First I wanted to congratulate you on winning the 71,000 dollars. I follow your lives and learn a lot from you. About giveway I hope you can choose me, I'm from Brazil and I dropped out of my college in Brazil to come to the United States to play soccer and study, I'm close to graduating, but I don't have money to pay my tuition, because the situation of My parents aren't the best at the moment, so with the money that I have I'm playing poker to try to make the money to pay for my college, as I play low stakes it's complicated, but I'm not going to give up. Thank you for your lives and videos, you are an incredible person.
Good to see you again Kev ! So, I am a freshly graduted 20 yo fella and I have been learning/playing poker since 8 months simply because I love the game ! Most players, especially in low stakes, seem to just be playing for money. They're gambling and they do enjoy that when they win of course, but they're so attached to the money it affects their play, like they can't afford to lose it. These players are super exploitable because of this. This holds true for cash and tournament play. But if you just sit at the table, forget money exists, and just play the game to win and enjoy yourself while doing it, the money naturally flows in your direction. But only if you actually love the game to the point where you're constantly studying and improving (which is my case). You gotta focus on the game theory and practice, much less you would if you loved any other game, like chess. If what you actually enjoy is gambling and winning money with no focus on the game itself, then you're shooting yourself in the foot. That‘s it ! Thanks for the opportunity Kev, Much love for you.
All the most successful people I follow such as Bill Gates or Joe Rogan all give the same advice for young people “Discover a skill you enjoy and get better at it”. That’s my goal, get better at poker. With a young daughter and on single income, dedicating money towards poker coaching and training is always challenging. If successful in your competition, one things for sure.. I will not waste it! Every respect for you Kmart- been following you for since the big brother days!
Hey Kev, another great video! My name is Trevor Brown, I just turned 21 and I’m from California. Growing up my grandma was my biggest idol and she taught me everything i know as a man today,I didn’t have parents figure around most of my childhood, so she was always there for me. She is one of the biggest influences in me going to college and get my bachelors degree and moving forward to get my masters degree. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs in my life but Ive always found poker as a relaxing therapeutic field for me to feel close to my grandma again and bring back the joy of when I was first taught by my her when I was younger. I’ve been playing as much as I can in between working my two jobs and my upper graduate programs for my degree. I’m trying to expand my knowledge everyday with poker since it’s a opportunity in my life that I’m excited to continue in. Hopefully this was a enough about my poker story for you to understand my gratitude towards my peers and poker. Have a great rest of your day!
Got into poker after seeing the dullness in working retail jobs in high school. Started with tournaments but got busted on the bubble in a satellited deep run my biggest tournament back then and switched to cash instead. Now grinding live $1/$2 to make it up there one day. Love the vids man, you were the reason I started taking poker seriously. Keep it up!!!
My favorite poker memory was when I played in a Run It Up 6-max tournament 4-5 years ago, and I had you and Jeff Gross at my table. After having a profitable tournament, you complimented me saying "our man here is crushing us. You beat Jeff up with some value bets. This man plays well. " It really made me realize I have the chops to do well as an amateur, so I started grinding more. I started playing online soon after, and I've been a more and more profitable player ever since! I'm boasting an unfathomable 500%+ ROI in these last two months! Thanks for your content and I look forward to playing with you again in Reno!
Hey, Kevin! I was taught poker from my great grandmother! She taught all of her grandkids and great grandkids every card game she knew! Every summer my family would take a day trip to meetup with my cousins, and head to my great grandmothers house. We'd gather around the pool for lunch and cards. It was an absolute blast, we have so many pictures of us gathered around the table with cards in one hand, and a sandwich in the other! We would start off with standard card games like go fish, crazy eights, and rummy but it always ended with a game of poker and although I was one of the youngest in the group, I would give everyone a run for their money!! Fast forward through the years I never really played much outside of family gatherings. It wasn't until just after high school where I met a friend who hosted a casual $25 cash game at his house every week, and from there I was absolutely hooked on poker! Right now I find myself learning the ropes of online MTTs mainly playing low stakes and focusing on my fundamentals while juggling a full time job! Been having a blast surrounding myself around people who are like minded and love talking about poker! Been absolutely loving the new style of content recently, keep it up, and thank you for doing this giveaway!
That speech at 6:25 ... Beautiful, brilliant! Thank you for that. Sharing your truth and passion with us is +++ Have been and always will be a fan, and LOVING seeing where this journey has been and where it's going 🙏💝
My story: it’s really ironic, I had a problem with gambling (sports betting etc) then I found my love for the game of Poker. I wanted to stay in check so I created an Instagram from the very first time I played poker and kept it as some sort of a diary. I wanted it to be transparent showing not only the wins but the losses and the struggles of poker, the highs and the lows. I now have over 2k followers and it’s great to see some of the messages/feedback and the new people I’m bringing to the game. I no longer gamble, I appreciate money more and I’ve found a game I love, poker saved me. If you choose me for the giveaway I’ll be using the money to help towards streaming! Always great content Kevin, been watching you for over a year now, keep them coming.
to see that you came from a hard financial background and got on the grind to find success just makes me love this channel even more. ive been working on my poker theory, traveling to local cities to play in tournaments and ive been doing pretty well, watching you and other creators have helped me understand the game on a deeper level, thank you for all your work!
Got into poker in about 2003, was going through kidney failure and dialysis while I waited for a transplant. Me and my dad would play and watch while I did dialysis and when I was just feeling like garbage in during the day after. I became obsessed quick and kept asking to play more and more, credit to him for putting up with me and learning the game in his down time to help me learn and pick it up. After the transplant I started playing online during the recovery and the love just kept growing. Eventually I managed to win a seat in the main through what I assume is a now defunct site and couldn't have been happier I played the main the next year and then started to fall out of love with the game. Forgot about it for a long time, until my kidney started failing again. Did another stint of dialysis and found your channel, reignited my passion and I started playing again. My dad was there, trying to learn ranges and equities the whole way with me. Made it back to the series, not the main but happy to be there. Would love the next step to be a tag team event with me and my dad or even to just buy him into an event
Watched your big win live on the stream and I felt for you with the Hellmuth drama. I hoped it wouldn't stick in your head or lend itself to the notion of "karma" regarding the back and forth on Twitter. Forgiveness and blanking the mind is such a +EV play in life and on the felt. You displayed frustration, a natural and frankly deserved reaction given the circumstances, and Phil took one on the chin while he was surely already feeling bruised (to say the least). And then you locked down and battled out a massive win under those hot live stream lights. Both of you gentlemen taught me something about focus, forgiveness and perseverance. So thanks for that, Kevin and Phil.
Up until February 2019 my biggest score was about $1,000 and it wasn't really going anywhere. Then I went on a wild Sunday heater and banked $20,000 profit. The day after I got on a plane to the Romanian mountains to play a poker tournament and got busted out of the tournament by a WSOP Main Event champ. WILD couple of days. Pretty much been on the downswing ever since.
Kevin, the excitement and pure joy you have when you're playing poker reminds me of how I started playing in my local poker league in the sports bars. I have always watched the WSOP on ESPN growing up but never understood the percentages or streets in a given hand. I started playing 3 years ago and I live in Georgia where the only poker is in freeroll leagues for bar cash or on pokerbros. I've won on both platforms but I'm grinding daily in PB freerolls to give myself a chance to build a bankroll. My Dream in poker is to play in the WSOP circuit series in NC or FL and work my way up into bigger and bigger tournaments. Watching other streamers and your stream whenever you post videos and embracing your grind, has fueled my own. I truly hope I have a shot at taking Phil's money and hopefully one day I can relate back to this moment when being interviewed and through your graciousness, I can tell the story of how I used Helmuth's money to level up in poker and bust him in a tournament down the road. Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for providing such great content and insight to the real grind of a poker player!
Learned to play poker in my basement with my friends when I was 19. I then stumbled down the rabbit hole of TH-cam and wsop vlogs and became obsessed with tournament poker. Your channel is one that helped me fall in love. I’m now 22 and about to start a career in the fall but want to give full time poker one go before I fall into the rat race of 9-5 life.
Hi Kevin, I first discovered you many years ago as a video suggestion just as I was starting to play $1/$2 at my local casino here in British Columbia. During that time I discovered that you were also Canadian and that sealed it for me to subscribe and follow your content. Later I learned that you were on the reality show Big Brother because you mentioned it during a stream and apparently that’s how most people knew you, I had no idea you were even on that show. I’ve always felt you to be known as Canada’s biggest Poker streamer (not Pro as that’s Daniel), but as your years of grinding prevailed I also consider you a Professional player. I didn’t take the jump/risk of further pursuing poker as my main stream but have always live vicariously through you and your videos. It’s been very inspiring and entertaining watching your content over the years and am so happy for you on your Poker success. Congratulations on your career and on this session. Can’t wait to see more and more what else the world has in store for you. Meanwhile I’ll just keep cleaning up games against my friends using all the tips and tricks I’ve learned from you as they’ve had no idea just how much of a poker enthusiast I secretly am haha.
Hey Kevin, really loved the video man... Inspiring stuff when you looked back on where you've come from. It's very cool to see all your hardwork paying off, and I'm glad I was able to subscribe and follow you along the way! Right now, that 1300 would mean the world to me as I have been going down a little bit of a dark path as I haven't been playing poker at all lately. Being in Ontario, there are very few tournaments etc.. after the new regulations came into play. After paying for my university tuition, I have struggled to play any poker because I simply do not have enough money. I have been trying to focus on school and sports but I truly do miss playing poker, and this 1300 would allow me to pay off a few student loans, and it would help me just be able to play some small tournaments. I truly do miss the thrill of making it through to the final table in a tournament. God Bless you Kev and I hope that you are able to see my comment. All love to you
Started around 5yrs ago. Coming for non-believer non-achiever non-backgrounder to full time micros crusher. Trying to improve every single day to get to the top !! Now poker is making me person I always wanted to become. TY 4 content Kmart !!
Hey I've been watching poker vloggers since COVID, just found your channel today and love the vlog and story. I've started my poker journey in 2021 went on a great 800 month up swing and then towards the end of the year lost everything playing to big. Been out of work for a year after a car accident last April but I know God has a plan for me and know I have to be full invested in poker if I want to make it work. Until then I'm living through vloggers like you, Mariano and brad. Gl on the tables
Love to see you living your dream Kev; been following your journey for years and actually found you via Big Brother Canada and started rooting for you the day you had the choice to burst the balloon without anyone noticing and took on the offer, it was the same thing I would have done! I got in to poker when I was 15; was playing on a hockey team of 16/18 y/o’s and got called up as an under ager and got to learn the ropes playing with the lads. Fast forward 16 years and have been through the gambit, from the O/G full tilt days, to playing home games and at various casinos and while on vacations. Never cashed for more than $1000 so in an ironic round about way this would have been my biggest poker win to date 😅 If I’m being honest I wouldn’t be spending the money on poker; I got a 2 year old and my wife is due with our second in 2 months, so the money would be going to buying duplicates of all the stuff we need, getting older and priorities right? Regardless of who you choose, know that it’s not just the money that makes a difference; your constant positivity and growth through adversity is what makes the journey so inspiring, and maybe one day I can catch you on the other side of the felt. Cheers 🎉🤝
Kev - I’ve watched you since back in the day when you and Staples were living together in AB and pumping out content together. I’ve always loved poker, had great weekly home games in college, but have gotten away from it as I’ve gotten older. Still love to watch your content and couldn’t have been happier for you when you took down that $200k+ score last year. I remember when you won that $20k tourney back in 2016 like it was yesterday. Keep doing you and congrats on all your success.
