From Prison Cell to Beating the Casino for Millions – The Mikki Mase Story

2 Feb 2026 · 1 h 40 min · 49 chapters

Ask about this episode

Ask anything about it. ChatGPT or Claude reads this page and answers with the times it was said.

Connect VO and ask about every podcast you hear, including the moments you saved. Add to ChatGPT · Add to Claude

In short

Mikki Mase’s life story—from growing up in New Jersey/New York gambling card rooms, to juvenile detention and addiction, to getting sober, then becoming a high-stakes professional gambler in Las Vegas and ultimately getting banned.

Guest background

Mikki Mase is a former addict and professional gambler. He says he learned gambling very young in a gambling-heavy neighborhood (card rooms with grandparents; underground/basement gambling). He describes being homeless and incarcerated for years, including juvenile detention (“juvie”) where he claims abuse and starvation. He later got sober in 2015 after hitting rock bottom in Washington Heights (Highbridge Park), moving to Florida, and following AA steps with a sponsor and meetings. He reports 10 years sober.

Key claims

Gambling addiction, he says, is driven by the brain’s chemical response to losses (dopamine/“chemical released when you lose”). He argues juvie removed fear of consequences, making later addiction worse. He claims drugs were used to control thoughts and stay “in control.” He also claims casinos studied him and treated him differently as his betting rose, leading to a cat-and-mouse dynamic and eventual banning.

Notable examples

He describes “speedballs” (mixing crack, heroin, and Ambien via injection) and multiple overdoses. In gambling, he says he negotiated limits up to $250k per hand in baccarat and $50k in double-deck blackjack, then scaled to million-dollar buy-ins, including a reported $1.25M win.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Mikki Mase's Background and Thoughts on Weather

1:35 to 2:26

Discussion about Mikki Mase's preferences for cold weather and his experiences in various locations.

“Boom we're on And today's guest We've got Mickey Mace Mickey how are we?”

Cultural Differences in English Accents

2:26 to 3:39

Exploration of the Scottish accent and its historical roots.

“So when it does finally rain, I love going out there.”

Mikki Mase's Early Life and Gambling Exposure

3:39 to 4:59

Mikki shares his childhood experiences with gambling and his family's influence.

“You speak, what kind of English do you speak?”

Troubles and Incarceration

4:59 to 6:39

Mikki recounts his experiences with trouble, addiction, and incarceration.

“I was very well behaved for like a year about.”

Turning Point: Sobriety and New Beginnings

6:39 to 7:20

Mikki discusses his journey to sobriety and the impact of moving to Florida.

Introduction to Gambling: The Early Years

7:20 to 8:29

Mikki describes his early gambling experiences and the normalization of gambling in his neighborhood.

“Well, I come from a gambling neighborhood, and particularly my family love to gamble.”

Family Dynamics and Struggles

8:29 to 10:19

Discussion on Mikki's family relationships and the challenges he faced growing up.

“I don't know, like six or seven years old, maybe with my grandparents, just like like we use like coins, you know, like pennies, dimes, nickels.”

Reflections on Behavior and Therapy

10:19 to 12:20

Mikki reflects on his behavior as a child, feelings of alienation, and therapy experiences.

“They just held on basically How hard is that?”

The Impact of Juvie on Mikki's Life

12:20 to 14:00

Mikki discusses his experiences in juvenile detention and its effects on his behavior.

“I always felt like alienated or ostracized, but it was always my own doing.”

The Impact of Addiction on Identity

14:00 to 15:17

Explore how addiction can distort self-identity and perceptions of fear.

“and i end up fucking with every addiction possible because it made me feel alive you know being in aa I hear the same story over and over again where it's, I felt different.”
Show all 49 chapters

Consequences of Juvenile Detention

15:18 to 16:33

Discuss the effects of juvenile detention on fear and consequences in adulthood.

“It cuts away the fear, which is a very dangerous thing.”

Experiences with Substance Abuse

16:34 to 19:17

Delve into the first experiences with drugs and the quest for highs.

“And I always had this theory that you don't know what will get you high until you try it.”

The Psychology of Tattoos

19:18 to 22:21

Examine the motivations behind tattoos and their psychological implications.

“a face tattoo never happened so yeah tattoos are more accepted now and whatever but if you really just look why somebody got a tattoo it's all the same by the way It's always attention seeking.”

Consequences of Life Choices and Self-Perception

22:22 to 24:18

Discuss the societal perceptions of individuals with tattoos and their life choices.

“There's a certain satisfaction when you work with someone.”

Finding Stability Amidst Chaos

24:19 to 28:00

Explore the balance between chaos and stability in life and work.

Navigating Life's Contradictions

28:00 to 28:59

Explore the complexities of life and personal contradictions.

Turning Points in Recovery

29:00 to 29:24

Discuss the pivotal moments that led to sobriety and change.

“Yeah, I don't see how people are going to understand.”

The Struggle with Addiction

29:24 to 30:57

Hear about the personal battles with addiction and the journey to sobriety.

“I tried to quit many times and relapse, relapse, relapse.”

Finding Strength and Purpose

30:57 to 34:00

Learn how finding strength in recovery led to new opportunities.

“You know, it was an interesting journey because I never stopped to smell the roses, right?”

Transitioning into Gambling

34:00 to 37:42

Discover the transition from recovery to professional gambling.

“And every time I go, I've tried it before.”

Becoming a High-Stakes Gambler

37:42 to 39:35

Understand how high-stakes gambling became a significant part of life.

“You know, like I said, I grew up with it.”

The Psychology of Gambling Addiction

39:35 to 42:00

Delve into the psychological aspects and addiction related to gambling.

“So they started to like, we did every day for like four months or something, like not every day, but almost every day, like four, three, four days a week for all those months.”

Understanding Gambling Addiction and the Brain

42:00 to 43:42

Explore how gambling addiction is influenced by brain chemistry and emotional responses.

“So I would say the relevant part of my gambling was over the course of three years.”

Mikki's Journey from Casual to High-Stakes Gambling

43:42 to 46:48

Learn about Mikki's transition from casual betting to high-stakes gambling and the resulting profits.

“thought anything of it other than I was getting lucky.”

The Rising Tension with Casinos

46:48 to 50:59

Discover the increased scrutiny and tension between Mikki and the casinos as he escalates his betting.

“you know seven weeks or whatever you know whatever it is it just worked out that way um and rough so in the beginning was that planned to take breaks and not really take the piss for the red flags with the rise.”

Cheating and Surveillance in Casinos

50:59 to 54:06

Uncover how casinos surveil high-stakes players and the implications of cheating allegations.

“your first offense is five years in prison and I'm sure they would have sued me civilly and I would have had to give all their money back is Counting Carr cheating?”

The Biggest Win and Final Bans

54:06 to 56:00

Hear about Mikki's largest win and the events leading up to his ban from major casinos.

“When that came out and was proven to be true, they needed casino cheating experts.”

The High Stakes of Winning Big

56:00 to 58:58

Learn about the intense experience of winning millions at casinos and the pressures that come with it.

“And I think looking back, like, I've thought about this.”

Finding Joy Beyond Gambling

58:58 to 1:01:22

Discover the activities that bring happiness and adrenaline outside of gambling.

“They have the, I forget, they have some kind of fastest go-kart with no restrictions, something, something.”

Reflections on Overcoming Addiction

1:01:22 to 1:02:36

Hear insights on the struggles of addiction and the importance of recognition in recovery.

“You know, so this is only a very small percentage who've seen a system stuck to it and beat it.”

