to see that strategy really opened my eyes to, like, this is the future of poker and poker study; so you can’t ignore it. I’m a little slow to accept the poker computer revolution, that that was a wake-up call,” he remarked.

Massive minority
Elias said that certainly one of his largest challenges is discovering stability between poker and household life.

“Yeah, it’s troublesome. I’d say 90% {of professional} poker gamers in America stay in Las Vegas. I’m within the large minority that doesn’t stay in Las Vegas.

“I stay in New Jersey, and I’ve to journey to play all these tournaments. I’ve to do extra and be away from my household greater than a number of these guys.

“I’m in a distinct ball recreation, and I don’t dislike that. I like residing the place I stay. My spouse has a giant Italian household. We have a help system for the children. I like that, however I’ve actually needed to differentiate once I’m enjoying poker and dealing and once I’m on household time.

“When I travel to the World Series of Poker to play five or six events, I’ll be gone 10 to 12 days. During that time, I’m 100% locked in on playing cards, I’m resting, I’m studying, I’m playing 10 or 12 hours a day, fully into poker, trying to win bracelets, trying to win as much money as I can. When I come home from that, I’m basically trying to relax and be a dad and be with my family. I have this dichotomy of work life and family life that’s a little more separated than most people,” Elias confided.

More danger averse
I requested Elias what he thinks contributed to his longevity in skilled poker.

“I’m in all probability a bit extra danger averse than a few of my friends. There are many pitfalls that I’ve seen associates and gamers fall into, whether or not or not it’s sports activities, playing, medicine, issues like that, the place I’ve all the time been fortunate sufficient to keep away from that, and self-discipline.

“I would say a big part of that is I’m not really interested in those things. I’m interested in playing cards and winning money and being with my family. I think that served me well.”

BetMGM Poker
In 2021, Elias contracted with BetMGM Poker as ambassador and lately re-signed.

“I simply signed an extension this 12 months for 3 extra years. I like working with BetMGM as a result of it’s a pure match. They have a web based product as nicely in New Jersey, so I stay of their markets and I play on-line. In my position as ambassador, I’m obtainable for advertising and marketing, commercials, promotions, issues like that. Then I additionally do consulting on the again finish the place I’ll give suggestions on poker schedules, what tournaments to run, what stakes to run, the place to run them, huge image issues.

“I advise on what BetMGM can do with poker in the future, where to run certain events, where we should devote our energy. Kind of a twofold thing where I’m representing the company on TV, wearing a patch and in commercials. But I’m also trying to contribute what I’ve learned from being in the industry for 20 years to help BetMGM succeed in poker.”

Power of commentary
I requested Elias what the key to success in poker has been for him.

“For me, I would say the power of observation. I’m very attuned to what people are doing at the table, whether that be their strategy or their body language, like looking for physical tells or patterns and how people play. I think I’m pretty strong in those areas. There’s a wealth of information at a poker table. What people are wearing, what they’re saying, how they’re acting, all of these things can contribute to your strategy and how to beat people. So, I think that’s always an area that I focused on, and I probably devote more energy towards that area than the real technical aspect of it,” he associated.