For over a decade, Bryan Paris was one of the most recognizable online poker grinders living in the Netherlands, balancing family life with the pressure of maintaining a steady income through poker. Now, after years of calling the Netherlands home, he’s made a big move ”both geographically and professionally”.
Bryan and his family have relocated to Florida. Given his long-standing presence in the European poker scene and his active role on Twitter, this transition has sparked curiosity among fans and followers alike.
We sat down with Bryan to talk about his motivations for leaving the Netherlands, how his family is adjusting to life in the U.S., and what this new chapter means for his poker career. From surviving the infamous Poker Black Friday of 2011 to raising three kids in Europe, his journey has been anything but conventional. And of course, we couldnt resist asking him about his love for crypto, his thoughts on Dutch gamblers trying to reclaim their losses.
Bryan Paris Interview
Hey buddy, long time no see, lets get straight to it, was the Dutch weather the main reason you decided to move to Florida, or was it something else?
The weather was a major factor. This winter was especially rough, with constant darkness for nearly three months. If it was just me i wouldnt mind but it gets hard to entertain three kids for that long.
Another factor was the increasing restrictions on streaming and online poker. Pokerstars left NL in late 2021, and I was no longer able to stream sponsored from 2022. I understand wanting to protect people from the downside of gambling, but it made it harder for me.
The Netherlands is not alone here, a lot of European regulations are becoming too tough. Over half the EPT was cancelled this upcoming year.
You lived in the Netherlands for over a decade right? What were some of the biggest challenges of leaving behind the place that became home for you and your family?
We made a lot of good friends out there over the years. It was harder for my wife and kids to leave their friends from school, because poker is very international.
Looking back at 2011, Poker Black Friday was a turning point for many online players. How did it impact you personally and financially?
The timing was very bad for me, because i was crushing the first half of 2011. I figured out some exploits, it was the only time I’ve ever cracked the top 5 on the now-defunct pocketfives. Black friday totally derailed me for years. I had a lot of money stuck on full tilt until 2014. It taught me important lessons about hedging more and making sure you always keep yourself with options.
What was your mindset when you nearly went broke after Black Friday? Did you ever consider quitting poker altogether?
I was crushing so hard that i never considered quitting, it was just a matter of where to move. I tried canada at first but its surprisingly difficult for americans to get residency there. My wife and I always loved amsterdam since we met studying abroad in 2006, so we looked into relocating to NL and managed to do it with the DAFT visa.
Moving to the Netherlands must have been a major adjustment at the time. What was it like to rebuild your poker career there, and how different was it from playing in the U.S.?
Its definitely a tougher scene in Europe. The average player is stronger, and more aggressive. I had to make a lot of adjustments but over time I’ve come to feel very comfortable in European fields. I may have to make more adjustments now that im moving back.
You’ve been open about the pressures of being the main financial provider for your family. How did you manage that responsibility while maintaining a healthy work-life balance?
It’s been increasingly tough as the kids get older. The Netherlands has strict laws about taking them out of school, which made going to EPTs a lot more difficult. Another challenge was the schedule. The best tournaments happen late at night, and i like to be up in the morning to take the kids to school and be involved in the real world. The american schedule is a lot better suited for this.
And now you became a father three times whilst living in the Netherlands. What was it like raising kids there, and how do you think their childhoods will compare now that they are in the U.S.?
I think the Netherlands is one of the best places in the world for kids, so this has been one of the harder things to let go of. The education system and health care is fantastic for younger kids. I do think they’ll enjoy the outdoors here more, and operating in their native English will be an advantage. I made sure to pick the part of FL with the top rated school districts, so im hoping it’s not too much of a disruption for them.
Have your kids already noticed any major cultural differences between the Netherlands and Florida?
The sheer size of the stores has been the thing theyre most amazed about. I took them to target and there were 50 rows of toys or whatever. Another adjustment is the long distances driving, towns here are 30 minutes apart. In the Netherlands 30 minutes gets you halfway across the country.
You’ve been vocal to me now and then about your struggles with winter depression. Do you think moving to Sunshine State Florida will make a big difference for you mentally and emotionally?
I probably underestimated how much this has affected me over the years. Every winter i would get burned out on poker and streaming. I thought maybe i was just an introvert but the seasonal depression is a very real thing. There are ways to manage it but its tougher with three kids in the house and travel restrictions from school.
How do you see the future of online poker in America and how is regulated now?