Celebrity Gambling and Business Relationships

1:02:36 to 1:05:31

Understand the dynamics of celebrity gambling and how it interplays with business partnerships.

“But yeah, it was like, it was probably, I don't know, five years ago or something like that.”

Trust and Safety in High-Stakes Gambling

1:05:31 to 1:10:01

Explore the complexities of trust when dealing with large sums of money and potential dangers.

“And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports.”

Living Among the Homeless in Las Vegas

1:10:01 to 1:14:09

Mikki shares his experiences and connection with the homeless community in Las Vegas.

“It's the hindrance is equivalent to anybody else who is successful and makes money.”

The Complexities of Society's Issues

1:14:10 to 1:16:41

A deep dive into societal problems and the complexity of people's responses to them.

“yeah I'm super anti-pedophile call it a weird stanza I'm very anti-pedophile I think everybody should be you would think you would think.”

Reflections on Life and Success

1:16:42 to 1:18:46

Mikki discusses his views on life, success, and the importance of being an outlier.

“They want the world being fucking crazy and thinking different.”

Innovative Gambling Strategies

1:18:47 to 1:24:01

Mikki explains his unique approach to funding gambling for fans and the strategies involved.

“So bookies give you, like, websites with credits on it and they can see you can bet, you know, 5K a week, 50K a week, 500K, whatever it is.”

Understanding High-Stakes Betting

1:24:01 to 1:24:47

Learn how account sizes and betting history influence gambling strategies.

“I didn't invent this they've been doing this for as long as sports been in their own right?”

The Longevity of Gambling Accounts

1:24:48 to 1:26:04

Discover the factors affecting how long gambling accounts remain active.

“Because when I was doing gambling, sometimes you win more than 500 ,000 pounds to shut them down.”

Life Lessons from Prison

1:26:05 to 1:27:38

Hear a powerful story about a prisoner's choice to stay incarcerated.

“Is there anything that sticks out in your mind?”

Tattoo Removal and Self-Image

1:27:39 to 1:28:47

Explore the emotional journey of tattoo removal and personal transformation.

“I got these stupid letters across my chest, and I got a stick figure pushing a lawnmower on my pubes.”

Finding Faith in Unusual Circumstances

1:28:48 to 1:30:56

Learn how a prison experience led to a profound belief in a higher power.

“I basically had a bunkie who was like a very infamous gangster and he forced me to pray.”

Questions About Life and Existence

1:30:57 to 1:32:45

Engage with discussions on life's mysteries and personal beliefs.

“And I'm still working on ways to like fix it.”

Conspiracy Theories and Realities

1:32:46 to 1:36:37

Delve into discussions surrounding conspiracy theories and personal experiences.

“Like, I don't want to, like, admit defeat.”

Gambling Advice and Industry Insights

1:36:38 to 1:38:00

Gain insights into gambling advice and the inner workings of casinos.

“Do a lot of people come forward to you for advice about addiction, drugs, gambling?”

Negotiating Discounts in Gambling

1:38:00 to 1:39:20

Learn about the tactics high-stakes gamblers use to negotiate better terms.

“They'll say no to all the important ones until you reach a certain level of gambling.”

Perspectives on Gambling and Life

1:39:40 to 1:41:40

Explore insights on what makes a good gambler and the emotional aspects of gambling.

“I don't feel sorry for them that they're wasting money.”

Memories and Emotional Growth

1:41:40 to 1:43:20

Reflect on personal memories and the impact of past experiences on present success.

“So if they're going to gamble, what they can do is make as many accounts as they want and abuse all the bonuses as much as they can.”

From Struggles to Success

1:43:20 to 1:45:40

Hear about the journey from hardship to achieving dreams and aspirations.

“I'm playing a character like we all are.”

Critique of Podcast Culture

1:45:40 to 1:48:20

Challenge the audience to take action instead of passively consuming content.

“My brother, listen for coming on today and telling your story.”
Hear the part that matters, and keep it.Open this episode in VO. Double tap your headphones to save a moment as you listen.
Get VO free

Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:01The Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Slider is back at Taco Bell. The slider-sized crunchwrap with nuggets inside you loved the first time, now with a spicy kick you're gonna love this time. Hidden Valley Diablo Ranch. Or you could order some crispy all-white meat nuggets on their own. Pretty sure you love those anytime. Every time. Okay, all of the times. The Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Slider. A brand new classic is back. Only at Taco Bell. and participating U.S. talk about locations for a limited time and while supplies last.

0:57The Paper. New season streaming September 9th, only on Peacock. This show gives me a reason to live.

1:08You can now follow me on all my social media platforms to find out who my latest guest will be. And don't forget to click the subscribe button and the notifications bell so you're notified for when my next podcast goes live.

1:35Boom we're on And today's guest We've got Mickey Mace Mickey how are we? I don't know what you just said We'll put subtitles for people Yeah I need subtitles Yeah interview Professional gambler Yeah A lot of people know you For flamboyant sort of money All the dollars 10 million 11 million There's a lot more too your story from addiction prison you know which we'll get into all that madness but how's the uk treating you it's awesome man this is my favorite weather ever i love rain i love cold i love dark i love all that like this is my absolute favorite weather yeah yeah for sure feel more at peace yeah i don't yeah i just like it like i hate sweating i honestly i hate leaving the house when it rains everybody wants to stay inside you know i think if it rained more i would enjoy that because I'd be in the house more.

2:27But I feel like I live in LA, you know? And it never rains. So when it does finally rain, I love going out there. That's my time to shine, you know? Freedom. Yeah. There is a different... Even Scotland, the air is clean. Everything's cleaner. You know, when you go to places like Dubai and England, it seems a bit more dirty. New York. You know, I love these places, but I fucking also love Scotland. Why do you guys talk like that? I don't know, bro. The Irish as well. Well, how did it start? Because it's so ludicrous. It's such a, it's such a, it's such a, oh, just like wild version of English. Like what happened?

3:00I don't know, bro. You never asked? We like to be different. That's why, I think that's why we fight so much. Scotland, fighting. Faint? Did you never watch Braveheart? Fighting. Faint? Fight. Oh, fight. Yeah, Braveheart. Did you ever watch? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So I think there's, there is Wires Loose. It's like you guys said, how can we make the hardest version of English to understand? because you can speak to people from Pakistan, India, whatever, and they've got English as their second language, and you'll understand them. Yeah. The conversational flow. You speak to her Scotsman. It's like, what?

3:39Steph has to edit so much. You know? You speak, what kind of English do you speak? You too? Oh, you sound better, though.

3:51Yeah. Do you know, so you told me you're going to Boston? Do you know why the Boston accent is the way it is? The Irish? No. So during the Boston Tea Party, the English came over. They were having a battle. After the war, a lot of the British settlers, a lot of the British soldiers stayed there and became settlers. So what you're hearing in that region is actually a mix of British and American English. And that's why it sounds the way it sounds. That's the Boston accent. I like the Boston accent. It's all right. Yeah. It's all right. Before we get into all the madness, though, I always like to go back to the start of my guests get more of a bit of understanding about you where you grew up and how it all began I was um born in Jersey I grew up with a child in Jersey and and New Jersey New York is like very fluid so I spent a lot of time in New York as a young child and eventually I just moved to New York City I lived in New York City for a while I grew up in like New York City card rooms my grandparents would take me they spent every day of their lives gambling so like Monday through Thursday I grew up in New York City card rooms and on the weekends was Atlantic City.

