Poker player’s gamble pays off

Oliver Speidel worked at the Reserve Bank before quitting to play poker – he also dabbles in the stockmarket Photo: Luis Ascui

It took 10-12 hours’ work for five straight days for 26-year-old professional poker player Oliver Speidel to win a cool $1.6 million. That sum, which Speidel won last week in the Aussie Millions tournament at Melbourne’s Crown Casino, shows just how much money can be won on the lucrative poker circuit.

And if poker is considered a sport – an argument that will probably always rage – the win would put Speidel comfortably among the highest paid Australian athletes.

The $1.6 million would be enough to place him 40th on the latest BRW Top 50 Sports Earners list, ahead of stars such as surfers Joel Parkinson and Stephanie Gilmore and boxer Danny Green.

Speidel tells The Australian Financial Review he has only been playing poker for about five years and certainly doesn’t count himself among the top echelon on the circuit. But where poker differs from professional sports such as tennis and golf is that even the top players are at long odds to win every tournament they enter.

“The odds on a great player to win can be 1 in 50 or 1 in 100 because there’s just so much that can happen while playing poker,” Speidel says.

“But I explain it by comparing it to the lottery. Everyone can buy a ticket but the great players just happen to have more tickets than others.”

Even so, Speidel managed to outlast several top players to win the Aussie Millions, including Phil Ivey and Erik Seidel (Ivey got over being knocked out by winning $2 million in the Super High Roller Tournament soon afterwards).

Unlike many other little-known entrants to Aussie Millions, many of whom win satellite tournaments to gain entry, Speidel paid the full $11,000 entry fee or “buy-in”.

He played in some tournaments overseas last year and won about $100,000, some of which he’s used to enter more tournaments.

Speidel, who worked in a graduate role for four months at the Reserve Bank before quitting to play poker, has also dabbled in the stockmarket.

He trades stocks from home but admits his portfolio is suffering. “Like the market, I’m down at the moment,” he says. “I invest like I play poker. I like to be a bit conservative but also take some risks. I’ve had index funds and big stocks like Commonwealth Bank and Macquarie Group.

“Trading stocks requires the same skills as being a poker player. You need to be aggressive sometimes but also conservative as well.”

He has had more luck trading in Bitcoins, the virtual currency which is considered a high-risk investment.

Speidel will soon head overseas to play poker tournaments in Asia and Europe. He may try Las Vegas too though taxes on winnings there are higher than parts of the world.

The Australian Financial Review

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