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Additional reporting and interview: Mike Patrick
Last September, Ariel Shefer won the $600 H.O.R.S.E. event at Thunder Valley for his first World Series of Poker Circuit ring and just under $12,000.
At the time, Shefer said that he was leaving his Las Vegas apartment and committed to traveling the WSOP Circuit to win rings. Fast forward a few months and Shefer was serious — he dropped the apartment and started grinding tournaments from his car in between Uber shifts.
We caught up with Shefer this week after he returned to Thunder Valley for the WSOP Circuit stop and topped a 49-entry field in the $600 T.O.R.S.E. for his second WSOPC ring and just over $8,000.
“I actually stripped down out of all my assets. Only for poker and survival. When you sit at the table with survival chips, your chance to win it — or to defend — is much bigger. Some people are very comfortable. For them, $8,000 is nothing. For me, $8,000 is a lot of things.”
To be a world champion
The recent dramatic approach adds flavor to a pursuit that started ten years ago when Shefer decided he wanted to be a world champion at something. He set his sights on poker, bridge, or backgammon.
“In backgammon, I finished in the quarterfinals of the US Open last year. In bridge, my partners always died. They actually died. It’s an old person's game and when you start with a partner that is 90 years old, his life expectancy is not as long. So three partners died with me and I am looking for my next one.”
Shafer says poker became a primary focus after he met a woman and got married. He currently owns a company that sells digital poker tables.
“I actually retired after selling companies in my 30s. I was the saddest retiree ever. Sitting in a resort in Cancun or sitting on a cruise ship is a great vacation, but it’s not life.”
Shefer with his first WSOPC ring in September of last year.Shefer now lives in his Toyota Corolla, driving Uber in between Las Vegas daily tournaments until he has enough for a buy-in. “I am homeless. Technically, I am a homeless person having the time of his life and doing what he loves to do.”
“In Vegas I can do Uber. I drive 16 hours a day, which is the limit Uber allows. That makes about $250-300. That enables me to play the $150 tournament at the Orleans. If I don’t make $150, I don’t play in the tournament at the Orleans. Every day they have a mixed-game tournament, and they know I am the first person to buy into the tournament if I have the money. If I don’t have the money, I just keep driving Uber.”
It’s a far cry from Shefer's old life in the valley, where his dream apartment overlooked the Las Vegas Strip. A dream life, Shefer says, but one that was holding him back.
“When you’re a poker player, you need to fly like a bird when you go to a tournament. You don’t want to know where you are going to sleep and you don’t want to go where you are comfortable. I decided that this year I don’t want to be comfortable. My only comfortable place is around the table playing cards.”
The lack of comfort makes him vicious, Shefer says. Something he can't tap into with ease. "I’m the most non-violent person you'll ever meet. When I’m on the poker table, I’m the most vicious person alive."
Chasing bracelets in a Corolla
It’s all in the name of a dogged chase for a WSOP bracelet. Or in Shefer’s case, two WSOP bracelets. “First in a mixed game, and then the Main Event bracelet. Those are the two goals I have in my life.
In order to get there I need to be better. I need to sit next to Allen Kessler and Ari Engel. In order to be better, you need to play against these players. ”
The money from his win in the T.O.R.S.E. tournament has already been shipped off for safekeeping, Shefer says. Someone will hold it for him until the World Series. He kept a small amount to use for two more events at Thunder Valley before he heads back to Vegas.
“After tomorrow’s tournament, I don’t have the next buy-in. For the next buy-in, I need to do Uber or sell a poker table.”
It's a story you encounter a lot in Las Vegas: players who grind from one session to the next, relying on comps and luck for their next decent meal, but it's unusual to openly embrace the lifestyle like Shefer.
“My happiness comes out of struggling. Not knowing where I'll get my next hot meal makes me the happiest person. Most people might go into psychological issues or into drugs; I just become happier and feistier.”
“My children will love me no matter what. They support me and they know I’m a crazy person. Let the crazy old man do what he wants to.”
“I’m the poorest, happiest person in the world.”