4:53I went to Juvia. I was pretty young. I was 15. I did exactly a year. So I came out. I was 16. I was very well behaved for like a year about. Then I just started getting in real trouble again. But then I was 17 getting in adult trouble. I actually fled. I was going to get tried as an adult at 17. So I actually fled and I came out here. I lived here in London. I lived here when I was well first I went to Israel. I lived in Israel at 17. The morning of my 18th birthday I got a plane ticket. I moved to Amsterdam. From Amsterdam I moved to Belgium then France then London. And I came out here. I was homeless a lot.

5:35I lived actually in a few places but I was homeless so just going around. I lived in Piccadilly. Waterloo was my favorite. I lived in Peckham Rye. That was a dangerous mistake. I didn't know. You know peckham rye no it's like you know what compton is yeah it's like compton but out here and i didn't know that you know i just found like online like everything was so cheap in peckham rye so i go okay like i have a better chance of surviving there so i go and it was a very dangerous very like you know just dangerous i'd like a i have a really cool story i'm not gonna bore you with the details but i beat some dude pretty bad with a skateboard my within honestly probably within the first hour of me uh moving to peckham rye tried to rob me it was the whole thing but um yeah i was uh i was i had a flat in waterloo near the skate park there interpol came and they caught me and they sent me back to america and i went to jail and then from there i was either homeless or incarcerated for the next quite handful of years then i was living in new york city again and i was homeless and i was you know in the grass of all types of addiction and conflict and all these problems and then i had a buddy who had moved from new york to miami the miami area two years prior to this part of my story he and he stayed in touch with my mother she had found me i was living in a place called highbridge park which is like spanish it's in washington heights which you know it's like it's like a extended part of harlem and uh she convinced me to get on a plane to move to florida so i went he put me up i got sober i celebrated 10 years sober last month and really yeah thank you and that's really how the journey began so the last 10 years is like the noteworthy parts of my story when did your gambling sort of start because in scotland we call them fruit machines it's like you put one pound in and you spin it and hopefully get like three cherries like my family used to do that with me like when I was three and four and five we used to play a thing called chippy at school so you get one pound or say a dime and you throw it to the wall whoever gets see there's three whoever gets it closer you flick the coins up heads or tails if you get two heads you'll take the two whatever you know so I started gambling very young I never realized the extent of how bad it would be as I got older but When do you first started realizing about gambling?

8:06Well, I come from a gambling neighborhood, and particularly my family love to gamble. So I was exposed to it. My earliest memories, gambling was regular. If you come from a family where your whole family, I don't know what, makes music, you get exposed to music your whole life as a child. So it was like that for gambling with me. I probably learned how to gamble. I don't know, like six or seven years old, maybe with my grandparents, just like like we use like coins, you know, like pennies, dimes, nickels. And they just taught me some basic card games. And I spent so much time with them as a kid in the in the card rooms in New York that like I'll just sit at the table sometimes and just watch all these people play and slowly learn and whatever.

8:50My neighborhood was the whole neighborhood gambled like parents, grandparents, kids, all that. We saw a lot of underground gaming gambling there, you know, a lot of basement style gambling every day after school weekends whatever um so probably like around age 11 12 especially 13 especially 14 gambling was very prevalent in my community what about mom and dad my parents are great parents they're great human beings they're still married never divorced first marriage for them both and they're great people i was a very bad kid and they tried everything to help me like get on a right path you know they offered me everything like i wasn't born into like a a poor family i wasn't born into like a broken home none of that you know everything was the perfect setup for me to live a comfortable stable good life with like a good head start you know i just screwed everything up i was such a bad kid and uh eventually they just basically were like we can't help you you know we've tried everything you're destroying whatever we have left we have to give you up and then whoever wanted to take a jab at like raising me took over you know my uncle and aunt tried i had friends parents try but i was such a bad kid i just didn't get it you know i was such an idiot and so that all of them would take me in for a short time i was such a bad kid i'd get thrown out and they'd say someone else has to raise you and then eventually uh my grandparents took over and even though i was just as bad to them as i was to everybody else They just held on basically How hard is that?

10:26Did you ever feel like Like you were left out Did you ever feel unloved? Or did you feel as if Did you know it was you that was a problem? Because it's not nice getting passed around I was the same Like my mum and dad loved me to bits And I stayed there But when I was being a little fucker I would have to go to my aunties or other places And sometimes it would make me rebel more It would make me piss people off more Because it's I had to love I probably just wanted more of it, but I didn't know how to handle the emotions of it. You know, I don't know all the answers. I've thought about all this stuff, you know, and, like, when I was young, they made me go to therapy, and they thought, you know, that could help.

11:04And we're back. Streaming on Peacock. May I present to you the award-winning staff of the Toledo Truth Teller. Sleap me. Let's draw something loose. Ay, yes! I like that. The Certified Fresh Series returns. Your boss, you always like this, or is this just an act? Oh, no, this is mad. Oysters! everybody. There's a certain satisfaction when you work with someone. Maybe we could be a family. You sadistic pig. The Paper. New season streaming September 9th, only on Peacock. This show gives me a reason to laugh. Star Wars, The Mandalorian and Grogu is now streaming on Disney+. What are you waiting for?

11:41Hop on. The must-see galactic adventure comes home on Disney+. This is the way. Our only chance is to work together. I like this kid. Always wear your seatbelt. Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu. Now streaming on Disney+. Rate PG-13. So I've talked to professionals and I've thought about it. Even as an adult, I think about it sometimes. I don't know the answer, honestly. I was a bad kid. I have no idea why I was a bad kid. Some kids are bad, some kids are good. You know, I was a really bad kid and I don't know why. And then I felt always different. I always felt like alienated or ostracized, but it was always my own doing.

12:25And I don't think I blamed anybody for it, but I definitely didn't. I wasn't like nice to, you know, like my aunt would take me in, for example. My aunt hated me, by the way. She like to this day wishes death upon me. Back then, she still hated me. She didn't wish death upon me like she does now, but she hated me. But she goes, oh, you're a poor kid. Like you don't understand. Like I'll, I'll teach you the way, you know, so she did me this favor and I was so bad to her. you know so like i didn't make it good for her but i never like blamed her or anybody my parents nobody what was juvie like really bad there's actually a netflix documentary i went to two of them and there's a netflix documentary called the programs and they the documentary is about both the places i went it was really bad they killed the kids they abused us starved us beat us all types of stuff i think when you are like an outsider you tend to gravitate towards being bad there was a video a man was talking about rat park rat parks we had two parks for rats one had heroin in it one had water but the one had heroin it had nothing in it so the rats they had heroin is water and just normal water so they park with nothing in it the rats would go to the heroin but then there was a park with loads of other rats toys like little circuses like it's crazy and 99 100 actually says the rats would go to the water so it's to do with like being secluded and feeling like an outsider you tend to gravitate towards addiction very interesting for anybody i've just butchered it by the way but for anybody listening go and check it out rat park it's on youtube very powerful and it kind of made sense because i was always felt like an outsider and i end up fucking with every addiction possible because it made me feel alive you know being in aa I hear the same story over and over again where it's, I felt different.

14:10I felt unique. And half the people say my external events is why I was different or felt different. Then the other half, like me goes, it wasn't my external. I just felt different. I just never felt comfortable in my own skin. I just never felt a part of or accepted or whatever it is. And I think we all kind of look for like the same thing in any addiction, whether it be, you know, GA or AA or CA or whatever. it's like um it's like i'm just looking to not feel like me you know and then all of these addictions help us not feel like ourselves because if ourselves the problem if we don't feel like ourselves we don't have that problem did juvie make you worse way worse it made oh my guys what an interesting question nobody really asked that it made me way worse what happened was it was so bad man it was so bad that when i got out i said to myself all the time i go nothing could ever be that bad.