Kevin…I have really improved my game as a player and I owe a lot of it to you. I have been watching you since you were low stakes on twitch before you had any sponsors. I tried to play online for a bit and just wasn’t any good. I watched you almost daily on the low stakes as that was all my budget could afford at the time. I learned strategy poker from you and continue to grow. I have moved to mid stakes with a little bit of high stakes games every once in awhile. I do mainly cash games now and it has truly became my side hustle thanks to the many years I have watched and learned.
My poker story starts a few years ago. I was on TH-cam just scrolling to watch something I came across your TH-cam and started binging you and PAVs videos with having no clue how to play. I searched up how to play and learnt all basic skills I needed to play. Put my first $20 on the site and with in 20 minutes had lost it all. At the time I had no clue what bank roll management was, to this Day I don’t know if I really know what bank roll management. From there on I have still watched heaps of you guys play and learnt off. I still want to play live poker one day but I just don’t live by a Casio.
Hi Kevin. It’s so encouraging to me to see your success, because you’re literally living my dream! I’m a refugee stuck between countries whose dream is professional poker. I’d been playing traditional poker merely recreationally with friends for about 10 years until I was introduced to the modern poker world a year ago and I’ve been studying and practicing it with different types of hardships in this country for about a year now, because the exchange rate and the country’s laws about poker here don’t exactly make things easy. I hope some day I can succeed like you and make up for all the years that I lost in here as a refugee from nowhere. Perhaps all I need right now, other than studying, is a strong bankroll 😅
I'm super happy for you Kevin! You deserve this and much more. My story is very simple but powerfull for me. I started to play 5 years ago with zero knowledge about the game. Of course it was (and is) hard for me to start because of my lack of discipline. I enter to some schools but obviously I couldn't improve for my poor mindset. I'm still in my journey to be a very good poker pkayer but what I have learn in all this years is to control myself. I started to meditate,to visualize, to write, to work out, to be grateful, to control my emotions and tilt. I really believe that poker has change myself to a new version that is able to see life in a beautiful way and understand that I have the control of my life and not use outside events to get frustated because overall I'm super happy and proud with my life thanks to poker. I really believe that this journey is AMAZING (hard but amazing anyway). Thanks for your videos and energy! You have a really beautiful light and energy. Keep going! I really hope I can meet you some day.
I’m a 19 year old college student who grew up playing poker with my dad. My dad taught me and my brother at the age of 15 in highschool, we’re triplets so we always hang out together and talk poker together and talk about your videos. We would play with my father and his friends even to this day 4 years later and when we turn 21 we plan to take a trip to Vegas together to play poker. Me and my brother love your channel as it taught us much about poker and the strategy to it, we agreed if either one of us wins we’re splitting the money as we both love your videos. Thank you for making entertainment on streams or TH-cam videos and you’ve had this fan for a while and you’re gonna have him for a lot longer
I've been playing online poker throughout COVID and have grown a deep love for the game. Finally got the chance to go to Vegas and play a few live tournaments. Didn't go so well at first, but I thought I'd give it one more go on my birthday with an $88 turbo, the day before leaving for home. Ended up making a deal with the top 4 and unknowingly had the most chips. Got a sweet card weight and a nice purse. You are one of the main poker content creators that I watch and I attribute that success to you. Keep making great freaking content brother!
My mom never liked my interest in poker. I grew up on hamber helper and macaroni, so my mother thought the old money saved is money earned. But, I couldn't help myself. I was obsessed with the cards, the feeling scooping bog pots. I studied hard, practiced stricked BR management and became a winning player. Now my entire family supports me. Kmart you've helped me through so much. You're the goat and I appreciate what you've done for the poker community. 🤘🤘
Hey Kevin, I'm currently a junior in college right now studying accounting. I learned to play poker from my dad when I was about 15 years old, and I immediately had the bug for it. I started by playing 20$ tournaments with my buddies for fun, and eventually started sitting in with my dad when he played some online tournaments. Now I'm playing medium stake tournaments on the weekends when I have the time for them and I've been very happy with my results. I contribute a lot of my success to the things I've learned from your videos as well as other tournament players on TH-cam. I won't be 21 until July, so as far as cash games go I have only been able to visit about 4 casinos that are 18+ and I've had solid results there as well. I have spent majority of my time outside of school studying the game of poker from people I respect like yourself. I am very excited to continue developing my skills and hopefully make a career out of it like you have. Thanks Kmart, and congrats on the huge session!
Can we note how much effort this guy puts into his vids ? Like you have the best video production value of the poker world in my opinion, and your poker game is on point.. what more is there to ask uh ? ^^
I met my wife playing bar poker... Three sons later and she was laid off, we still get out to play every once in awhile. We played with her mom and my dad for years til we lost her mom just last year to cancer, but we have always been so thankful to poker for bringing and keeping us together tightly. Wife and I also big Big Brother fans and I told her you were on Canada season 3 and she found a way for us to watch it, then we watched you win the "all stars" season! Let's effing gooooo!!!!
Hey Kevin how's going.. This is Sean, a dad of 7 years old girl , a semi truck driver and a 15 years poker player. And I lived in winnipeg... I used to play a lots of cash game until I saw your video. Your skills and all the decisions you made and your story inspired me a lot. Thank you so much for your post. I can't be a pro poker player like you , cause I need to work to feed my family. But I can still trying to be a good poker player. Every time I can learn something from your video, except those BB Lol. Hope you have a great future...
Hey Kevin. I am a Nova Scotian who fell in love with poker in my teen years watching the big game on TV. I was playing micro stakes online 2nl &5nl as soon as I was age eligible. As is the case with most of us, mixed success at first, but my passion for the game only got stronger. At 20 I played in a casino for the first time. 1/2 200 max and I bought in for table min 40$. Being a broke university student, I may have quit altogether if my first few sessions had gone poorly. Thankfully I ran well (looking back I was obviously a fish in the game). I was officially hooked. I read every poker book I could get my hands on, got into a study group for live low stakes and I have not looked back since. Since I am a married working professional now, poker takes the back seat. I play once or twice a month if I'm lucky, and to this day have not traveled to play in any of the hot destinations (even the somewhat close Playground in Montreal). If I won the 1300 I would put it toward taking the las vegas trip with my wife that we've always wanted to take. Cheers and thank you. Alex
Congrats on the big win Kevin! Really impressed with you and can definitely tell you put the work in. I'm relatively new to your channel but look forward to more of your videos as this one was very entertaining. I started playing poker on freetoplay apps in 2018. As I became more familiar with the game i started playing mtts in late 2019. I loved the dynamic of Mtts but after some early nice scores i went months without cashing so I took a break. Than i decided to try 2-3 cash games here in L.A and found that this was more profitable for me but as a father of 4 the long term variance got to me and I'm only able to play maybe once a month now and when I do play I only take 300 with me which goes by pretty quick if things don't go my way. I went to Hawaiian gardens the other day and felt like I was playing great until I got AA and got it in pre flop against KK and lost. Anyways looking forward to more videos from you Goodluck and got bless brother.
Hey Kevin, Im 22 from Vancouver and have been playing poker for a couple years, I mostly play micro stakes MTTs online and some small cash games. My biggest cash was on a 10$ hyper tourney on GG came 2nd place for around $490, got kings busted heads up for the win(got it in good though). Its inspiring seeing your story and how far you've come. The giveaway money would mean alot and would change the bankroll from micro to small stakes :)
Awesome win. Well done. I am just a rec player that doesn't get to play much as we don't have a lot of poker rooms in Chicago. Couple charity games, and now a 2nd casino near opened a great room. As a single dad of 3 now grown kids, I can't play as often as I'd like, but do get out when I can. Taught all 3 kids to play, and my son and I went to New Orleans to play for his 21st bday. That was great. He binked 2 small tourneys while there and is now hooked on poker as well. My 2 teenage daughters like to play our "home games" when we all get together. it's now a family thing which is nice. Now that we have a great room only 35 min. away, I hope to get out any play at least twice a month and even more if the poker gods allow.... Keep up the great content. I never miss a video and have been streaming with you on twitch now for a few months.
Hey, Kev! First, I've always enjoyed the content over the years so thank you! I've tuned in a lot more live, since you began streaming on TH-cam, but I've been watching the highlights for years. I played the occasional homegame for a long time, but I didn't really start diving into this crazy game until I finally quit drinking almost four years ago. Since then, I've been a mis-reg online breaking even with the occasional score. Despite all the one-outers, coolers, and slowrolls, I absolutely love this game.
Plain and simple, I stumbled across Jaime staples on twitch years ago which led me to your twitch, and I am trying to follow in your footsteps, except I am playing live low stakes cash not online. Inspiration you are. Thanks for the new great content too!
Again Great Video Man! Unreal story telling, well edited, watched the whole thing. I know why you brought the chips up to the room now haha. Only recommendation is to build that description a bit more, you've got a great video, aka great hand, put more money in! I mean, info or links! Much love
Congrats buddy! Im currently 18 years old. Im still in school and work at a warehouse besides that. When I was around 13, I got intruduced to poker by my brother, (who´s a couple of years older than me) and I loved it. Of course it was just some home games at the beginning because I was underaged. When I was 15 I started to read poker books (And they were written on english, Im from a country that do not have english as a first language) so it was very tricky, but I wanted to improve my game and try to impress on my brother at the home games so it was worth it. Started to grind on diffrent types of websites, poker simulators and just watch and learn from youtube. And when i finally could play poker legally i won my first ever tourney on pokerstars, a 7.70 $ tourney and I felt like a baller. I work at the warehouse so I can have a quite good bankroll. And nowadays Im grinding hard and trying to improve my game. Me and my brother sometimes hit the casino and play with some pretty good players, and that just makes me realize that without him this wouldn´t be possible. So if I win this giveaway, I will gladly surprise my brother and split the money with him!!
KMART! What an upload. Loving the story telling in this video. Future is bright for you. You’re about to dominate this space. I was introduced to poker through a Nintendo ds game as a kid 😂. I was a fan of poker vlogs for a while but never found myself in the casino/online. About 1.5 years ago, started playing home games with the boys and had some success. Last year in November, I won big at a home game and decided to use the $200 from the night to go to the casino. I’ve been grinding away at 1/3 and slowly building my bankroll responsibly and trying not to scare my wife lol. I stumbled across your channel around the same time and realized how exciting tourneys can be! I’ve been getting experience on GG. So far one final table on the ggmasters $25, and a few other $2-5 tournaments, but gunning for that win! Studying and trying to get better. Thanks for your content man. You have an inspiring story and so unreal you’re in Calgary. So if you’re ever headed to ace casino at the airport, message me so I can meet you… or get that yyc meetup game going 😂 Maybe I’ll see you at the upcoming wsop! Congrats on this huge cash win!
So sick! It's insane to see how far you've come, Kevin! I remember playing 1/2 NL with you in Calgary and watching you play the micros on Twitch. Now you're RFI'ing for a 1/2 NL buy-in. Love to see it. Hope you keep vlogging!
