Brian Rast is a successful poker pro with over $25M in career tournament winnings. Rast cashed multiple times in last summer's WSOP, including a deep run to 24th place in the Main Event, and a runner-up finish in the $25K PLO High Roller.
What was your most exciting part of 2024?
The most exciting thing in poker was my deep run in the WSOP Main Event. It's not where I won the most money, but that was fun. It was nice winning $1,500,000 in the WSOP 25K PLO Eight-Max for second, even though I missed the bracelet.
But in terms of my enjoyment, Day 7 of the Main Event run was the most fun. I'm not happy with how I went out of the tournament, but I played a lot of great poker, even if I messed up my last hand.
How so?
Well, the Main Event was an exercise in testing my endurance. It's very grueling. I've got to do a better job if I make another deep run. I need to ensure that I'm well rested by Day 6 and 7.
I was exhausted and knew it at the beginning of the day. And I was using an energy stimulant to stay focused, but then I crashed after dinner. It's just something to remember. If I make a deep run again, I’ve got to change a few things around.
Rast joined the Poker Hall of Fame in 2023.What was the most challenging part of 2024?
There were two things. My wife had a pretty serious injury, so I've spent quite a lot of time in Brazil because that's where she was. She had to have surgery. And the other thing was our dog of 10 years, our German Shepherd Maya, passed.
Those two things happened within a couple of months of each other. Those were the toughest things this year brought, for sure.
In The Interview a few months ago, we talked about Bitcoin, which recently jumped to an all-time high. Do you have any predictions for the future, and would you still encourage people to invest?
Obviously, we've come a long way from $20,000 and $60,000 to where we are now. I don't want to imply that the bull market is just beginning. No. The bull market has been going for two years. If you haven't been involved, that's your loss.
Bitcoin is going to become the most significant asset in the world. It will replace gold. It could do much more than that. Bitcoin is going to be worth $1,000,000 in the next 20 years.
Who cares what the price will be in a year? You're buying Bitcoin as part of a financial portfolio that you're holding for your life. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime. It will be 10x over the next 20 years. Where else can you invest that will do that?
What are your plans or goals for 2025?
I'm looking forward to more time with my favorite cat, Lord Beerus, and my family. I'm also looking forward to next summer’s WSOP and hopefully playing more poker. We'll see.
You’ve not played in as many events as usual this past year. What have you been up to?
I do want to get back into playing more poker. I’ve been doing some trading stuff; I feel like next year will be when my trading ramps down and I play more poker. Because at the end of the day, I just really enjoy poker. I enjoy it more than most other activities, such as trading.
I kind of do trading for just the money. I mean, I play poker for money, too, but I like playing poker so much more. Also, there are a lot of situations where I do stuff in poker that's not for the money. I’m talking about the commentary I do for Triton events, and stuff like that. I enjoy it quite a bit.