15:06And so I had no fear of consequence anymore. I go, you want to send me to adult jail? Go ahead. I'll go on the run until I'm ready. I'm going to, whatever. Because I always thought nothing could be as bad as it was. And I was right, by the way. Nothing could be that bad. It was a real bad place. It cuts away the fear, which is a very dangerous thing. What is it? It cuts away the fear. Cuts away the fear. So it's very dangerous then you feel untouchable. It's right. It made me worse, man, because I felt I felt untouchable. I had no fear of the consequence. I go, I'm too old to go to that place.

15:35and if any place I'm gonna go to moving forward is better than that place I already went through the worst like what are you gonna do to me now what did you do after juvie so for like the first I don't know exactly you know we're talking over over I don't know almost about about 20 years ago whatever it is yeah 20 years ago um so I think I was like nine or 12 months we'll call it a year we'll just overcompensate we'll call it a year for like a year I was really good you know I watched my P's and Q's. I behaved. Um, you know, I kept like, everything was like fine, but I was getting drug tests regularly.

16:10And all I really wanted to do back then was smoke weed. But you know, weed is 30 days in your system. But if you smoke crack, it's out in three days. So for me, I was like, I can do anything I want except smoke weed. And I learned that like call like a year in. So about a year in, that's when I started like really going down that path. And then like all Bets were off You know I'm like Fully addicted Out of control No fear of consequence And I just started getting Into like adult sized trouble What was it like Smoking crack For the first time Phenomenal Oh it's so good It's so good Yeah it's so good I had a girl On just a couple of weeks ago She called it snowballs So she used to inject Crack and heroin Yeah yeah yeah me too Fucking hell like You wanna know what the best is I'll tell you what I did So So what I used to do, so I like shooting, right?

17:00So I'll shoot anything. And I always had this theory that you don't know what will get you high until you try it. So I used to just shoot everything and see what got me high. So I was prescribed Ambien, 10 milligrams of Ambien. So I just started shooting those. And the high from that is more intense than the high from anything else. So you said she called them snowballs. So we call them speedballs. In America, they're called speedballs. Like you do like meth and heroin or coke and heroin, whatever, in one needle, speedball. So I would melt down crack. I'd use lemon juice. You know what Wawa is?

17:28You ever heard of Wawa? Wawa is like this 24-hour convenience store, basically. But they have everything. They're in the U.S. 24 hours, you go in. There's a tea bar. And they have packets of condiments. And it's a big container of each one. And one of them is all lemon juice for tea and coffee. If you just reach in and grab as many packets of free lemon juice that you want, one packet will last you a week of shooting crack. So you melt down crack, put heroin in it, and then put an Ambien in it and shoot those three in a needle. that's the best did you ever od that's of course so many times yeah why do you think you're still alive i don't know man i don't know do you question it when i'm trying to be grateful i think to myself all of my friends are dead you know and me and my brother who went through this we're both alive so i i do when i when i'm trying to be grateful i consider the fact that everything we went through and everybody who died both of us should have died but both of us are alive even the tattoos as well no disrespect to any i've got massive tattoos on my back my chest everyone i know male female with tattoos are fucking cycles everyone the more tattoos the more chaotic but there's so amazing people now who have changed their life i've got friends who have done life in prison full of tats and now they're teaching people in schools and prisons But going through that process For me it's like a sense of self harming You know Like the big one in my back I thought yeah I thought I was cool Big Jesus I'm not even religious I just thought fuck it Because I just I went and got it done Then I was I used to walk about with my top off I had a shit body anyway But I thought I've got a tattoo It's like Because I've been in prison as well But I was scared going in At 22 23 I'm thinking I'm going to get Fucking shagged in here I was like a handsome bastard So I'm thinking But when I went in Like everybody was fucking on it They were on it Valium Heroin They were on it And I realised soon I didn't ever want to go back It was easy It wasn't like American prisons You get the gym I got to play football Which is soccer Like I had a pretty good I actually enjoyed it Which is fucked up Yeah I enjoyed the headspace It was free I came out fit But I also came out worse I started walking about With like a swagger It was like I'd earned my stripes but it's a fucked up environment and when you're surrounded by fucked up people you become fucked up yourself it's just science you were saying the more tattoos someone has the nuttier they are I'll tell you this, nobody's life was ever going great and they said, you know what would make my life better?

20:06a face tattoo never happened so yeah tattoos are more accepted now and whatever but if you really just look why somebody got a tattoo it's all the same by the way It's always attention seeking. There's no reason in the world to have a tattoo other than you want attention. That's it. There's no reason in the world. And I know there's gonna be people that watch this that are gonna try to convince me otherwise. If they don't know what I look like, from the top of my head to my toes is tattooed. I know everything there is about the psychology of tattoos as well as the, and anything about tattooing, I know, right?

20:39You only get tattoos for attention. The question is what type of attention? They're all very similar. You're not supposed to judge a book by its cover. I disagree. I think you have to how else are you going to protect yourself how else are you going to go places in life you know like if you want to let's say you want a job right you want a big job in finance or banking or stocks or something you're not going to go to a guy that is on the street sleeping in a cardboard box and say hey man can I get a job you're going to look at him and say that man's probably homeless he probably is worse than me he probably cannot help me make a lot of money I'm not going to ask him for a job.

21:18Then you see a guy walking out of a finance building wearing a nice suit and expensive watch, and you're going to judge him and go, he probably makes a lot of money in this building. I'm going to ask him for the job. You have to judge people. When it comes to tattoos, especially face tattoos, again, nobody's life is going good, and they said a face tattoo will make it better. Something is wrong with people's brains who get face tattoos. There's no question. The likelihood that they have recovered from that state of mind are super slim. I know people, and I'd like to think of myself as one, who had a broken brain of sorts, got my face tattooed.

21:53All these years later, with tremendous work and effort, I've recovered from that train of thought, that type of thinking. And now I'm like a good guy in society. And we're back. Streaming on Peacock. May I present to you the award-winning staff of the Toledo Truth Teller. Slap me. Let's draw something loose. Ay, yes! I like that. The Certified Fresh Series returns. You're boss. You always like this, or is this just an act, oh no, this is mad. Oysters, everybody! There's a certain satisfaction when you work with someone. Maybe we could be a family. You sadistic pig! The Paper. New season streaming September 9th, only on Peacock.