I was watching and I showed up in the comments 😃 I have a similar story I live in Morocco and things are tough right here I am trying to learn poker because I fall in love with this game I quite school and I am trying to have a career in poker all my friends think I am stupid I mean I understand them they r working and I am chasing dreams. The end of the video is super funny 🤣
Hi Kevin, response from Europe (Netherland) here. Although this is not a specific poker story you requested for. I would just like to let you know that your positive vibes made me do so much beter in life, dealing with sethbacks aswell in poker game. Your kind energy changed the way i could deal with my depression and now i enjoy life once again because of you. Also enjoying low stakes poker with the thrill as if im a playing the pros game! Luf you man! Xx
Awesome content Kevin - great to see you doing some live poker. There’s a certain element of magic involved with live poker, wouldn’t you say? With that said, I want to share my high school poker story with you and the other's reading here. Online poker got pretty big in my school thanks to the craze of Facebook (2007s) and their free poker app. Eventually, we started organizing a live game at a bar/restaurant down the road from school for real money. I used to do pretty well and built up a bit of a reputation for being a good player. On the day of one of our regular games at school, I wasn't planning to play (thinking the time would be better spent on WoW) but overheard that my crush was planning to come play. Naturally, I decided to go. There were about 20 of us, so we played a tournament format. Things were going exactly as I hoped - my crush and I were doing really well and looked good for a top 4 finish. Actually, it got even better than that. Before I knew it, my crush and I were heads-up, duking it out for the top prize in front of a decent-sized crowd. I was playing pretty erratic, bluffing a lot...I suppose in my mind, trying to act cool. I'll never forget what happened next: I'm dealt Jack King of diamonds. I raise it up, crush calls. Flop comes 10, Queen, Ace of diamonds. I flop the mother of all nuts and can barely believe it. I slow play it, but crush starts betting into me. I keep telling her she's going to regret it, that "I've got it", but she doesn't believe a word of it. Eventually she shoves on the river for everything...and I'm left with a real dilemma: do I eliminate her in brutal fashion, or fold and 'gift' her the win in the hopes that this will get her to like me? I think it over...and eventually come to my senses. I could never fold a Royal Flush, that would be sacrilege. I call, and crush very confidently flips over Jack King offsuit. Suddenly, all eyes are on me. It's one of those 'instantaneous' moments you never forget - the ones that you see in the 3rd person, in slow-mo, and feel like they last a lifetime. With not really knowing how to act, I very meekly flip over my cards and silence the room. No one can quite believe what they're seeing. It was actually such an anti-climax to the ultimate possible climax. That was it - I had won and everyone was simply stunned. Unfortunately for me, my crush wasn't too impressed and soon took off. And although I might not have won over the girl that night...I did leave with a sense of being destined to play this magical game of poker…and to see what next adventure awaits!
Hey, Kevin! My Poker story began when I was around 7 or 8 years old: as my parents are divorced, I only spent time with my Dad during the weekend. He played online on PokerStars and I used to watch him. When dinner time came, he had to go cook in the kitchen and had to leave the computer in the living room. As so, my task was to scream whenever he had a good hand and fold all the trash (imagine screaming "Dad, you have Ace King!!" and your dad comes running from the kitchen ahah). Im now 24 years old and I still love the game, whether playing with friends or online (started recently). I have started with 1€ tournaments and im now strugling at the 5€ ones. All the content we have on TH-cam (but mainly you) helped me improve my game and understanding better the science behind it. Im currently studying abroad and unfortunately can't put that much time into poker as I would like, is more like an hobby to me. That's basically my poker story so far :) Keep up the awesome work, and thank you for hosting this giveaway! Good luck y'all
Kevin, my grandfather taught me poker at incredibly young age, I knew that a full house beat a flush before I knew my times tables. I’ve only been getting into poker more heavily the past few years. Poker and golf were my grandfathers favorite activities and playing both of them more recently has made me feel more connected to him even though he pasted when I was real young. I would take this money to buy a few rounds of golf, a poker lesson package and a decent banckroll. I’ve always loved your content and I’m stoked to see you play big and achieve these milestones! Hope to make it like you 💪🏻
My roommates and I found a poker table on the side of the road and ever since, we play $0.05/$0.10 home games. So not the highest stakes, but for me, poker isn't just a game to me and my friends. It's a chance to connect on a deeper level and learn things about each other that we never would have guessed. As we play, we share stories, create memories, and reveal moments of vulnerability and strength. It's not about the money or the cards - it's about the connection we share, which makes even our low stakes poker games meaningful.
Your videos are always so inspiring. I played Cash games in Austin, Texas for the last four years, but sadly had to move away to a place where live poker is illegal. I’ve been trying to rebuild my bankroll playing tournaments online, and I am completely blown away at how well you do with them. Keep up the great work!
I use to play a 5$ buy in with my friends twice a week and watch poker online then in 2021 i got extremely sick and wasn’t able to work anymore and realized I had to find a way to make money to support myself. I started playing online poker and was getting crushed but immediately fell in love with the game in a new way and bought a book called “how to beat micro stakes” and started getting a bankroll going shortly after. I spent hours everyday grinding, studying and watching videos to improve my game ( especially your videos) here I am a year later I some how managed to pay my medical bill off and pay for all the medicine by playing cards. Unfortunately I’m still sick but getting better but poker literally saved my life and I found my passion in life!!
i remember back in 2020 in the pinnacle of the second wave, i was super broke due to a pending debt i contracted for paying for my car and, and was working my ass off in a restaurant to pay off that debt. Amidst all that, your streams were a place that i was attending at my spare time to see your Ws and get inspired to improve my skills. In november of that same year, i played a PLO tourney that i was held every last saturday of the month, and after putting an effort in improving my skills and seeing that it was possible to win, i've put all my focus in that tourney and placed 4th for the first time binging a 250$ win (it was relative to 16 diaries at my working job in that time, around 16$ a 9hours routine of work). That money came like in a time were i was almost giving up in playing poker and after that, i even placed 4th and 3rd in that same tourney, months after that first W. The feeling was sooo goood omg i cant even describe it.
It was you Kevin that got me into playing online poker. I remember watching you from Big Brother and then seeing your youtube channel pop up on my feed. Started watching your videos and though man this guy makes poker seem soooo much fun ! (and sometimes not). Been studying a little bit and watching your videos a lot. Only playing low steak $1-$8 buy in tournaments but have yet to have to reload the account ! Not making a whole lot but grinding and love seeing that I can keep my original $50 deposit a float. Your content keeps wanting to learn more and keep getting better ! Love your story as well bro. From another Canadian .. keep that grind on !
I’ve been watching you kmart since the beginning! I casually study and play zoom and cash games online. And crushing home games with some friends while attending law school and graduating with a finance degree. Has helped me through college. My interest was sparked by you
Thank you for the contest and your video Kev, for my part, I have been playing poker for 13 years, I started online, winning small tournaments here and there, only to realize that I had a certain talent. I started playing at the playground poker club, I learned a lot, but one day, I lost my mind, I played until the last penny, without any control, I no longer recognized myself, I I was looking for help to understand what I was going through, and if I can advise you to do it, do it, after this long leave, I started playing again and it was from that moment that I really grew up and made big money online and in person. I believe in never giving up on our passion and dreams but doing it with discipline and control, because it led me to play the WSOP for the first time, without any winnings but I had a lot of fun playing against the best in the world. thank you everyone for taking the time to read this text. P.S : I play a lot againts you on GG :) !!! haha
Crazy win Grats! As a Fellow Canadian tree planter, I love seeing that it's a part of your past as well as mine! I don't need the money but wanted to share that connection! I always say that those grueling days and the consistency required really lends well to the patience and prolonged focus required to Grind MTTs online! Much Love!
What’s up KMart! I am so happy that Hellmuth even offered to pay for the expenses. Very cool of you to give it away. I am a 19 year old poker player from New York. I am a full time college student that has invested my own money in a poker set and poker table to host games at my university. We play 4-5 times a week playing .25/.50 blinds. I actually deal every single hand and have even incorporated a high hand jackpot to make it more enticing for other kids to play. It is a grind let me tell ya! I have taken some “shots” at 1/2 and have had mixed results. Its hard sometimes because the $300 buy in means a lot more to me than others at the table and I feel myself not playing the same. I dedicate so much time to poker and study the gane daily. I would be absolutely blessed to even win a portion of the giveaway. Congrats on the session and even having the opportunity to play these stakes!
Kevin! I have been watching you for so long. Being a Saskatchewan boy and seeing my neighbor 1 province over with a come up has been so nice to see. I started my poker journey 5 years ago with a poker league we have. No money but learned so much. Started winning and then thought i could learn so more. I found some of your videos and started watching you on twitch. The way I learned best was just hearing you talk through each hand. Although we dont have a ton of opportunity in Saskatchewan for poker like there is on Alberta I keep playing and learning online. Id love the chance to build a bigger bank roll to keep learning and one day play you heads so you can win it back! Love you kev!
Love the content Kev. Fellow Canadian ( SK ) colldd. I am new to the online MTT world play Mircos ABI 8$ . I actually got into online poker by coming across your old videos , yours n Jamie Staples old ones then started following you. I really look up to ppl like u. Esp coming from not much n being Canadian. I'm an up n Comer trying to do the right thing n grind my way thru the levels. I appreciate everything you do keep up the great work. ( ps. Also a Huuugggeeeee Big Brother Canada Fan ) LFG . I tried applying but didn't hit yet lol Best wishes to you n Pili. MuchLove
30 yr old from Halifax here, started watching your stream pre BBCAN and was rooting for you hard during S5! Started playing poker with play chips on ultimate poker back in the day and thought I was a big shot playing the highest stakes lol. Been a casual 1-2 player at the casino for years and love the game. Made a GG poker account because of you a few weeks ago, and took down the Sunday fifty stack for 20.5k - by far my biggest score! Getting married in Vegas at Caesar’s Palace in September so that win will definitely help a lot with those expenses. Will be in Vegas for a couple weeks during that time and would be fun to take a shot at a bigger live tourney with the giveaway money! (and who knows, maybe even bink one with some PH white magic)
I have been subscribed to you since the beginning of your online streaming career and just want to say what a ride it’s been for you! I remember you saying how you had to lie to your landlord about how you invested in stocks and how interested he was. Little did they know your stock investments were actually poker investments. LOL I’ve been playing poker for over 10 years and I built a solid bankroll over those years. I played mostly online and played live very seldomly. While playing live one session I got acquainted with people who played underground private poker games in Los Angeles and was playing in a different realm of poker. The games I played were 5/10 and occasionally 25/50. As you may know these private games are filled with girls, drugs and alcohol and people who play as friends with each other. Ultimately being surrounded in such a different environment I lost my whole bankroll in a little less than a year and my poker career suddenly stopped. It’ll be awesome to have a fresh start playing poker again. Glad to see someone like you have great success playing poker. Goodluck on your future endeavors.
Hey Kevin! This is my first time watching your vlog and let me say it’s a high quality vlog. My poker journey started when I was 16 playing poker with my uncles and other family members every Saturday night. I fell in love with the game and started to start playing at Indian reservation casinos at the age of 17. It was really fun back then because everyone was just going all in with top pair or a flush draw. Played for a few years then unfortunately I ended up in prison at the age of 21. Spent over 9 years in prison, but my poker journey didn’t end because I was playing poker in prison. Haha. 😂😂😂. Long story short I got released in 2018 and really changed my life. Currently I am a junior as San Diego State University and working full-time to pay the bills . Don’t have too much extra money to play poker nowadays, but I would love to start again. My dream was to finish college then start playing poker full-time while pursuing my masters degree. Anyways that’s my story in a nutshell. Congrats on the big win. I know it means a lot especially since you first started grinding at 1-2.
