| Dan Bilzerian |
| Born |
(1980-12-07) December 7, 1980 (age 33)
Tampa, Florida |
| Occupation |
Poker player |
Dan Bilzerian (born December 7, 1980)[1] is an American Armenian venture capitalist, as well as a poker player.
Early life[edit]
Dan Bilzerian was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, to Paul Bilzerian, a Wall Street businessman, and Terri Steffen. His younger brother, Adam Bilzerian, was born three years later.
Gambling career[edit]
As a professional poker player Bilzerian's most notable cash was in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, for which he appeared on six episodes of the show's television broadcast.[2] He finished in 180th place and won $36,626. [3]He is also a co-founder of Victory Poker, an online poker room.[4] In 2010 he was voted one of the funniest poker players on twitter by Bluff Magazine.[5] On March 9, 2011 Bilzerian raced fellow race car enthusiast and Supreme Court Litigator Dan Goldstein for a wager of $385,000 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with Bilzerian racing a 1965 AC Cobra and Goldstein behind the wheel of a Ferrari 458 Italia. Bilzerian won the race.[6]
In November 2011 Bilzerian, along with ten others including actors Tobey Maguire, Nick Cassavetes and Gabe Kaplan, was asked to pay back winnings that they had won in poker games against ponzi-scheme operator Bradley Ruderman after Ruderman was sentenced to prison, to help pay back some of the victims Ruderman had stolen from over his criminal career.[7] That same year Bilzerian defended Alex Rodriguez publicly against accusations that he had gambled illegally, claiming that he was present when the alleged gambling event had taken place and Rodriguez was not present.[8]
Film career[edit]
Bilzerian appeared as a stunt person in the 2013 film Olympus Has Fallen.[2] Bilzerian invested one million dollars in the production of Lone Survivor, in which he had a role. Bilzerian has acting roles in the 2014 films The Other Woman and The Equalizer.[2][9]
Personal life[edit]
Bilzerian is a 4-year military veteran. He enlisted in the Navy in 1999 and went to BUD/S. He was kicked-out of SEAL training two days before graduation; he received an honorable discharge.[10] Bilzerian was the victim of two heart attacks by the age of 30.[11] Bilzerian is also a gun collector.[12] He is the son of Wall Street corporate take over artist Paul Bilzerian[13] and the brother of Adam Bilzerian, who also plays poker. Most of Bilzerian's wealth comes from an inheritance from his father, Paul Bilzerian.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Bilzerian