22:31This show gives me a reason to live. Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu is now streaming on Disney+. What are you waiting for? Hop on. The must-see galactic adventure comes home on Disney+. This is the way. Our only chance is to work together. I like this kid. Always wear your seatbelt. Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu. Now streaming on Disney+. Read PG-13. It's super rare that happens. Most people, their lives are terrible. While they get a face tattoo, their lives stay terrible forever. You should judge a person with face tattoos. They're probably a bad person. they probably have a broken brain and they're probably not going to do anything positive for your life you know i mean yet they they and i still got these tattoos knowing that those things are all true and people will judge us is that like a protection as well because if you see someone for a tattoo you automatically think bad boy you automatically it's like if someone gets abused some of them actually put on weight so nobody gives them any attention so if you're on that system and being homeless and on the streets is could it possibly be like a defense where it gives you some sort of protection that you are bad do people scar their face with tattoos as a way to protect themselves i wonder if what i'm thinking means the same thing what i'm thinking is that people are so hurt on the inside that they want their outsides to match which is why they scar themselves in a way for the world to see you know it's like i'm hurting so bad you don't see that i'm hurting you can't feel what i'm feeling i want to show you what i'm feeling so they scar their faces with tattoos maybe i don't really know the psychology about it but everyone i know with the fit because i was going to get the big neck tattoo terrible stuff yeah and then this was 20 years ago yeah and yeah thank fuck i didn't because the ones i'm getting lasered are just as sore me too i've been lasering my face for six or seven years now seven years now yeah so what did you do after the streets 18 19 how was life well 18 19 i was either homeless or incarcerated i didn't like come to quality life so when i was 24 i was homeless i got sober while i was homeless then i made it to my friend's house he put me up for a bit i got my first job i was uh like i don't i just i worked in a tattoo shop like um literally scrubbing toilets and mopping floors like they'd give me like a you know like a 20 and like hey go out and get us lunch like you know like i don't know what you call that but that's what i did then i started doing uh like a day labor like construction first we did demolition then construction i got taught how to do that a guy to this day his name is sean dalton became one of my best friends through this he gave me my first real job paid me a hundred dollars a day and that was that and then one thing led to another and then i slowly not slowly actually very fast you know i was i started working different jobs and like getting promotions and raises and then one thing led to another and then i started building a pretty beautiful life what made you want to get clean what was the turning point especially very young i wasn't i was 30 31 i read a book called the power of now it was all about the present moment and i started to understand that i understand that you could change the way you think and feel when you've no role models when you've no inspiration you don't where the fuck are you going to turn all you know is drink drugs and violence so when you start i started reading the first book i ever read and then i listened to the audiobook this guy's a boring bastard like his voice is so soft i would fall asleep he rings a bell every chapter i would just fall asleep because he's i'm used to chaos my life is going good now and i think it's boring but it's not it's just peaceful i don't know the chaos and peaceful struggle with that yeah when my life's going too good and too calm i have to do something to screw it up like subconsciously I can't the stability and calmness is really hard to stay in self-sabotage yeah 100 % everyone does that though relationships money it's just it's all we know not everybody just guys and girls that are screwed up most people choose safe stable and calm you go to a bank and there's a teller there that teller's life is usually stable and calm you go to a restaurant there's a server usually stable and calm there's only a small percentage of people who live in chaos self-derived chaos but I also think there's only a small certain people that succeed beyond norms and I think a lot of times it's the same group like you you seek chaos you seek like commotion and all this stuff you're just describing before this podcast started you told me what your schedule is and I said why and what you basically said is I have a crazy schedule and I will go to the edge of earth for my company my business and to succeed that is thriving in chaos you can't thrive in chaos until you're in chaos and have mastered it.

27:27So we're this bank teller who most people, like 99 % of the world, live stable and calm. They don't seek chaos like we're describing. But they also will rarely seek success either. But it's a fine balance as well. Would they want the average nine to five? I do look at people and think that they're blessed. They have their stability. They know when they take their holidays. Mine's just fucking all over. I've got three kids to three different women. I travel the world. I have two fucking Rottweilers. like my life is nuts but i love it because when when it's not nuts i take the foot off the gas when it's crazy again i think different i i navigate myself through it and actually become better but when there's nothing to navigate through i think okay what's the point i question life like i'm fucking so deep thinker people think that guy is fucking crazy and by the way he's a right but i'm just saying like life is crazy bro but it's also a beautiful thing my mind is a contradiction sometimes i want to be in the woods fan house away from every cunt people annoy me my job is to talk when i'm out in the streets i don't want to talk to anyone you know i want to stay it's like hibernation but then other hand i want to go and buy the nice car the nice watch travel the world best hotels best food it's like an inner battle consistently of trying to be something that i'm not or trying to it's crazy you know i feel very similarly very much but this is life you You know, whatever cards we've been dealt, we've obviously played them the right way.

28:55We're still here. We've got a beautiful life. We're in a great place. You know, we're having a conversation that hopefully people can understand. Yeah, I don't see how people are going to understand. You sound like this in every interview? Yeah, fucking right. And people still watch it? Yeah, I don't know. Subtitles. You put subtitles on every one of his episodes? Oh, yeah. Has to. And some of the subtitles can't keep up, though. If you were speaking Spanish to me, I think this would go the same. Better. Yeah. So the turning point for your life, the turning point, what was the moment? Because we all have moments.

29:28I tried to quit many times and relapse, relapse, relapse. But what was the moment for you, especially so young? I was just over you know I had tried to get sober so many times but they were like half availed measures you know half measures you know they were half measures and um they never worked and then it was it was you know so be it and then this last time I was just over I actually didn't want to get sober like that I didn't plan on getting sober I just gave up I gave up on everything life addiction any I just gave up and I said I'm gonna I'm still living in the same box I was getting high end and i got sober in that box in uh it's called highbridge park which is washington heights that's exactly where i was living and um i just said i'm gonna lay here till i die or till something intervenes and it was my mom that intervened uh through my buddy that was in miami charlie and uh like i had no fight in me you know it was winter time i got sober december december 11 2015 you know it's the middle of winter new york everything covered in snow everything's freezing I lived outside in a park and she's like, I forget.

30:32I don't even have clear memory of it, how she got to me. But she said, you can go to Florida. I'll pay for your ticket and Charlie will put you up. And the idea of like Miami Beach is like better than where I am now. And I have no fight. I was like, go or don't go. Like I'm going to lay here and die, you know. And so I just got on the plane and then day after day after day, I started getting my strength back, feeling better. he fed me you know and um i said it just happened it just happened you know and i had no fight so when he told me he's like go back to meetings i was like okay and you know i walked to a meeting he goes did you get a sponsor i go no and he goes get a sponsor tomorrow i'm like okay go back to a meeting like hey i need a you know i need a sponsor like okay so you work steps yet i go no and he goes well work your steps at your sponsor like okay well hey can we work steps i had no fight to think that i knew better than him i had no fight to combat his ideas i would have taking guidance from anybody was more powerful than me at that moment you know anybody even a bum on the street could have said something to me and i said okay you know i had no fight left i was like empty inside but you ever suicidal yeah of course yeah did you ever try yeah i have a lot of suicide times for sure obviously all unsuccessful i used to i had a running joke for a while that i was so bad at life i couldn't even kill myself good yeah that's when you know you're rock bottom bro yeah but ain't it mad though how life can do a full i don't know if it's a 360 or a 180 but it can go a totally different direction you just say you didn't know if it was a 360 or yeah people say a 360 but i think 360 doesn't make sense yeah it takes you straight back yeah yeah but people do say that yeah but yeah i think that but then again is that the right sort of term 180 yeah yeah and how was it feeling when you started getting strength and started understanding there's more to give life?