Watched this go down live and was honestly blown away. Expected you to come in, play solid, do your thing. Instead you came with a bazooka and fucking blew shit up
I really resonated with your story about growing up struggling and working hard for everything. I also grew up in Alberta and live in Calgary now. For my 40th birthday, I entered into the 50th WSOP Main Event with my own money - no satellite - and cashed! I wasn't even the last Calgarian standing. On Day 1 of the tournament I was seated right next to him and on the other side of me turned out to be the last woman standing of the Main Event that year. I wasn't playing on the day of the earthquake, but I was in my hotel room, and that was scarier than going head to head against Olivier Busquet or Alan Goehring. On Day 2 alone I was all in 13 times. I think I had some good and challenging opponents at my tables throughout the tournament and would have made Day 5 if I hadn't went all in with my 99 into AA. So many good memories and I was so proud of how hard I worked to do as well as I did.
Hee Kevin, I used to play competitive Call of duty and was playing Poker on and off on the side. After being done competing in 2015 I found you on Twitch and started following you ever since. Last year I started to take Poker more seriously and started studying and grinding the microstakes on GG Poker. Trying to build a bankroll from nothing and doing alright so far. In March I will play my first real big live tournament: The WPT PRIME Amsterdam RE ENTRY FOR A 345 buyin. I sold about 50% of action to some of my friends and hoping to make a good run. I only found out you’re pretty active on TH-cam a few days ago and watched most of your video's already. Your story and video's are really inspiring me to take Poker even further. Thanks and keep up the good work - Jesse
Your story reminds me of mine as funny as that is. I started playing poker when I was 10 with my grandma in her basement. She was always a huge fan of the game. Always had friends over for a home game and she was always in the game with us! Been playing now ever since and like to grind in the online streets. She recently passed away 2 weeks ago at 94! Next tournament series is going to be for her! Good luck to you and love watching you on twitch! Your a great person!!
Ok can someone who knows their respective stories confirm if kevins story is anyway similar in relation to this gentlemans origin as well because I'm not finding it funny as that is sorry :/
Knew about you from twitch and just the poker world overall but this is the first time Ive watched one of your videos and gotta say kind of impressed by how solid you played in the biggest game of your life, its not easy at all to perform this well when you are thrown out of your comfort zone, also really liked the background story, mad respect! Keep it up!
I am married with 4 kids. Just quit a good job to move into the poker industry. Working as a chip runner while studying to be a dealer. I grind 1/2 and 2/5 when i have the means to do so. Turnong 1300 PHD into a big win would be a dream. I was so happy seeing your emotion on getting the bluff through. Glad to see how far you come.
I've been watching you stream for years! Stand up guy for sure! I'm grinding micros, building up the bankroll. Hoping to make it to some livestreams like you! Huge motivator! LFG!!!
Homeless at the age of 19 to 22. In and out of prison. While I was locked up I learned to the game. I was released in 2017 and I've been sober ever since. Poker saved my life because without poker my sobriety would be chaos. Love your content Kmart. Looking forward to seeing you with a bracelet
I first saw your video and began to contact poker. Now I am playing micro-level poker. I am very happy to see you get your achievements step by step. I also encourage me to continue to go further and further in poker. Come on, KMart
Been playing poker for 10 years now, and I´m 25. Started playing on my dads account. I made 5 dollars into 50 dollars playing 1-2cent and been loving the game ever since. When I turned 18 I started playing at a live casino with my dad to keep me company. My biggest score was where I got 3rd in a "Four Seasons" tournament here in Denmark. There was 120 entries. My dad got 2nd place. I cashed for 4000 dollars. My dream within the poker realm is to cash for more than that one day, to break my PR. Hopefully one day it will come true. Thanks for the great content Kevin.
Big Congrats KMart! Me and my buddies all started playing right as we were watching you on Big brother. After the show we stumbled across you on twitch and never turned back. I finished 2nd in the Bounty Builder $16.50 which won me enough to pay the remaining bit of my student load off, one of my favourite poker moments. We still play home games monthly, hit the casino the odd weekend, came to RIU Reno in 2017 and Vegas 2018. Pandemic kind of put a halt in everything but lately we've gotten back in the swing of things.
Congrats Kevin, Been following you since bbcan3. Watching you grind your way up the poker ladder has been fantastic! I’ve been playing poker for 20 years, love the competition,strategy and stress of it all. I haven’t played much over the past couple of years, lost my poker bro unexpectedly due to an unknown heart condition, he was 36. We had travelled to Vegas twice chasing the dream. We also would Watch your streams and text furiously agreeing (or disagreeing)with your plays. He passed right before your massive colossus hit, I watched the run but was pretty bummed he didn’t get to see it. Anyways I’m starting to play a bit again now that my three kids (7,5,2) are a bit easier to manage. That being said it’s tough to get much more than a 50$ roll going. 1300$ on gg would be an incredible start up! Either way, your raw emotion and charisma is amazing to watch so keep up the good work! Hope to sit across from you or tee it up someday when I’m Alberta bound. Keep crushing the streets!
So cool to see you doing it. Doing it big like we all knew you were on the path to do. Just a new Dad here trying to dip his toe back in the poker water after having 5 years of fertility treatments and suicidal thought rehab to pay for. my wife had to deal with post partum and i had to take a long time off work. Now that I have a little time again and our family is happy and healthy I am doing my best to relearn some of the tricks from 6 years ago as well as pickup some new tricks from your streams. Always a fan sir, good luck and keep killing it.
Right on brother! What a generous thing for you to do. Congrats on all your success. Me? 36 year old UPS driver born and raised in vegasand on the grind. Big fan of yours.
It’s mad, just before your backstory like a contestant on X-Factor I was actually thinking of how you deserved this so much. You were the first Poker player on TH-cam who truly pulled me and made it enjoyable and educational to watch. Keep going, keep grafting, keep learning and keep entertaining. Bigger things are coming your way.
Mate! Missed opportunity at the last shot being the thumbnail 😂 poker vlogs are definitely getting stale but this was a really enjoyable watch. Would love to see more live vlogs! I’m 23 from Australia. Found my love for poker when I was 15 and I walked out of my dorm room in boarding school at 1am on a Saturday to go piss. Outside my door was 8 year 12’s all in suits with their glasses and beers playing penny stakes but playing like it was the main event final table 😂. I asked them what they were playing and they told me to fuck off and go back to my room. They were locked. In. The next day they showed me how to play and it’s been a road to glory for me since that point. Really enjoy watching you play man. All the best ! Also not to beat around the bush, I would love some of Phil helmuth’s money. Cheers.
Great win Kmart! Here's my story: I was 24 and had just been laid off. I was a dumb kid and thought I could make money playing advantage blackjack. Went on Twitch to find streamers playing BJ online and instead found You and Jaime Staples grinding the Big 3.30. I was instantly hooked. I probably average 10 hours of poker content a week since back then. Some highlights include watching your 24 hour stream house with Jaime Matt and Jeff, and watching you win 200k for 3rd place on that GG MTT. I even watched every episode of your Big Brother Canada win, searching out illegal streams of it every week from my Boston, MA Apt. Congrats man, Ive been a fan for years and really happy to see your success!
Hey Kevin, my names Simon and my poker story goes a little like this! Growing up I was surrounded by poker. My dad played consistently and even wound up poker coaching coaching NBA Legends Andrew Bogut and Tyrone Lue as well as Rapper Nelly. The got voiced in PTA and seeing a community full of poker enthusiasts developed me into the fanatic I am today. I grew up and got the nickname “Donk.” I didn’t understand variance and I wanted to win every single hand. This obviously didn’t work out well for me but I soon fell in love with math and statistics and my poker game has gone to the next level. I am an actuarial science major and I am obsessed with statistics. This has developed my new love for poker and I love watching people like you enjoying the game to its full potential! This 1300 could help me to develop a proper bankroll or even take my shot at a bracelet event in Vegas this World Series! Keep grinding Kevin, Peace!
Just got into poker and love your videos. I play $5 tourneys but havent had any luck yet. Single dad just trying his best to have some fun on free time. Thanks for the content.
From Viet Nam with love. In my country, poker is considered a gamble and not supported by society. Although the poker community in Vietnam is very large, we are mostly not recognized by society, not free to share our passion like you. The videos you make are really different from the rest, both professional and entertaining, really inspired me and the Vietnamese poker community a lot. Keep trying harder Kmart, I will always be your big fan. Good luck bro and hopefully one day Vietnamese society will have a better view of this intellectual game so that I can have the opportunity to be free to become an inspiration to the community like you. ❤
Hey Kev - here's my story! Fell in love with Poker when I was 18 and watched endless hours of poker shows and analysis. I found the idea of playing a game to win vast amounts of money to be so enchanting. Your early youtube poker vids before you took a hiatus were super inspiring for me. Last year I realised it wasn't a game I could excel in. Playing to a high standard requires you take the time to study hard and adapt, which I just didn't have the patience for. I am still a total enthusiast and always look forward to your uploads. Its uplifting seeing someone like you so motivated and confident in achieving your goals - I look to apply this in other areas of my life! Lets go champ - can't wait to see you hit 100k subs.
Really nice to see your zero to hero story in there. Living mine now trying to solider through my teenage poker stage and focus on game selection and BRM. Quite proud of the modest skillset I’ve acquired predominantly from just watching poker streamers on twitch. Being good at something challenging is the most fulfilling aspect of this, the money is just a bonus. So I owe a thanks to yourself, Jason and Jaime. Love your pay it forward gesture from Phil.
Sounds similar to me. Also in teen poker stage (well, just turned 20). I play small stake online MTTs, and built up a decent bank roll. Good luck at the tables bud.
Hey Taylor, you were selected as a finalist and binked the giveaway draw. Congratulations. Please contact Kmartpoker@gmail.com and we'll get you those Phil H dollars.
@@KmartPoker XD no way that’s amazing! I’ve never won a giveaway and I couldn’t think of a more special one to win. Thank you Kevin and thank you Phil! I’m stoked :)
It was an honor and pleasure dealing to you. I was in awe with how well you played and handled yourself at the table. Congrats on your monumental day!
You were dealer
@@5crb30 no he was the drug dealer
@@diezelsyndicate553 haha ....
You were a beast, my favorite dealer in LA
Giving away $1300 usd to a poker player in the comments! (Thanks Phil H)
WHAT A SHOW AND WIN THIS WAS!
If I win, the money will be used wisely (towards winning in mixed games 🙂). Thanks for the giveaway!
Let's Go!!!
This is a life changing money for me. 🙏 Come on Eugene just one time.
Hey Kev, have you announced the winner yet?
Man thatd be awesome to play fearlessly with
First I wanted to congratulate you on winning the 71,000 dollars. I follow your lives and learn a lot from you. About giveway I hope you can choose me, I'm from Brazil and I dropped out of my college in Brazil to come to the United States to play soccer and study, I'm close to graduating, but I don't have money to pay my tuition, because the situation of My parents aren't the best at the moment, so with the money that I have I'm playing poker to try to make the money to pay for my college, as I play low stakes it's complicated, but I'm not going to give up. Thank you for your lives and videos, you are an incredible person.
