<p><strong>Phenom Poker</strong> — now running daily MTTs<br>First-time depositors can get up to a <strong>200% bonus on $2,000</strong> when you use our link:<a href="https://play.phenompoker.com/register?r=Table1">https://play.phenompoker.com/register?r=Table1</a></p><hr><p><strong>Mafia Poker Rooms, Molly’s Game Checks, and Building a Vegas Stream Game | Table 1 Podcast</strong></p><p>Some poker stories start with a “buddy taught me Hold’em in college.”</p><p>Brian Okin’s starts with a craps addiction in Vienna, a nickname that luckily didn't stick (Dice), and an underground Manhattan room where you had to buzz in like Rounders… and somehow turns into: running a dot-com era e-commerce business, losing $100k+ in a three-day session (plus the cursed cashmere hoodie), playing Molly’s Game (and cashing what might’ve been her last check), and eventually building a high-stakes streamed cash game at the Venetian.</p><p>In this episode, <a href="https://x.com/artparmann">Art</a> and <a href="https://x.com/justinyoung07">Justin</a> sit down with Brian Okin for one of those conversations that zig-zags between poker, business, and the kind of New York stories you’re not supposed to say out loud.</p><p><strong>What we talk about:</strong></p><ul> <li>The most confusing legal name in poker: A. Peter Brian Okin</li> <li>Growing up Long Island → Manhattan for 18 years</li> <li>Board games, Uno scoring, and why Monopoly is “the true model of business”</li> <li>First real gambling: Vegas as a kid → self-deal poker → then… an “underground casino” run out of a synagogue 😭</li> <li>Studying abroad in Vienna + London and falling into craps (aka: “six months of addiction”)</li> <li>The Rounders/Moneymaker-era lightbulb moment: first bluff ever in a 1/2 underground game</li> <li>The “destiny” hand: river gets redealt… and the same river comes again</li> <li>The bachelor party that turned into a Bellagio nightly cash + 5th-place finish</li> <li>Brian Okin’s infamous marathon sessions (and why coffee is basically a performance-enhancing drug)</li> <li>The $100k+ loss + the cashmere hoodie he had to throw away</li> <li>Playing Molly’s Game 10–15 times… and the story of the $13k check</li> <li>Leaving the family plumbing business → starting a dot-com home goods business → the website disaster that nearly killed it</li> <li>New York home game scene: PLO, no-limit Stud 8, “trading action,” and why Vegas players were sharper</li> <li>Moving to Vegas in 2015… by smuggling cats on a train (yes, really)</li> <li>Pre-COVID Vegas vs private-game era: politics, access, and the fork in the road</li> <li>Launching Okin’s Game at the Venetian + going live on stream</li> <li>Heads-up PLO battles and why he thinks it’s the purest form of gambling</li></ul><hr><p><strong>Brian’s links</strong><br><a href="https://okinsgame.com">https://okinsgame.com</a><br><a href="https://x.com/brianokin">https://x.com/brianokin</a><br><a href="https://instagram.com/brianokin">https://instagram.com/brianokin</a><br><a href="https://youtube.com/brianokin">https://youtube.com/brianokin</a></p><hr><p><strong>Table 1 Links</strong></p><p>Card Player stories from our episodes:<br><a href="https://table1.vegas/cardplayer">https://table1.vegas/cardplayer</a></p><p>Want a seat in our game at Aria?<br>Go to <a href="https://table1.vegas">https://table1.vegas</a> → click “Get a seat in the game” and fill out the form.<br>Minimum buy-in $5,000. Art or Justin will text you.</p><p><strong>Phenom Poker</strong> — now running daily MTTs<br>First-time depositors can get up to a <strong>200% bonus on $2,000</strong> when you use our link:<a href="https://play.phenompoker.com/register?r=Table1">https://play.phenompoker.com/register?r=Table1</a></p>