32:25You know, it was an interesting journey because I never stopped to smell the roses, right? I never like thought about it. Charlie was like, get a sponsor, work steps, go to meetings. Cool. He goes, when he, Charlie picked me up at the airport when my mom sent me down and I know the area he lived in. And I knew that Eric said I'd been there before. He drove me past his area and I was like, where are we going? And he goes, you have no money. You offer me nothing. You're an absolute liability and I'm taking you in for free. You're going to work at my friend's tattoo shop and they're not going to pay you but in lieu of that i'll let you stay at my house for free all right he gave me i think uh twenty dollars i had to take the bus every day to and from work i had to walk to the bus stop right i think it was a dollar eighty each way so i just go like that was it like that's what i was told to do that's what i did i didn't even think about it then he goes okay now you're gonna work steps ah cool i just start working steps he goes uh now you're gonna work this real job and get paid because of him that i even met sean that gave me my first real job doing like day labor construction stuff and then sean was like i'm gonna pick you up at 7 a.m like all right you know and then after and sean was sober too then after them after work he goes now you're gonna find a ride and go to a meeting i go how am i gonna find a ride he goes i'm gonna take you today you're gonna get a list of numbers from men at that meeting you're gonna call every single one of them before you go to bed and arrange a meeting for tomorrow after work i'm like okay i did that the next day he goes you did it i go yeah he goes do it again i was like okay and it's like every day i was just taking direction from these other men it just happened and then someone was like hey you should work more hours you'll make more money i'm like cool then i work more hours then i had a supervisor come and go hey do you want a promotion you're you're doing all this work and we're not you know paying you enough for it basically you know i'm like yeah i'll take a promotion and then it was like that i never like thought about it i just did it you know yeah that's the thing though when for anybody watching or listening when you actually cut away negatives things actually happen for the better like it is so important like vibration and whatever you want to call it you can detox from it and bigger things and better things happen but like you say the self-sabotage kicks in see when you're working you're clean did you ever think about going going and fucking it again because it was too good to be true there was a handful of times over these last 10 years that i've been sober that i've considered you know i i think like um with no emotion just pure like logic i go can i go back to using successful do i want to what would my life look like can i successfully use?

34:42Can I use without destroying my life? You know, I've thought about it. And every time I go, I've tried it before. I go, all that would happen now is I would fall that much further, that much harder and have that many more bigger consequence, you know, and I can't dodge that that many times. So then there's that, the logic half. The other half, which is the emotional, right? Like the idea of relapse, like a non-controlled, like an unconsensual relapse, basically you know against my will there were a few times in the last 10 years that i was probably close to relapse against my will obviously i haven't but there was a few times for sure uh but luckily through the program i've had like the right tools in place like a sponsor a network um you know this or that or like a understanding etc etc there's meetings accessible everywhere there's always like a helping hand you know someone will always help you if you're in a weak moment and like those are the things that kind of got me through and god by the way god for sure what about plans did you have any plans did you have any purpose other than staying clean and just trying to do the right thing did you see yourself being where you are now no no definitely not uh so the first call it like i don't know so like the first year was just surviving like i don't even have much memory of it i just like follow direction boom get a job boom take your paycheck like open a bank account like like okay i just trying to learn how to be a human because i'd never you know done anything adult before you know i was homeless or incarcerated up until then so like you have to open a bank account how do i do that well you have to have an id first okay how do you do that you know like basic human stuff and then someone you know they would say okay you should work more work harder work better get it whatever and i started making money and i go this is cool because now i have money like real money for the first time i got a vehicle i got now I'm starting to experience things they're like hey you should take a girl out on a date that girl over there likes you I'm like okay take her on a date I go it's a great time you know we'd hook up after I'm like oh I was sick you know I want to do that more so I just kept going for like this almost like this more factor work more hours make more money do more things and then it just kept building and it just I don't know I had no plan it just happened I just understood that at some point I started to understand if I work harder I make more money if I make more money I can do more things um i just kept on with that and then i started started a couple companies they did really good i worked really hard i had nothing else going on you know it's just like work and sobriety that was it i started making a bunch of money i had two business partners they were my two best friends um one was murdered the other disappeared uh so i ended up taking our company as a whole, made a big financial success, sold the company.

37:31And I had a girl that lived with me for a lot of years. She and I split up around the same time. So like all these things happened at once. And now I'm basically completely alone. I have all this money. And I was like, I'm going to move. I'm going to try something new. And that's when I went to LA. I was in LA. I always loved to gamble. You know, like I said, I grew up with it. When I moved to LA, COVID happened like two months later or something like that. And when COVID happened, they shut the city down, but Vegas was still open. So I had one friend who lived in LA who also is a huge gambler.

38:02So he would take me to Vegas once a week, basically. Meet people, party, hang out and start gambling. And then that sort of led into the gambling career. What was your go-to in gambling? Usually was blackjack. I started playing baccarat while I still lived in Florida because you could bet bigger like just automatic off the street they have much bigger betting limits but i always was a real blackjack player then when i moved to la and was going to vegas it was probably 70 blackjack 30 baccarat and sprinkled in like all the other games just for fun like entertainment you know i played anything and then as i started playing bigger and bigger i wanted to bet bigger I started making deals with the casinos and they let me bet 250 ,000 US per hand in Baccarat, 75 ,000 US per hand in a six deck blackjack, which I didn't play, and 50 ,000 a hand US in double deck blackjack, which I did play.

39:01So I basically, the two games I preferred, double deck and Baccarat, I could bet a quarter million and 50k. And I just want to bet more money, bet more, win more, you know so I have a 5x bet sizing by just switching to Baccarat full-time which is basically what happened what's the maximum bet for Baccarat I had 250k actually the truth is they actually offered me 300k but the terms during our negotiations to qualify for the 300k Baccarat bet were not advantageous to me as a player it made way more sense for me to just accept a 50 000 lesser bet for all the better terms I have on the back end so how did you end up becoming like professional and with the mind did you always have that sort of camera mind where you memorize things or calculated like how was how did your mind work do you think that's where drugs come in as well to slow it down do you see things different i you know it's interesting i did a um so this uh this company that makes big movies out in la they had reached out to me and they said we'd like to do like a private study on you.

40:08I want to learn your brain. I said, sure. It sounds interesting. So they started to like, we did every day for like four months or something, like not every day, but almost every day, like four, three, four days a week for all those months. We'd sit for like an hour on Zoom and just ask me questions, talk to me and stuff. And they came back and said that they think that basically you just said that drugs were the way to slow down my brain. That I was like almost overzealous. You know, like... Chemical and violence? Yeah, right. And that drugs were the way to sort of... Drugs, they believe that I used drugs initially to get control over my thoughts.

41:00when I was at parties I used to sniff I was neither up or down used to get people sitting their fucking jaw was all over the place or they were just out of it I was always in control you know I felt that's why I could go so long I was neither up or down look it was fucking nuts did you ever do like cat scans? I've done cat scans for like in my life but I've never done it to like try to understand how my brain works or anything because addictions are it's a mad thing Especially gambling The power of gambling Majority of people Actually gamble Because they lose They get more dopamine Hit from the loss Than the actual win For sure So if I was Say I bet on American football Minus 7 handicap Say if there were 30 points in front I would have to put Another bet on Because the bet Had fucking won Instead of just enjoying it I had no feeling So I would put another bet on Of minus 37 And it was just It's like I didn't realise this And still I tried to Understand the mind Understand my mind Understand the neuro pathways and it's like a hat of heroin when you're gambling but the gam the hat is bigger when you lose not when you win hundred percent like it's fucked up hundred hundred percent but that's also the difference between a gambling addict and a not gambling addict is um there's a chemical that gets released in your brain when you lose but not when you win which is why gambling addicts aren't by nature bad gamblers right that's not the problem the problem is the their brain becomes addicted to the the chemical that's released when you lose so you could win like you just said you win the first bet that's a great bet that good gambler you won but then your brain says i don't feel that i don't feel anything and you have to keep betting until you lose then the chemical gets released then you feel that thing you feel that something you go okay now i feel satisfied yeah buying the buzz you're just paying the buzz all right so when you started betting big Like, when did you start becoming a problem for the casinos?

42:56When did they start looking into you? Because they know everything anyway. So I would say the relevant part of my gambling was over the course of three years. The first year was during COVID when I was just trying to get away from LA and be somewhere where there's people, right? Like make friends, meet girls, go out, whatever. And I was playing basically every week and I was playing like 20K, 30K. If I was like feeling crazy, maybe 50K that week. And I was winning more weeks than I was losing, but I wasn't going to make money. That wasn't my objective. You know, my objective was just to meet people.