Good to see you again Kev !
So, I am a freshly graduted 20 yo fella and I have been learning/playing poker since 8 months simply because I love the game !
Most players, especially in low stakes, seem to just be playing for money. They're gambling and they do enjoy that when they win of course, but they're so attached to the money it affects their play, like they can't afford to lose it. These players are super exploitable because of this. This holds true for cash and tournament play.
But if you just sit at the table, forget money exists, and just play the game to win and enjoy yourself while doing it, the money naturally flows in your direction.
But only if you actually love the game to the point where you're constantly studying and improving (which is my case). You gotta focus on the game theory and practice, much less you would if you loved any other game, like chess. If what you actually enjoy is gambling and winning money with no focus on the game itself, then you're shooting yourself in the foot.
That‘s it ! Thanks for the opportunity Kev, Much love for you.
All the most successful people I follow such as Bill Gates or Joe Rogan all give the same advice for young people “Discover a skill you enjoy and get better at it”. That’s my goal, get better at poker. With a young daughter and on single income, dedicating money towards poker coaching and training is always challenging. If successful in your competition, one things for sure.. I will not waste it! Every respect for you Kmart- been following you for since the big brother days!
Hey Kev, another great video! My name is Trevor Brown, I just turned 21 and I’m from California. Growing up my grandma was my biggest idol and she taught me everything i know as a man today,I didn’t have parents figure around most of my childhood, so she was always there for me. She is one of the biggest influences in me going to college and get my bachelors degree and moving forward to get my masters degree. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs in my life but Ive always found poker as a relaxing therapeutic field for me to feel close to my grandma again and bring back the joy of when I was first taught by my her when I was younger. I’ve been playing as much as I can in between working my two jobs and my upper graduate programs for my degree. I’m trying to expand my knowledge everyday with poker since it’s a opportunity in my life that I’m excited to continue in. Hopefully this was a enough about my poker story for you to understand my gratitude towards my peers and poker. Have a great rest of your day!
Got into poker after seeing the dullness in working retail jobs in high school. Started with tournaments but got busted on the bubble in a satellited deep run my biggest tournament back then and switched to cash instead. Now grinding live $1/$2 to make it up there one day. Love the vids man, you were the reason I started taking poker seriously. Keep it up!!!
My favorite poker memory was when I played in a Run It Up 6-max tournament 4-5 years ago, and I had you and Jeff Gross at my table. After having a profitable tournament, you complimented me saying "our man here is crushing us. You beat Jeff up with some value bets. This man plays well. " It really made me realize I have the chops to do well as an amateur, so I started grinding more. I started playing online soon after, and I've been a more and more profitable player ever since! I'm boasting an unfathomable 500%+ ROI in these last two months! Thanks for your content and I look forward to playing with you again in Reno!
Hey, Kevin!
I was taught poker from my great grandmother! She taught all of her grandkids and great grandkids every card game she knew! Every summer my family would take a day trip to meetup with my cousins, and head to my great grandmothers house. We'd gather around the pool for lunch and cards. It was an absolute blast, we have so many pictures of us gathered around the table with cards in one hand, and a sandwich in the other! We would start off with standard card games like go fish, crazy eights, and rummy but it always ended with a game of poker and although I was one of the youngest in the group, I would give everyone a run for their money!! Fast forward through the years I never really played much outside of family gatherings. It wasn't until just after high school where I met a friend who hosted a casual $25 cash game at his house every week, and from there I was absolutely hooked on poker!
Right now I find myself learning the ropes of online MTTs mainly playing low stakes and focusing on my fundamentals while juggling a full time job! Been having a blast surrounding myself around people who are like minded and love talking about poker! Been absolutely loving the new style of content recently, keep it up, and thank you for doing this giveaway!
That speech at 6:25 ... Beautiful, brilliant! Thank you for that. Sharing your truth and passion with us is +++
Have been and always will be a fan, and LOVING seeing where this journey has been and where it's going 🙏💝
My story: it’s really ironic, I had a problem with gambling (sports betting etc) then I found my love for the game of Poker. I wanted to stay in check so I created an Instagram from the very first time I played poker and kept it as some sort of a diary. I wanted it to be transparent showing not only the wins but the losses and the struggles of poker, the highs and the lows. I now have over 2k followers and it’s great to see some of the messages/feedback and the new people I’m bringing to the game. I no longer gamble, I appreciate money more and I’ve found a game I love, poker saved me. If you choose me for the giveaway I’ll be using the money to help towards streaming! Always great content Kevin, been watching you for over a year now, keep them coming.
to see that you came from a hard financial background and got on the grind to find success just makes me love this channel even more. ive been working on my poker theory, traveling to local cities to play in tournaments and ive been doing pretty well, watching you and other creators have helped me understand the game on a deeper level, thank you for all your work!
Got into poker in about 2003, was going through kidney failure and dialysis while I waited for a transplant. Me and my dad would play and watch while I did dialysis and when I was just feeling like garbage in during the day after. I became obsessed quick and kept asking to play more and more, credit to him for putting up with me and learning the game in his down time to help me learn and pick it up. After the transplant I started playing online during the recovery and the love just kept growing. Eventually I managed to win a seat in the main through what I assume is a now defunct site and couldn't have been happier I played the main the next year and then started to fall out of love with the game. Forgot about it for a long time, until my kidney started failing again. Did another stint of dialysis and found your channel, reignited my passion and I started playing again. My dad was there, trying to learn ranges and equities the whole way with me. Made it back to the series, not the main but happy to be there. Would love the next step to be a tag team event with me and my dad or even to just buy him into an event
Watched your big win live on the stream and I felt for you with the Hellmuth drama. I hoped it wouldn't stick in your head or lend itself to the notion of "karma" regarding the back and forth on Twitter. Forgiveness and blanking the mind is such a +EV play in life and on the felt. You displayed frustration, a natural and frankly deserved reaction given the circumstances, and Phil took one on the chin while he was surely already feeling bruised (to say the least). And then you locked down and battled out a massive win under those hot live stream lights. Both of you gentlemen taught me something about focus, forgiveness and perseverance. So thanks for that, Kevin and Phil.
Up until February 2019 my biggest score was about $1,000 and it wasn't really going anywhere. Then I went on a wild Sunday heater and banked $20,000 profit. The day after I got on a plane to the Romanian mountains to play a poker tournament and got busted out of the tournament by a WSOP Main Event champ. WILD couple of days. Pretty much been on the downswing ever since.
The current Main Event champion!
this video deserves a lot of views you have super good energy
Kevin, the excitement and pure joy you have when you're playing poker reminds me of how I started playing in my local poker league in the sports bars. I have always watched the WSOP on ESPN growing up but never understood the percentages or streets in a given hand. I started playing 3 years ago and I live in Georgia where the only poker is in freeroll leagues for bar cash or on pokerbros. I've won on both platforms but I'm grinding daily in PB freerolls to give myself a chance to build a bankroll. My Dream in poker is to play in the WSOP circuit series in NC or FL and work my way up into bigger and bigger tournaments. Watching other streamers and your stream whenever you post videos and embracing your grind, has fueled my own. I truly hope I have a shot at taking Phil's money and hopefully one day I can relate back to this moment when being interviewed and through your graciousness, I can tell the story of how I used Helmuth's money to level up in poker and bust him in a tournament down the road. Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for providing such great content and insight to the real grind of a poker player!
Learned to play poker in my basement with my friends when I was 19. I then stumbled down the rabbit hole of TH-cam and wsop vlogs and became obsessed with tournament poker. Your channel is one that helped me fall in love. I’m now 22 and about to start a career in the fall but want to give full time poker one go before I fall into the rat race of 9-5 life.
Hi Kevin,
I first discovered you many years ago as a video suggestion just as I was starting to play $1/$2 at my local casino here in British Columbia.
During that time I discovered that you were also Canadian and that sealed it for me to subscribe and follow your content.
Later I learned that you were on the reality show Big Brother because you mentioned it during a stream and apparently that’s how most people knew you, I had no idea you were even on that show.
I’ve always felt you to be known as Canada’s biggest Poker streamer (not Pro as that’s Daniel), but as your years of grinding prevailed I also consider you a Professional player.
I didn’t take the jump/risk of further pursuing poker as my main stream but have always live vicariously through you and your videos.
It’s been very inspiring and entertaining watching your content over the years and am so happy for you on your Poker success.
Congratulations on your career and on this session. Can’t wait to see more and more what else the world has in store for you.
Meanwhile I’ll just keep cleaning up games against my friends using all the tips and tricks I’ve learned from you as they’ve had no idea just how much of a poker enthusiast I secretly am haha.
Hey Kevin, really loved the video man... Inspiring stuff when you looked back on where you've come from. It's very cool to see all your hardwork paying off, and I'm glad I was able to subscribe and follow you along the way! Right now, that 1300 would mean the world to me as I have been going down a little bit of a dark path as I haven't been playing poker at all lately. Being in Ontario, there are very few tournaments etc.. after the new regulations came into play. After paying for my university tuition, I have struggled to play any poker because I simply do not have enough money. I have been trying to focus on school and sports but I truly do miss playing poker, and this 1300 would allow me to pay off a few student loans, and it would help me just be able to play some small tournaments. I truly do miss the thrill of making it through to the final table in a tournament. God Bless you Kev and I hope that you are able to see my comment. All love to you
Started around 5yrs ago. Coming for non-believer non-achiever non-backgrounder to full time micros crusher. Trying to improve every single day to get to the top !! Now poker is making me person I always wanted to become. TY 4 content Kmart !!
Hey I've been watching poker vloggers since COVID, just found your channel today and love the vlog and story. I've started my poker journey in 2021 went on a great 800 month up swing and then towards the end of the year lost everything playing to big. Been out of work for a year after a car accident last April but I know God has a plan for me and know I have to be full invested in poker if I want to make it work. Until then I'm living through vloggers like you, Mariano and brad. Gl on the tables
Love to see you living your dream Kev; been following your journey for years and actually found you via Big Brother Canada and started rooting for you the day you had the choice to burst the balloon without anyone noticing and took on the offer, it was the same thing I would have done!
I got in to poker when I was 15; was playing on a hockey team of 16/18 y/o’s and got called up as an under ager and got to learn the ropes playing with the lads.
Fast forward 16 years and have been through the gambit, from the O/G full tilt days, to playing home games and at various casinos and while on vacations.
Never cashed for more than $1000 so in an ironic round about way this would have been my biggest poker win to date 😅
If I’m being honest I wouldn’t be spending the money on poker; I got a 2 year old and my wife is due with our second in 2 months, so the money would be going to buying duplicates of all the stuff we need, getting older and priorities right?
Regardless of who you choose, know that it’s not just the money that makes a difference; your constant positivity and growth through adversity is what makes the journey so inspiring, and maybe one day I can catch you on the other side of the felt.
Cheers 🎉🤝
Kev - I’ve watched you since back in the day when you and Staples were living together in AB and pumping out content together. I’ve always loved poker, had great weekly home games in college, but have gotten away from it as I’ve gotten older. Still love to watch your content and couldn’t have been happier for you when you took down that $200k+ score last year. I remember when you won that $20k tourney back in 2016 like it was yesterday. Keep doing you and congrats on all your success.
