Influential vlogger
The World Poker Tour (WPT) has announced the signing of Brad Owen as its second ambassador. As part of his ambassadorship, Owen will represent the Tour at live WPT events and create content for the World Poker Tour.
“I am excited to be joining the team at WPT,” said Owen in Tuesday’s press release. “I’ve been looking forward to making this the next big step in my poker journey, and I believe our partnership will help us both continue to grow the game of poker.”
Owen is a professional poker player, but is best known for his success as a poker vlogger. He began documenting his attempt to move up in stakes about five and a half years ago, posting videos on YouTube. He has gained a sizeable following since then, garnering almost 600,000 subscribers to his channel.
In February, Brad Owen was honored with the “Best Vlogger” award at the Global Poker Awards.
Though ambassadorship is old hat in the online poker world, it is a new thing for the World Poker Tour. Owen joins celebrity DJ Steve Aoki as the only two ambassadors to the WPT.
“Brad has shown himself to be one of the most impactful forces in the community and the game as of late,” said Adam Pliska, World Poker Tour CEO. “His genuine approach to sharing the game of poker has reached an incredible amount of fans, and WPT is fortunate to be joining forces with him.”
Poker room owner
Owen also made poker headlines at the beginning of this year when he, fellow vlogger Andrew Neeme, and retired/unretired poker pro Doug Polk bought a majority stake in The Lodge Card Club in Austin, Texas. The Lodge has over 60 tables, making it the largest card room in central Texas. It offers cash games and daily tournaments.
Though the most popular poker variant is Texas Hold’em, the Lone Star State has not really been associated with poker since the poker boom started about two decades ago. In the last couple years, however, the state has had its own poker boom as card rooms have become extremely popular.
Poker is not explicitly legal in Texas, but rather lies in a sort of gray area of the law. Operators are not allowed to take a rake, so the card rooms instead charge memberships fees and/or time drops. Owen’s room, The Lodge, charges a $10 per day, $25 per month, or $200 per year to be a member. Patrons also must pay a $10 per hour fee. Thus, The Lodge makes money while technically running games with no rake.