43:34And I had all this money from selling the business. It didn't, yes, I was winning, but I don't think neither myself nor they thought anything of it other than I was getting lucky. And it probably a lot of it was luck. And we're back. Streaming on Peacock. May I present to you the award-winning staff of the Toledo Truth Teller. Slap me. Let's jar something loose. Ay, yes! I like that. The certified fresh series returns. You're a boss. You always like this? Or is this just an act, oh no, this is mad? Oysters, everybody! There's a certain satisfaction when you work with someone. Maybe we could be a family.

Read the full transcript

44:10You sadistic pig! The Paper. New season streaming September 9th, only on Peacock. This show gives me a reason to laugh. Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu is now streaming on Disney+. What are you waiting for? Hop on. The must-see galactic adventure comes home on Disney+. This is the way. Our only chance is to work together. I like this kid. Always wear your seatbelt. Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu now streaming on Disney+. Read PG-13.

44:49then somewhere during the second year my buddy and i who was the same guy we kept going together we just kind of had a conversation we're like what happens if we buy in with an extra zero instead of buying in 20k what if we bought in 200k okay let's give it a shot we're winning we're profitable so like if we lose it's no big deal let's try it so we tried it and what happened was our cash out that week had a zero instead of winning 20k we won 200 like okay let's try it again so we go back to next week same deal buying for 200 300 or so win 200 300 or so so we kept doing that roughly halfway into that year so now we're talking about 18 months in six months after buying in for six figures i had my first million dollar win i won one and a quarter 1.25 and we looked at each other and we celebrated of course but it was like yo like we made a million bucks this week like this is cool you know sort of decided from then on out we're just buying in for a million or better and seeing what happens so then around there we started buying in for a million and when you're buying in for a million a lot of things change when you're buying in for six figures they don't really yeah you get perks but people win and lose six figures every day in vegas nobody cares but when you buy them for a million bucks or better then things change then they're rolling out red carpets then they're looking at your background then they're making deals with you then everyone's trying to shake your hand and jerk you off and like all that and uh that's when we started to really maneuver um roughly six months after that so now two years have passed in this portion and we enter the third year of the gambling and i would buy in for my average buy-in was three million i'd come with either cash or a cashier's check buy-in for three million and that's where i was it worked out to be about a million dollars a week in net profit but we didn't play every week at that point i'd buy in for three let's say i won two million we wouldn't show up for two weeks come back two weeks later i'd win seven million wouldn't show up for you know seven weeks or whatever you know whatever it is it just worked out that way um and rough so in the beginning was that planned to take breaks and not really take the piss for the red flags with the rise.

47:03So it wasn't... Okay, so a little bit. Around that 18-month mark when we started buying it for seven figures, some casinos started to act... Some started to roll up the red carpet and act like, oh, this is a big deal. You're buying in for a million bucks, like whatever. And then some of them, like two, started to act a little odd. They were giving me better perks when I was a six-figure player than a seven-figure player. And me and my buddy thought that was weird, right? They're like, why would all these other casinos be so exciting that now we're playing for millions instead of hundreds of thousands, but you two want to apply pressure and you won't give me a jet anymore?

47:44The other smart ones. Well, we come to find out, right? It's like, that's weird. So we started gravitating towards the ones that were nicer to us, not because we were nice to them, but because we found leverage. We used their niceness as weakness. You know, for my negotiating reasons, the nicer they were to me, the easier it was to manipulate and get the negotiations I wanted. When we hit the 24-month mark, entering the third and final year before I got banned, that was when we were fighting every day with casinos. That's when it started. Like, any single day, they might ask me to leave. They might—the way it happened is they also didn't know what to do.

48:27So a lot of them didn't come out and say hey your band get out now and never come back Some of them would be like we don't know what's happening. Let's try to study him We know we're gonna get rid of him, but let's just try to see if he's cheating We'll get our money back and he'll go to prison So keep me around a little bit but only in ways that were good for them, right? So it was this cat and mouse game that we started to see in the third year Throughout that third year most of them threw in the towel The last two that held out the longest was mgm grand but not the rest of the mgm properties It was MGM Grant specifically.

48:56And The Sands, which is Venetian Palazzo. It's two towers attached, owned by The Sands. So those two companies were the last ones. For the last six months, those were the only two I had. And then in the exact same day, the exact same moment, the two of them at the same time decided to ban me. And that was the end of it. Why would they two keep you going? Is that an investigation maybe to try and catch you cheating? MGM hates my guts. I hate their guts. We don't have communication. I don't have like inside info anymore over there. I did for a little while, but at the SANS, I still have inside information.

49:32This is what I know about the SANS. As a matter of fact, I did an interview with, you know Adam22? Yeah. One of my interviews with him, we brought on a staff from MGM and an old surveillance guy from the SANS. This guy, his name is Jake. So he works surveillance. Turns out it was exactly his job to watch me anytime I came on their property to figure out how I was winning and if I was cheating. Like he was the guy. He ended up quitting that job. It was like his whole life. That's what he did. He quit because he wanted to do something in Hollywood or whatever, whatever. And that's when he hit me up.

50:09He came on that interview to discuss what happened inside the surveillance booth for the third year that I gambled at Venetian and Palazzo. They would study me. They had a team of five people that would study me every time I came on property. and every time I left, they would take any cards I played with, dissect the cards, they would do anything they could to try to figure out how I was winning. So for them, I believe strongly that they thought I was getting lucky or that I was cheating. And if I was getting lucky, eventually I would lose. So to them, they were like, our bottom line won't be affected no matter how much he wins.

50:39Keep him around for a while. And I'll lose all the money I made at the other casinos, I'll lose to them. And then I think they changed their mind and they go, no, no, he's definitely cheating because he's not losing it back and he should have by now. let's find out how he's cheating and when they couldn't figure that out because I wasn't cheating that's when they gave me the boot but they did it in partnership with MGM they kicked me out together I don't know why MGM kept me that long and I believe they kept me because in the beginning they thought it was luck and then they thought for sure I was cheating and they wanted to catch me what would they have done if you were cheating?

51:09your first offense is five years in prison and I'm sure they would have sued me civilly and I would have had to give all their money back is Counting Carr cheating? is that just ground up on? It's not cheating, it's just frowned upon. So, counting cards, how many decks in LA, in the casinos in Vegas? Is it two, eight? They offer, well, technically they offer everything. The majority is either two decks or six decks. They do also offer single, they offer eight, and they offer continuous shuffle, but six deck and two deck is what's relevant. What would be easier to count? One deck? um no the problem with one deck is i think they only deal out 12 hands per shoe and in 12 hands you i mean you can get a count on 12 hands but it doesn't really uh help you figure out what's next with that such a short sample size per shoe how corrupt are these sort of casinos are they corrupt to the core or are they core to the core we're still talking obviously it was a mafia who started was it Bugsy Siegel?

