BetMGM Holdem poker Ambassador Darren Elias’ Voyage From Philadelphia To Stardom

Darren Elias is one of the ideal poker participants in the world. The career benefits are to the north of $11. 2 thousand and he is normally competing inside the BetMGM Holdem poker Championship for Aria Hotel & Modern casino in Vegas from Summer 9-13.

Elias is playing the $2,000,000 event with thirteen World Holdem poker Tour ultimate tables together with a record four-time World Holdem poker Champion naming to the resume.

Elias was born inside the Boston place, but went around usually growing up. Seeing that Elias can be described as a well-known holdem poker player, they can look back to the Erie, PENNSYLVANIA days if he got the poker start out beating others from secondary school.

Darren Elias’ love involving poker started out during secondary school years throughout Pennsylvania

A major part of Elias’ poker creativity came from seeing Chris Jackson, also known as Frank Moneymaker, gain the Main Function at the the year 2003 World Group of Poker (WSOP). Smith grew to be the first society champion to be able to win typically the WSOP Top level after determining through an on-line poker site. Jackson has been a certain amount with changing the game involving poker following his ancient win.

Elias began using his pals in the downstairs room of the house as the junior when attending McDowell High School throughout Erie. They and his pals competed throughout 10-to-25-cent Not any Limit or possibly a $5 Remain and Travel. Though conquering high school others isn’ p a huge important step, Elias recognized he had a thing.

“I enjoyed that a little more as compared to everybody else and I also always picked up, ”Elias said. “I had any idea I had various talents.”

Elias started out playing smaller stakes Not any Limit web based with his pals and recognized, once again, they played well over everyone else. They ultimately did start to find good results while in school.

In Elias’ sophomore year at the University of Redlands, he started competing in higher-stakes games and won six figures in a tournament.

“I played water polo and skated, so I was pretty sports-focused in school,” Elias explained. “When I started having success in poker, I shifted my focus and started taking poker more seriously. I was missing practice and even going to Las Vegas, playing in the EPT (European Poker Tour), Monte Carlo and I even went to Australia. I was taking all these trips while still in school to pursue my poker dreams.”

Because of his numerous poker adventures in school, it took Elias an extra year to obtain his degree in Creative Writing.

“That made my parents happy, as long as I didn’t go broke. They wanted me to have a degree,” Elias said, half-jokingly.

Elias explained that he never got a job after college and continued his professional poker career.

BetMGM Holdem poker Championship for Aria specifics

The Aria Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is hosting the BetMGM Poker Championship for a second consecutive year. The event is scheduled during the 2023 Aria Poker Classic, which offers six consecutive days of poker action. The event begins on June 8 with a Mystery Bounty event. Another table on June 13 will be live-streamed from the PokerGO Studio.

BetMGM Poker is sending a total of 148 participants who qualified online to compete in the championship at Aria. Will O’Connor, BetMGM Senior Manager of Poker Marketing, added an $800 Mystery Bounty in addition to the $3,500 championship entry.

“Players, no matter where they’re from, are starting to love that mystery bounty concept,” O’Connor said. “Adding that to the overall player experience and prize pool, along with last year’s success, is definitely a step in the right direction.”

Last year, BetMGM sent 66 players to Las Vegas. O’Connor attributes the increase in numbers this year to a better marketing suite and tournament schedule.

Elias finished sixth in last year’s competition.

How BetMGM Poker has exploded since joining up with Elias

Elias collaborates with BetMGM to help grow the game of poker, particularly in regulated states such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Michigan. He represents BetMGM in the various events he competes in and also participates in marketing duties while serving as a consultant for BetMGM players.

“In the past 2.5 years, the progress and development of BetMGM as a significant player in the live or omnichannel space, with Darren leading the charge, from a headline marketing perspective, is the biggest change,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor also mentioned that Elias playing in major events and sharing his experiences with BetMGM players has been invaluable. One of Elias’ favorite responsibilities is fostering the partnership between BetMGM and branded retail casinos across the country. In doing so, one of Elias’ goals is to integrate the online product with the retail casinos. Hosting events like the BetMGM Poker Championship serves that purpose.

“We are eager to build these premier, live poker tournaments like we have been doing recently,” Elias said. “When I came on board [in 2021], it was a dream and didn’t really exist. Over the last few years, it has come to fruition, and it’s only going to grow from here.”

Elias exists in Silver eagles country

Elias resides in Medford, New Jersey with his family when he’s not traveling to play poker. He mentioned that he plans to participate in around 12 to 15 events this summer.

When Elias isn’t playing poker, he has a passion for smoking meats. As the unofficial start of summer calls for some grilling, Elias mentioned that he enjoys cooking steak and wings. He is currently in the process of learning how to smoke brisket.

Since his wife is a vegetarian, Elias smokes the meat either for himself or for his neighbors.

“My neighbors are 100% Eagles savages. It’s basically Philly,” Elias said.

He mentioned that he has his roots in Boston and is a Patriots fan. However, Elias is generous enough to share his food with Eagles fans.

Elias will strive to make his neighborhood and everyone who supports him proud as he aims to earn more poker accolades this summer.