America has always been the wild west, less regulated than Europe. For better or worse, sports betting is massively on the rise, and some of that money always spills over into poker. The game is growing live year by year and i hope that continues.
You’ve always been a big fan of crypto. Do you see it as a form of gambling, or do you think it’s fundamentally different?
It depends on how far up the risk curve you want to go. You can buy and hold bitcoin which is always a safe bet, or you can gamble on meme coins and Trump coin if you want to get rich quick. The mixture of math and psychology in the market reminds me a lot of poker, and i try to follow it closely.
Speaking of crypto, what are your thoughts on FTX? Did its collapse impact you financially or personally in any way?
Yes, i had a lot of my money on there. It crashed right around the time my third child was born, making that a very tough stretch for me. Ill be getting it back soon but I’ve been trying to make it work on a fraction of my bankroll since the crash and it hasn’t always been easy. Yet another reminder about risk management and hedging.
Dutch players have been actively trying to reclaim their losses from online casinos that operated illegally in the past, for example on Pokerstars. Whats your opinion on that?
If you choose to gamble, you take on that risk. I think its reasonable to seek refunds if the site is rigged or cheating but i dont believe stars is. With that said, gambling is always predatory to some degree, and i understand why countries want to protect their citizens from unregulated sites.
Yeah Pokerstars shouldn’t be rigged from my perspective either. It’s weird that, as a former market leader, they have never returned to the Netherlands. Pokerstars also promised to keep their games to poker, they haven’t. At some point, roulette, slots, blackjack and stuff like that were added.
Should Pokerstars have sticked to poker or are the rake margins nowadays to small for that particular game?
Pokerstars started out as this very purist sort of organization that was trying to only do poker, but the site’s been sold several times to larger casino conglomerates and for them it’s basically irresistible to resist the temptation to add slots and other games. It’s an unfortunate development but probably an inevitable one.
You mention in your X-profile that you co-own Midstakes-Mastery. Who did you make it with and what target group of pokerpayers are you aiming for?
I made the course with Michael Wasserman, another American pro whos been playing for about as long as I have. The goal is to take beginning or low stakes grinders and get them to the level of beating mid stakes. The course is over 40 hours of content at this point as we have kept adding to it over the years.
So will you be upset if US poker players will be giving you a tougher time in online tournaments after buying your skilled Midstakes-Mastery course?
I would be honored to lose to someone who learned from my course, its happened a few times already. The information available about poker theory these days is greater than ever. What we offer is the framework required to understand it and implement it at the tables.
Why – within the landscape of poker – do you think you have so many X-followers, over 12.500 right?
I had under 1k when i started the twitch stream, that gave me a huge boost. I’ve also done a lot of analysis on election betting and crypto markets, so I’ve picked up a few more followers from that over the years.
Your Twitch account even has more followers, over 40.000. What’s your largest score live on Twitch and how many people were watching you making that deep run?
I think I won just under $200,000 on stream a couple times in 2020. My peak was around 2-3k viewers for those, i believe.
It’s good for views and snippets nowadays to see people blow-up on bad beats. Pokerplayers are humans and have emotions. Have you ever gone crazy after a steaming stream?
I used to famously throw my hat across the room after taking bad beats. My strategy was to do this and then quickly move on. Its ok to let yourself get frustrated for a few seconds, but its very important you dont carry it forward with you into other hands. The game must go on.
Bryan, thanks for sharing your story and insights with us. We wish you the best of luck with your new journey and of course, we’ll continue to enjoy your ironic tweets and crypto predictions especially your love for Solana. Oh, and by the way, how the hell did FTX manage to pay back 130% of its debts even after bankruptcy?
They got lucky with their investment in anthropic, the company that runs the “claude” LLM. I actually use it myself regularly and i think its one of the better ones on the market. Sam Bankman-Fried ran his company irresponsibly but also suffered from poor timing on the bank run in late 2022, if that had happened at nearly any other time they could have easily covered it. Part of the risk of operating in gray areas and trying to be too aggressive.
Best of luck in Florida to you, Nicole and the three beloved kidds!
Thank you so much! I plan on visiting Europe again during the summer, i really enjoyed my time there and greatly appreciate the opportunity.
Dutch Note:
CasinoZorgplicht is niet geaffilieerd met Midstakes-Mastery. Part 2 van het interview komt binnen twee weken. Dat zal meer inhoudelijk gaan over de werkzaamheden van Bryan.