Kevin…I have really improved my game as a player and I owe a lot of it to you. I have been watching you since you were low stakes on twitch before you had any sponsors. I tried to play online for a bit and just wasn’t any good. I watched you almost daily on the low stakes as that was all my budget could afford at the time. I learned strategy poker from you and continue to grow. I have moved to mid stakes with a little bit of high stakes games every once in awhile. I do mainly cash games now and it has truly became my side hustle thanks to the many years I have watched and learned.
My poker story starts a few years ago. I was on TH-cam just scrolling to watch something I came across your TH-cam and started binging you and PAVs videos with having no clue how to play. I searched up how to play and learnt all basic skills I needed to play. Put my first $20 on the site and with in 20 minutes had lost it all. At the time I had no clue what bank roll management was, to this Day I don’t know if I really know what bank roll management. From there on I have still watched heaps of you guys play and learnt off. I still want to play live poker one day but I just don’t live by a Casio.
Simple and straight to the point. Trying to go pro.
Hustle you know how it is Kevin.
Congrats on the win.
Playing poker for 10-12 years now.
Hi Kevin. It’s so encouraging to me to see your success, because you’re literally living my dream! I’m a refugee stuck between countries whose dream is professional poker. I’d been playing traditional poker merely recreationally with friends for about 10 years until I was introduced to the modern poker world a year ago and I’ve been studying and practicing it with different types of hardships in this country for about a year now, because the exchange rate and the country’s laws about poker here don’t exactly make things easy. I hope some day I can succeed like you and make up for all the years that I lost in here as a refugee from nowhere. Perhaps all I need right now, other than studying, is a strong bankroll 😅
I'm super happy for you Kevin! You deserve this and much more. My story is very simple but powerfull for me. I started to play 5 years ago with zero knowledge about the game. Of course it was (and is) hard for me to start because of my lack of discipline. I enter to some schools but obviously I couldn't improve for my poor mindset. I'm still in my journey to be a very good poker pkayer but what I have learn in all this years is to control myself. I started to meditate,to visualize, to write, to work out, to be grateful, to control my emotions and tilt. I really believe that poker has change myself to a new version that is able to see life in a beautiful way and understand that I have the control of my life and not use outside events to get frustated because overall I'm super happy and proud with my life thanks to poker. I really believe that this journey is AMAZING (hard but amazing anyway). Thanks for your videos and energy! You have a really beautiful light and energy. Keep going! I really hope I can meet you some day.
I’m a 19 year old college student who grew up playing poker with my dad. My dad taught me and my brother at the age of 15 in highschool, we’re triplets so we always hang out together and talk poker together and talk about your videos. We would play with my father and his friends even to this day 4 years later and when we turn 21 we plan to take a trip to Vegas together to play poker. Me and my brother love your channel as it taught us much about poker and the strategy to it, we agreed if either one of us wins we’re splitting the money as we both love your videos. Thank you for making entertainment on streams or TH-cam videos and you’ve had this fan for a while and you’re gonna have him for a lot longer
I've been playing online poker throughout COVID and have grown a deep love for the game. Finally got the chance to go to Vegas and play a few live tournaments. Didn't go so well at first, but I thought I'd give it one more go on my birthday with an $88 turbo, the day before leaving for home. Ended up making a deal with the top 4 and unknowingly had the most chips. Got a sweet card weight and a nice purse. You are one of the main poker content creators that I watch and I attribute that success to you. Keep making great freaking content brother!
My mom never liked my interest in poker. I grew up on hamber helper and macaroni, so my mother thought the old money saved is money earned. But, I couldn't help myself. I was obsessed with the cards, the feeling scooping bog pots. I studied hard, practiced stricked BR management and became a winning player. Now my entire family supports me. Kmart you've helped me through so much. You're the goat and I appreciate what you've done for the poker community. 🤘🤘
Hey Kevin, I'm currently a junior in college right now studying accounting. I learned to play poker from my dad when I was about 15 years old, and I immediately had the bug for it. I started by playing 20$ tournaments with my buddies for fun, and eventually started sitting in with my dad when he played some online tournaments. Now I'm playing medium stake tournaments on the weekends when I have the time for them and I've been very happy with my results. I contribute a lot of my success to the things I've learned from your videos as well as other tournament players on TH-cam. I won't be 21 until July, so as far as cash games go I have only been able to visit about 4 casinos that are 18+ and I've had solid results there as well. I have spent majority of my time outside of school studying the game of poker from people I respect like yourself. I am very excited to continue developing my skills and hopefully make a career out of it like you have. Thanks Kmart, and congrats on the huge session!
Can we note how much effort this guy puts into his vids ? Like you have the best video production value of the poker world in my opinion, and your poker game is on point.. what more is there to ask uh ? ^^
I met my wife playing bar poker... Three sons later and she was laid off, we still get out to play every once in awhile. We played with her mom and my dad for years til we lost her mom just last year to cancer, but we have always been so thankful to poker for bringing and keeping us together tightly.
Wife and I also big Big Brother fans and I told her you were on Canada season 3 and she found a way for us to watch it, then we watched you win the "all stars" season!
Let's effing gooooo!!!!
Man I respect the history and coming from the bottom like most of us grinders. You've got a new fan and follower here brother..
That cut was so heart felt. I’m a big man and was nearly in tears let’s fucking go Kev 💙
Hey Kevin how's going..
This is Sean, a dad of 7 years old girl , a semi truck driver and a 15 years poker player. And I lived in winnipeg... I used to play a lots of cash game until I saw your video. Your skills and all the decisions you made and your story inspired me a lot. Thank you so much for your post. I can't be a pro poker player like you , cause I need to work to feed my family. But I can still trying to be a good poker player. Every time I can learn something from your video, except those BB Lol.
Hope you have a great future...
Hey Kevin. I am a Nova Scotian who fell in love with poker in my teen years watching the big game on TV. I was playing micro stakes online 2nl &5nl as soon as I was age eligible. As is the case with most of us, mixed success at first, but my passion for the game only got stronger. At 20 I played in a casino for the first time. 1/2 200 max and I bought in for table min 40$. Being a broke university student, I may have quit altogether if my first few sessions had gone poorly. Thankfully I ran well (looking back I was obviously a fish in the game). I was officially hooked. I read every poker book I could get my hands on, got into a study group for live low stakes and I have not looked back since. Since I am a married working professional now, poker takes the back seat. I play once or twice a month if I'm lucky, and to this day have not traveled to play in any of the hot destinations (even the somewhat close Playground in Montreal). If I won the 1300 I would put it toward taking the las vegas trip with my wife that we've always wanted to take.
Cheers and thank you.
Alex
Congrats on the big win Kevin! Really impressed with you and can definitely tell you put the work in. I'm relatively new to your channel but look forward to more of your videos as this one was very entertaining. I started playing poker on freetoplay apps in 2018. As I became more familiar with the game i started playing mtts in late 2019. I loved the dynamic of Mtts but after some early nice scores i went months without cashing so I took a break. Than i decided to try 2-3 cash games here in L.A and found that this was more profitable for me but as a father of 4 the long term variance got to me and I'm only able to play maybe once a month now and when I do play I only take 300 with me which goes by pretty quick if things don't go my way. I went to Hawaiian gardens the other day and felt like I was playing great until I got AA and got it in pre flop against KK and lost. Anyways looking forward to more videos from you Goodluck and got bless brother.
The editing is so good! The couch flip days! haha
Legendary session and EPIC video! Congrats on the win, come back soon Kmart!
Hey Kevin, Im 22 from Vancouver and have been playing poker for a couple years, I mostly play micro stakes MTTs online and some small cash games. My biggest cash was on a 10$ hyper tourney on GG came 2nd place for around $490, got kings busted heads up for the win(got it in good though). Its inspiring seeing your story and how far you've come. The giveaway money would mean alot and would change the bankroll from micro to small stakes :)
Awesome win. Well done. I am just a rec player that doesn't get to play much as we don't have a lot of poker rooms in Chicago. Couple charity games, and now a 2nd casino near opened a great room. As a single dad of 3 now grown kids, I can't play as often as I'd like, but do get out when I can. Taught all 3 kids to play, and my son and I went to New Orleans to play for his 21st bday. That was great. He binked 2 small tourneys while there and is now hooked on poker as well. My 2 teenage daughters like to play our "home games" when we all get together. it's now a family thing which is nice. Now that we have a great room only 35 min. away, I hope to get out any play at least twice a month and even more if the poker gods allow....
Keep up the great content. I never miss a video and have been streaming with you on twitch now for a few months.
Hey, Kev!
First, I've always enjoyed the content over the years so thank you! I've tuned in a lot more live, since you began streaming on TH-cam, but I've been watching the highlights for years.
I played the occasional homegame for a long time, but I didn't really start diving into this crazy game until I finally quit drinking almost four years ago. Since then, I've been a mis-reg online breaking even with the occasional score. Despite all the one-outers, coolers, and slowrolls, I absolutely love this game.
Plain and simple, I stumbled across Jaime staples on twitch years ago which led me to your twitch, and I am trying to follow in your footsteps, except I am playing live low stakes cash not online. Inspiration you are. Thanks for the new great content too!
Again Great Video Man! Unreal story telling, well edited, watched the whole thing. I know why you brought the chips up to the room now haha. Only recommendation is to build that description a bit more, you've got a great video, aka great hand, put more money in! I mean, info or links! Much love
Just finished college session, cant wait to start grinding again.
Congrats, insanly good content.
Congrats buddy!
Im currently 18 years old. Im still in school and work at a warehouse besides that. When I was around 13, I got intruduced to poker by my brother, (who´s a couple of years older than me) and I loved it. Of course it was just some home games at the beginning because I was underaged. When I was 15 I started to read poker books (And they were written on english, Im from a country that do not have english as a first language) so it was very tricky, but I wanted to improve my game and try to impress on my brother at the home games so it was worth it. Started to grind on diffrent types of websites, poker simulators and just watch and learn from youtube. And when i finally could play poker legally i won my first ever tourney on pokerstars, a 7.70 $ tourney and I felt like a baller. I work at the warehouse so I can have a quite good bankroll. And nowadays Im grinding hard and trying to improve my game. Me and my brother sometimes hit the casino and play with some pretty good players, and that just makes me realize that without him this wouldn´t be possible. So if I win this giveaway, I will gladly surprise my brother and split the money with him!!
What a lad Phil is. Congrats on the session Kevin, keep the grind going :)
KMART! What an upload. Loving the story telling in this video. Future is bright for you. You’re about to dominate this space.
I was introduced to poker through a Nintendo ds game as a kid 😂.
I was a fan of poker vlogs for a while but never found myself in the casino/online.
About 1.5 years ago, started playing home games with the boys and had some success.
Last year in November, I won big at a home game and decided to use the $200 from the night to go to the casino. I’ve been grinding away at 1/3 and slowly building my bankroll responsibly and trying not to scare my wife lol.
I stumbled across your channel around the same time and realized how exciting tourneys can be! I’ve been getting experience on GG. So far one final table on the ggmasters $25, and a few other $2-5 tournaments, but gunning for that win! Studying and trying to get better.
Thanks for your content man. You have an inspiring story and so unreal you’re in Calgary.
