Poker Stories Podcast – Noah Schwartz

Poker Stories is a new, long-form audio series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

Click here to download or subscribe to the Poker Stories podcast on iTunes.

Age: 33
Turned Pro: 2007
Hometown: Miami, Florida
Live Tournament Earnings: $5.5 million
Best Score: 1st Place – 2015 WPT Alpha8 Florida ($585,000)

The Highlights

On finding poker after losing his father…

“I had no direction at the time. My father was everything to our family. A couple friends sat down with me after my father had passed and tried to teach me this game and it seemed easy enough. [Poker] was something that helped me escape that reality. It was a coping mechanism for me. Everything happens for a reason, so it was kind of a blessing in disguise that I found poker.”

On his first big purchase…

“I went in and said, ‘I would like this car.’ They asked, ‘Would you like to test drive it?’ I said, ‘No. I want it.’ Bought it in cash. Black with the basketball interior in orange, Autobiography Range Rover. I sat in the car, and [realized], I went from having no electricity to driving the car of my dreams. I couldn’t believe that I went from $6,000 eight months prior to having three-quarters of a million. Once it got off the lot, [the car] went from $117,000 to $96,000, but who cares?”

On the good and bad of the poker community…

“You find a lot of good people in poker, but on the other end of the spectrum, you find a lot of people that, 1) have a sickness, 2) only care about themselves or 3) don’t think of the ramifications [of their actions]. You live and learn. If someone wants to screw me out of a couple thousand dollars, so be it. When they are 60 years old and need to be backed, maybe they’ll call me. I guess they mistake my kindness for weakness, but it’s okay. I’m not going to lose sleep over it.”

On his celebrity encounters…

“I try to just take it all in stride. I’ve had the opportunity to play with or meet a lot of heavy hitters, but nobody wants to be gawked at. The first time I met LeBron, I wanted to snap a pic, but [you can’t act like that.] I took Greg Merson to a game with me and LeBron came up and hugged me. That was pretty cool actually. I felt cool. That was pretty dope. ♠

Click here to download or subscribe to the Poker Stories podcast on iTunes. Catch up on previous episodes and subscribe to have new episodes automatically appear in your podcast app so you can listen on the go.