The Guy With 3 Bracelets Says: “Tournaments Aren’t Real Poker” - Chris Vitch Shares His Journey

Chris Vitch (aka “Death Donkey”) has one of those poker origin stories that feels made up:

• Tucson kid → board games, StarCraft clans, and a nickname that stuck for decades
• One quarter of grad school at UCSD → then a 3-month heater worth $150K playing 30/60 limit online
• Limit streets → 2-7 Triple Draw, Stud 8, mixed games… and eventually 3 WSOP bracelets (yes, including a PLO win)

We talk mixed-game learning, DeucesCracked + Black Friday, “cash game real poker” vs tournaments, Commerce degeneracy stories, and why mixed games are shifting toward cap big-bet (solvers + mental game included).

Behind-the-scenes mixed game universe—this is it.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 5:12 Phenom Poker
• 6:00 “Death Donkey” origin
• 11:20 “I don’t want a job”
• 14:45 $150K heater
• 34:15 DeucesCracked
• 43:05 Black Friday
• 49:35 Commerce story
• 1:04:40 Bracelet #1 (2-7 TD)
• 1:08:50 Bracelet #2 (10K Stud 8)
• 1:12:10 Bracelet #3 (PLO)
• 1:17:10 DonkeysOnly tools
• 1:28:45 Wrap

Chris: deathdonkey.com | x.com/DeathDonkey
Art: x.com/artparmann | Justin: x.com/justinyoung07

#poker #mixedgames #wsop #table1podcast