So if you’re ever headed to ace casino at the airport, message me so I can meet you… or get that yyc meetup game going 😂
Maybe I’ll see you at the upcoming wsop! Congrats on this huge cash win!
So sick! It's insane to see how far you've come, Kevin! I remember playing 1/2 NL with you in Calgary and watching you play the micros on Twitch. Now you're RFI'ing for a 1/2 NL buy-in. Love to see it. Hope you keep vlogging!
I was watching and I showed up in the comments 😃
I have a similar story I live in Morocco and things are tough right here I am trying to learn poker because I fall in love with this game I quite school and I am trying to have a career in poker all my friends think I am stupid I mean I understand them they r working and I am chasing dreams. The end of the video is super funny 🤣
Hi Kevin, response from Europe (Netherland) here. Although this is not a specific poker story you requested for. I would just like to let you know that your positive vibes made me do so much beter in life, dealing with sethbacks aswell in poker game. Your kind energy changed the way i could deal with my depression and now i enjoy life once again because of you. Also enjoying low stakes poker with the thrill as if im a playing the pros game! Luf you man! Xx
Awesome content Kevin - great to see you doing some live poker. There’s a certain element of magic involved with live poker, wouldn’t you say? With that said, I want to share my high school poker story with you and the other's reading here. Online poker got pretty big in my school thanks to the craze of Facebook (2007s) and their free poker app. Eventually, we started organizing a live game at a bar/restaurant down the road from school for real money. I used to do pretty well and built up a bit of a reputation for being a good player. On the day of one of our regular games at school, I wasn't planning to play (thinking the time would be better spent on WoW) but overheard that my crush was planning to come play. Naturally, I decided to go. There were about 20 of us, so we played a tournament format. Things were going exactly as I hoped - my crush and I were doing really well and looked good for a top 4 finish. Actually, it got even better than that. Before I knew it, my crush and I were heads-up, duking it out for the top prize in front of a decent-sized crowd. I was playing pretty erratic, bluffing a lot...I suppose in my mind, trying to act cool. I'll never forget what happened next: I'm dealt Jack King of diamonds. I raise it up, crush calls. Flop comes 10, Queen, Ace of diamonds. I flop the mother of all nuts and can barely believe it. I slow play it, but crush starts betting into me. I keep telling her she's going to regret it, that "I've got it", but she doesn't believe a word of it. Eventually she shoves on the river for everything...and I'm left with a real dilemma: do I eliminate her in brutal fashion, or fold and 'gift' her the win in the hopes that this will get her to like me? I think it over...and eventually come to my senses. I could never fold a Royal Flush, that would be sacrilege. I call, and crush very confidently flips over Jack King offsuit. Suddenly, all eyes are on me. It's one of those 'instantaneous' moments you never forget - the ones that you see in the 3rd person, in slow-mo, and feel like they last a lifetime. With not really knowing how to act, I very meekly flip over my cards and silence the room. No one can quite believe what they're seeing. It was actually such an anti-climax to the ultimate possible climax. That was it - I had won and everyone was simply stunned. Unfortunately for me, my crush wasn't too impressed and soon took off. And although I might not have won over the girl that night...I did leave with a sense of being destined to play this magical game of poker…and to see what next adventure awaits!
Hey, Kevin!
My Poker story began when I was around 7 or 8 years old: as my parents are divorced, I only spent time with my Dad during the weekend. He played online on PokerStars and I used to watch him. When dinner time came, he had to go cook in the kitchen and had to leave the computer in the living room. As so, my task was to scream whenever he had a good hand and fold all the trash (imagine screaming "Dad, you have Ace King!!" and your dad comes running from the kitchen ahah).
Im now 24 years old and I still love the game, whether playing with friends or online (started recently). I have started with 1€ tournaments and im now strugling at the 5€ ones. All the content we have on TH-cam (but mainly you) helped me improve my game and understanding better the science behind it. Im currently studying abroad and unfortunately can't put that much time into poker as I would like, is more like an hobby to me.
That's basically my poker story so far :)
Keep up the awesome work, and thank you for hosting this giveaway! Good luck y'all
Kevin, my grandfather taught me poker at incredibly young age, I knew that a full house beat a flush before I knew my times tables. I’ve only been getting into poker more heavily the past few years. Poker and golf were my grandfathers favorite activities and playing both of them more recently has made me feel more connected to him even though he pasted when I was real young. I would take this money to buy a few rounds of golf, a poker lesson package and a decent banckroll. I’ve always loved your content and I’m stoked to see you play big and achieve these milestones! Hope to make it like you 💪🏻
My roommates and I found a poker table on the side of the road and ever since, we play $0.05/$0.10 home games. So not the highest stakes, but for me, poker isn't just a game to me and my friends. It's a chance to connect on a deeper level and learn things about each other that we never would have guessed. As we play, we share stories, create memories, and reveal moments of vulnerability and strength. It's not about the money or the cards - it's about the connection we share, which makes even our low stakes poker games meaningful.
Your videos are always so inspiring. I played Cash games in Austin, Texas for the last four years, but sadly had to move away to a place where live poker is illegal. I’ve been trying to rebuild my bankroll playing tournaments online, and I am completely blown away at how well you do with them. Keep up the great work!
I use to play a 5$ buy in with my friends twice a week and watch poker online then in 2021 i got extremely sick and wasn’t able to work anymore and realized I had to find a way to make money to support myself. I started playing online poker and was getting crushed but immediately fell in love with the game in a new way and bought a book called “how to beat micro stakes” and started getting a bankroll going shortly after. I spent hours everyday grinding, studying and watching videos to improve my game ( especially your videos) here I am a year later I some how managed to pay my medical bill off and pay for all the medicine by playing cards. Unfortunately I’m still sick but getting better but poker literally saved my life and I found my passion in life!!
i remember back in 2020 in the pinnacle of the second wave, i was super broke due to a pending debt i contracted for paying for my car and, and was working my ass off in a restaurant to pay off that debt. Amidst all that, your streams were a place that i was attending at my spare time to see your Ws and get inspired to improve my skills. In november of that same year, i played a PLO tourney that i was held every last saturday of the month, and after putting an effort in improving my skills and seeing that it was possible to win, i've put all my focus in that tourney and placed 4th for the first time binging a 250$ win (it was relative to 16 diaries at my working job in that time, around 16$ a 9hours routine of work). That money came like in a time were i was almost giving up in playing poker and after that, i even placed 4th and 3rd in that same tourney, months after that first W. The feeling was sooo goood omg i cant even describe it.
It was you Kevin that got me into playing online poker. I remember watching you from Big Brother and then seeing your youtube channel pop up on my feed. Started watching your videos and though man this guy makes poker seem soooo much fun ! (and sometimes not). Been studying a little bit and watching your videos a lot. Only playing low steak $1-$8 buy in tournaments but have yet to have to reload the account ! Not making a whole lot but grinding and love seeing that I can keep my original $50 deposit a float. Your content keeps wanting to learn more and keep getting better ! Love your story as well bro. From another Canadian .. keep that grind on !
I’ve been watching you kmart since the beginning! I casually study and play zoom and cash games online. And crushing home games with some friends while attending law school and graduating with a finance degree. Has helped me through college. My interest was sparked by you
Thank you for the contest and your video Kev, for my part, I have been playing poker for 13 years, I started online, winning small tournaments here and there, only to realize that I had a certain talent. I started playing at the playground poker club, I learned a lot, but one day, I lost my mind, I played until the last penny, without any control, I no longer recognized myself, I I was looking for help to understand what I was going through, and if I can advise you to do it, do it, after this long leave, I started playing again and it was from that moment that I really grew up and made big money online and in person. I believe in never giving up on our passion and dreams but doing it with discipline and control, because it led me to play the WSOP for the first time, without any winnings but I had a lot of fun playing against the best in the world. thank you everyone for taking the time to read this text. P.S : I play a lot againts you on GG :) !!! haha
Crazy win Grats!
As a Fellow Canadian tree planter, I love seeing that it's a part of your past as well as mine! I don't need the money but wanted to share that connection! I always say that those grueling days and the consistency required really lends well to the patience and prolonged focus required to Grind MTTs online! Much Love!
What’s up KMart! I am so happy that Hellmuth even offered to pay for the expenses. Very cool of you to give it away. I am a 19 year old poker player from New York. I am a full time college student that has invested my own money in a poker set and poker table to host games at my university. We play 4-5 times a week playing .25/.50 blinds. I actually deal every single hand and have even incorporated a high hand jackpot to make it more enticing for other kids to play. It is a grind let me tell ya! I have taken some “shots” at 1/2 and have had mixed results. Its hard sometimes because the $300 buy in means a lot more to me than others at the table and I feel myself not playing the same. I dedicate so much time to poker and study the gane daily. I would be absolutely blessed to even win a portion of the giveaway. Congrats on the session and even having the opportunity to play these stakes!
Kevin!
I have been watching you for so long. Being a Saskatchewan boy and seeing my neighbor 1 province over with a come up has been so nice to see. I started my poker journey 5 years ago with a poker league we have. No money but learned so much. Started winning and then thought i could learn so more. I found some of your videos and started watching you on twitch. The way I learned best was just hearing you talk through each hand. Although we dont have a ton of opportunity in Saskatchewan for poker like there is on Alberta I keep playing and learning online. Id love the chance to build a bigger bank roll to keep learning and one day play you heads so you can win it back! Love you kev!
Love the content Kev. Fellow Canadian ( SK ) colldd. I am new to the online MTT world play Mircos ABI 8$ . I actually got into online poker by coming across your old videos , yours n Jamie Staples old ones then started following you. I really look up to ppl like u. Esp coming from not much n being Canadian. I'm an up n Comer trying to do the right thing n grind my way thru the levels. I appreciate everything you do keep up the great work. ( ps. Also a Huuugggeeeee Big Brother Canada Fan ) LFG . I tried applying but didn't hit yet lol
Best wishes to you n Pili. MuchLove
30 yr old from Halifax here, started watching your stream pre BBCAN and was rooting for you hard during S5!
Started playing poker with play chips on ultimate poker back in the day and thought I was a big shot playing the highest stakes lol. Been a casual 1-2 player at the casino for years and love the game. Made a GG poker account because of you a few weeks ago, and took down the Sunday fifty stack for 20.5k - by far my biggest score!
Getting married in Vegas at Caesar’s Palace in September so that win will definitely help a lot with those expenses. Will be in Vegas for a couple weeks during that time and would be fun to take a shot at a bigger live tourney with the giveaway money! (and who knows, maybe even bink one with some PH white magic)
I have been subscribed to you since the beginning of your online streaming career and just want to say what a ride it’s been for you! I remember you saying how you had to lie to your landlord about how you invested in stocks and how interested he was. Little did they know your stock investments were actually poker investments. LOL
I’ve been playing poker for over 10 years and I built a solid bankroll over those years. I played mostly online and played live very seldomly. While playing live one session I got acquainted with people who played underground private poker games in Los Angeles and was playing in a different realm of poker. The games I played were 5/10 and occasionally 25/50. As you may know these private games are filled with girls, drugs and alcohol and people who play as friends with each other. Ultimately being surrounded in such a different environment I lost my whole bankroll in a little less than a year and my poker career suddenly stopped. It’ll be awesome to have a fresh start playing poker again. Glad to see someone like you have great success playing poker. Goodluck on your future endeavors.
Hey Kevin! This is my first time watching your vlog and let me say it’s a high quality vlog. My poker journey started when I was 16 playing poker with my uncles and other family members every Saturday night. I fell in love with the game and started to start playing at Indian reservation casinos at the age of 17. It was really fun back then because everyone was just going all in with top pair or a flush draw. Played for a few years then unfortunately I ended up in prison at the age of 21. Spent over 9 years in prison, but my poker journey didn’t end because I was playing poker in prison. Haha. 😂😂😂. Long story short I got released in 2018 and really changed my life. Currently I am a junior as San Diego State University and working full-time to pay the bills . Don’t have too much extra money to play poker nowadays, but I would love to start again. My dream was to finish college then start playing poker full-time while pursuing my masters degree. Anyways that’s my story in a nutshell. Congrats on the big win. I know it means a lot especially since you first started grinding at 1-2.
Watched this go down live and was honestly blown away. Expected you to come in, play solid, do your thing. Instead you came with a bazooka and fucking blew shit up
I really resonated with your story about growing up struggling and working hard for everything. I also grew up in Alberta and live in Calgary now. For my 40th birthday, I entered into the 50th WSOP Main Event with my own money - no satellite - and cashed! I wasn't even the last Calgarian standing. On Day 1 of the tournament I was seated right next to him and on the other side of me turned out to be the last woman standing of the Main Event that year. I wasn't playing on the day of the earthquake, but I was in my hotel room, and that was scarier than going head to head against Olivier Busquet or Alan Goehring. On Day 2 alone I was all in 13 times. I think I had some good and challenging opponents at my tables throughout the tournament and would have made Day 5 if I hadn't went all in with my 99 into AA. So many good memories and I was so proud of how hard I worked to do as well as I did.
Hee Kevin, I used to play competitive Call of duty and was playing Poker on and off on the side. After being done competing in 2015 I found you on Twitch and started following you ever since.
Last year I started to take Poker more seriously and started studying and grinding the microstakes on GG Poker. Trying to build a bankroll from nothing and doing alright so far. In March I will play my first real big live tournament: The WPT PRIME Amsterdam RE ENTRY FOR A 345 buyin. I sold about 50% of action to some of my friends and hoping to make a good run.
I only found out you’re pretty active on TH-cam a few days ago and watched most of your video's already. Your story and video's are really inspiring me to take Poker even further. Thanks and keep up the good work - Jesse
Your story reminds me of mine as funny as that is. I started playing poker when I was 10 with my grandma in her basement. She was always a huge fan of the game. Always had friends over for a home game and she was always in the game with us! Been playing now ever since and like to grind in the online streets. She recently passed away 2 weeks ago at 94! Next tournament series is going to be for her! Good luck to you and love watching you on twitch! Your a great person!!
Ok can someone who knows their respective stories confirm if kevins story is anyway similar in relation to this gentlemans origin as well because I'm not finding it funny as that is sorry :/
Knew about you from twitch and just the poker world overall but this is the first time Ive watched one of your videos and gotta say kind of impressed by how solid you played in the biggest game of your life, its not easy at all to perform this well when you are thrown out of your comfort zone, also really liked the background story, mad respect! Keep it up!
Good narrating and more cinematic that your standard poker vlog. well done!
I am married with 4 kids. Just quit a good job to move into the poker industry. Working as a chip runner while studying to be a dealer. I grind 1/2 and 2/5 when i have the means to do so. Turnong 1300 PHD into a big win would be a dream.
I was so happy seeing your emotion on getting the bluff through. Glad to see how far you come.
I've been watching you stream for years! Stand up guy for sure! I'm grinding micros, building up the bankroll. Hoping to make it to some livestreams like you! Huge motivator! LFG!!!
Homeless at the age of 19 to 22. In and out of prison. While I was locked up I learned to the game. I was released in 2017 and I've been sober ever since. Poker saved my life because without poker my sobriety would be chaos. Love your content Kmart.
Looking forward to seeing you with a bracelet
I first saw your video and began to contact poker. Now I am playing micro-level poker. I am very happy to see you get your achievements step by step. I also encourage me to continue to go further and further in poker. Come on, KMart
Congrats brother. Been following you on twitch since 2015-2016. Keep grinding my g.
Really nice story about Phil. Love that it was included!
Been playing poker for 10 years now, and I´m 25. Started playing on my dads account. I made 5 dollars into 50 dollars playing 1-2cent and been loving the game ever since. When I turned 18 I started playing at a live casino with my dad to keep me company. My biggest score was where I got 3rd in a "Four Seasons" tournament here in Denmark. There was 120 entries. My dad got 2nd place. I cashed for 4000 dollars. My dream within the poker realm is to cash for more than that one day, to break my PR. Hopefully one day it will come true. Thanks for the great content Kevin.
Big Congrats KMart! Me and my buddies all started playing right as we were watching you on Big brother. After the show we stumbled across you on twitch and never turned back. I finished 2nd in the Bounty Builder $16.50 which won me enough to pay the remaining bit of my student load off, one of my favourite poker moments. We still play home games monthly, hit the casino the odd weekend, came to RIU Reno in 2017 and Vegas 2018. Pandemic kind of put a halt in everything but lately we've gotten back in the swing of things.
Congrats Kevin,
Been following you since bbcan3. Watching you grind your way up the poker ladder has been fantastic!
I’ve been playing poker for 20 years, love the competition,strategy and stress of it all. I haven’t played much over the past couple of years, lost my poker bro unexpectedly due to an unknown heart condition, he was 36. We had travelled to Vegas twice chasing the dream. We also would Watch your streams and text furiously agreeing (or disagreeing)with your plays. He passed right before your massive colossus hit, I watched the run but was pretty bummed he didn’t get to see it. Anyways I’m starting to play a bit again now that my three kids (7,5,2) are a bit easier to manage. That being said it’s tough to get much more than a 50$ roll going. 1300$ on gg would be an incredible start up!
Either way, your raw emotion and charisma is amazing to watch so keep up the good work!
Hope to sit across from you or tee it up someday when I’m Alberta bound.
Keep crushing the streets!
So cool to see you doing it. Doing it big like we all knew you were on the path to do. Just a new Dad here trying to dip his toe back in the poker water after having 5 years of fertility treatments and suicidal thought rehab to pay for. my wife had to deal with post partum and i had to take a long time off work. Now that I have a little time again and our family is happy and healthy I am doing my best to relearn some of the tricks from 6 years ago as well as pickup some new tricks from your streams. Always a fan sir, good luck and keep killing it.
Right on brother! What a generous thing for you to do. Congrats on all your success.
Me? 36 year old UPS driver born and raised in vegasand on the grind. Big fan of yours.
It’s mad, just before your backstory like a contestant on X-Factor I was actually thinking of how you deserved this so much. You were the first Poker player on TH-cam who truly pulled me and made it enjoyable and educational to watch.
Keep going, keep grafting, keep learning and keep entertaining. Bigger things are coming your way.
LOVE this video!! My favourite by far! Well done Kev Kev!
Mate! Missed opportunity at the last shot being the thumbnail 😂 poker vlogs are definitely getting stale but this was a really enjoyable watch. Would love to see more live vlogs!
I’m 23 from Australia. Found my love for poker when I was 15 and I walked out of my dorm room in boarding school at 1am on a Saturday to go piss. Outside my door was 8 year 12’s all in suits with their glasses and beers playing penny stakes but playing like it was the main event final table 😂. I asked them what they were playing and they told me to fuck off and go back to my room. They were locked. In. The next day they showed me how to play and it’s been a road to glory for me since that point. Really enjoy watching you play man. All the best !
Also not to beat around the bush, I would love some of Phil helmuth’s money. Cheers.
Great win Kmart! Here's my story: I was 24 and had just been laid off. I was a dumb kid and thought I could make money playing advantage blackjack. Went on Twitch to find streamers playing BJ online and instead found You and Jaime Staples grinding the Big 3.30. I was instantly hooked. I probably average 10 hours of poker content a week since back then. Some highlights include watching your 24 hour stream house with Jaime Matt and Jeff, and watching you win 200k for 3rd place on that GG MTT. I even watched every episode of your Big Brother Canada win, searching out illegal streams of it every week from my Boston, MA Apt. Congrats man, Ive been a fan for years and really happy to see your success!
VAMOOOOOOO! Congratz man! Long time fan! U surely deserve it!
Hey Kevin, my names Simon and my poker story goes a little like this!
Growing up I was surrounded by poker. My dad played consistently and even wound up poker coaching coaching NBA Legends Andrew Bogut and Tyrone Lue as well as Rapper Nelly. The got voiced in PTA and seeing a community full of poker enthusiasts developed me into the fanatic I am today. I grew up and got the nickname “Donk.” I didn’t understand variance and I wanted to win every single hand. This obviously didn’t work out well for me but I soon fell in love with math and statistics and my poker game has gone to the next level. I am an actuarial science major and I am obsessed with statistics. This has developed my new love for poker and I love watching people like you enjoying the game to its full potential! This 1300 could help me to develop a proper bankroll or even take my shot at a bracelet event in Vegas this World Series!
Keep grinding Kevin, Peace!
Just got into poker and love your videos. I play $5 tourneys but havent had any luck yet. Single dad just trying his best to have some fun on free time. Thanks for the content.
The KQ hand was epic!! I began my poker playing days at the Elbow River casino decades ago. I even won their BB jackpot once too.
From Viet Nam with love. In my country, poker is considered a gamble and not supported by society. Although the poker community in Vietnam is very large, we are mostly not recognized by society, not free to share our passion like you. The videos you make are really different from the rest, both professional and entertaining, really inspired me and the Vietnamese poker community a lot. Keep trying harder Kmart, I will always be your big fan. Good luck bro and hopefully one day Vietnamese society will have a better view of this intellectual game so that I can have the opportunity to be free to become an inspiration to the community like you. ❤
Hey Kev - here's my story!
Fell in love with Poker when I was 18 and watched endless hours of poker shows and analysis. I found the idea of playing a game to win vast amounts of money to be so enchanting. Your early youtube poker vids before you took a hiatus were super inspiring for me.
Last year I realised it wasn't a game I could excel in. Playing to a high standard requires you take the time to study hard and adapt, which I just didn't have the patience for. I am still a total enthusiast and always look forward to your uploads. Its uplifting seeing someone like you so motivated and confident in achieving your goals - I look to apply this in other areas of my life!
Lets go champ - can't wait to see you hit 100k subs.
That last scene with you sleeping next to the money is some top level, boss G shit 💯😎
Really nice to see your zero to hero story in there. Living mine now trying to solider through my teenage poker stage and focus on game selection and BRM. Quite proud of the modest skillset I’ve acquired predominantly from just watching poker streamers on twitch. Being good at something challenging is the most fulfilling aspect of this, the money is just a bonus. So I owe a thanks to yourself, Jason and Jaime. Love your pay it forward gesture from Phil.
Sounds similar to me. Also in teen poker stage (well, just turned 20). I play small stake online MTTs, and built up a decent bank roll. Good luck at the tables bud.
Hey Taylor, you were selected as a finalist and binked the giveaway draw. Congratulations. Please contact Kmartpoker@gmail.com and we'll get you those Phil H dollars.
@@KmartPoker XD no way that’s amazing! I’ve never won a giveaway and I couldn’t think of a more special one to win. Thank you Kevin and thank you Phil! I’m stoked :)