52:11Bugsy Siegel and Mike Lansky. Back in the day. Is that still run by, or is it more businessmen? Yeah, yeah. It's all corporate now, for sure. Yeah. And how corrupt would you say they are? Do these casinos cheat? 100%. Everyone? Yeah, you see the thing I sent you? Mm-hmm. But it's everyone? Yeah, 100%. What was the thing with the card machine that you said not to use if the machine cuts the cards itself? I'm not sure exactly what you're talking about. There's a few things. I mean, easy is never used to continue. shuffle like just straight up like they only have that on the lowest uh lowest limit tables and there's a reason because anybody who's smart enough to like do anything would know right away it's a bad idea so they keep it there for the idiots so if you use a continuous shuffle they're the casino's calling you an idiot then they have i ever play uh and they at the end of the shoe right at the end of the dealing they put all the cards this little machine the machine goes down it shuffles pops back up dealer deals those aren't shuffle those aren't shuffle machines they're card organizers they have um like cameras they're called lasers but or they're called eyes but they're they're cameras basically that are registering every card in there and they're creating the order the cards go in and i've been saying this for all these years and then finally from the end i don't know if you follow in europe but uh the nba cheating scandal which led into the poker scandal so the poker scandal so now all these casino experts had to come out and discuss the cheating at these poker games where they acknowledged that they also own the exact same technologies that I've described for all these years and that they do have the capability of cheating and that they're card organizers, not shufflers.

53:44Was it the NBA as well? It started with, what really happened was the NBA, there's NBA players and coaches who got caught allegedly rigging games because they were betting on it secretly. When they got caught doing that, it led into an investigation that led into poker games that a lot of these NBA players were playing in. that those games were being cheated. When that came out and was proven to be true, they needed casino cheating experts. They just needed casino people to come and say, is this legit? Like, are they cheating these poker games? The casino experts came forward and said yes. So the question was, well, how do you know that they're cheating?

54:23How do you know that that device is a card organizer, not a card shuffler? And they had to say, because we have it too. What's the easiest one to win on? The easiest game to win? Yeah. Yeah. like assuming there was no cheating, like just the game itself. Technically, it would be Baccarat because you don't have to know anything. Is that 45 % win chance? Way better. It's virtually 50-50. It's not exact, but it's almost 50-50. And you don't have to know anything to play that game. You can just win, you know? What is the rules for people who don't know? So Baccarat is a game. It's a card game. Excluding all the side bets, let's talk about the main bet itself.

54:59You have an option for banker or an option for player. Banker does not mean the house. It just means red or blue, seat one, seat two, doesn't matter. So two options. Before the cards come out, you bet on either banker or player. Each side gets two cards. When you add the digits of the cards together using single digit, meaning a 19 is a nine, an 18 is an eight, you know, a 10 is a zero, using your two cards and you add them together, closest to nine wins. Your biggest win is over 11 million? My biggest single session win is$11 ,526 ,000. Tell me this, do you ever feel satisfied? Nah, you know, I wish By the way, that was the win That MGM and the Sands banned me for the final time Like that was the end of it My biggest win was the last time I played And if I had really, really known that I would have gone about it way different I did not appreciate what I just did I did not appreciate what happened I did not get to enjoy it I was pretty desensitized.

56:05And I think looking back, like, I've thought about this. Like, if I really knew, like, that was my last time, man, I would have, like... I would have enjoyed that win different, you know? Who so? I'd even enjoy it. I'd have a chance. Like, we won. I'd even win the 11.5 when they banned me. They banned me before. Like, I was winning close. I forget what I was winning. Like, 9.5 million or something like that. And they banned me. They came with security. It was this whole thing. And I told them, I was like, I got like nine and a half million in chips in the safe. Like I need to cash it out before you escort me off property.

56:46And I told them, I go, I don't want you guys around me because I'm scared one of you might rob me. And so they were just thinking, I guess, like that makes sense. They go, no problem. You have 30 minutes to cash out and get off property. And I go, fine. So what me and my best friend did instead was we took the chips and we ran down and we played as long as we could until we got caught playing more. so the table that i played at is right next to the cage it was at um at mgm grand at the mansions so the the entrance to the mansions comes through a back way to get into the high limit the cage is like halfway through but it's like kind of towards the towards the other side of high limit and there was a baccarat table right there so all i had to do is turn left and cash out my chips instead i turned right and i sat down me and ian sat down we just played as fast as we could and we only stopped playing when security came to the table and like physically removed us and i'd hit the 11 million 526 000 right there so it's like a very like aggressive not violent but you know like high stress you know what i mean like is that because you knew it was coming to an end well they had already banned me they banned me like 10 minutes prior they came up into my villa and they said we're done here get your stuff and get out of here i go all right but i gotta go cash these chips.

58:03I don't want you guys to come in. Like, I'm scared for my, it's a lot of money. I'm scared to have all you strange men with guns walking around when I have all this money. I need some privacy. Like, go ahead. So, but instead of turning to the left of the cage, I turned to the right to the table. I want a couple million more. But by then they probably noticed on camera. So they called to security, which was still waiting for me in my villa, waiting for me to return and get my stuff, you know? So they probably called in and they're like, he's at the table, get him, get him, you know? So then they come sprinting down and grab me and eat and it was like a whole thing and then they try to short me for a million dollars on the cash out you know i had to get a lawyer involved there's a whole thing so when all this was said and done i never like enjoyed i never even had a chance to like process that win and then the first thing i did was i took that money and i locked it up in this investment account i have because give you give me if you give me enough leeway i'll probably flip a coin for all the money in the world you know fuck it bro yeah i would give it up as well for a flip of a coin yeah so to protect me for myself I locked up all that money right away and when I locked it up I like you know I was like I almost like left myself like I don't even know like as if the money never touched my hands if it didn't exist like when I left LA to go to Vegas that week when I got back to LA like I personally had the same exact amount of money you know all I did was put myself through the stress put myself through this pressure deal with all this stuff yeah I made the money but I put the money in investment account that I that I never splurged like I never spent that money went straight into investments you know what i mean so when i went back to la it was as if like nothing happened and i never really got to appreciate that win are you ever happy yeah when i like riding dirt bikes i like playing paintball i like go-karting too yeah bro i was in thailand last week and uh me and my chick were driving i got a like a motorcycle we're just driving around town we found this place that has these go-karts.

59:53They have the, I forget, they have some kind of fastest go-kart with no restrictions, something, something. Anyway, bro, they were so sick, man. I had such a good time. They were so fun. So have you got to get your adrenaline kick from bungee jumping, parachuting, all that sort of shit, go-karts, fast-paced? Yeah, I find that stuff fun. I like that. Yeah, I love that stuff. That stuff always puts a smile on my face. I'm going off topic, but have you ever done ayahuasca? No. I almost did Almost Trying to get sober I almost did it And then I just went Yeah I done it in Costa Rica Yeah Yeah It was cool I was tripping balls bro You're sick as a dog For the first half I was okay Because I followed I was going in a good place My sponsors and stuff At the start Were telling me not to go Because it's a drug I thought Fuck that Because I was making A documentary So it gave me In my mind I created a free pass I'm doing it for good I'm doing it for health Yeah So I ended up fucked They kept telling me to surrender And I think I ain't fucking surrendering I'm from Scotland, we fight Like surrender for me is like waving a white flag So I had all these shamans like rubbing my heart Strong heart But I'm a control freak So I was trying to control it It never worked I ended up more fucked But it was Costa Rica Beautiful, met some amazing people It's so powerful you control that Yeah but I tried to Great experience Glad I done it, still in a great place Life is going amazing But yeah, I just think with your mind as well It's just trying to understand that Because you should be proud by the way Of what you've done, what you've overcome To what you've achieved, like it's unbelievable I don't think people say it enough to people Proud of you, you know It goes under appreciated, that's why a lot of Your videos is about your gambling Casinos and fuck all that shit It's addictions, the pain, the struggle The homelessness, the overcoming that that's where people can get inspiration.

1:01:49Gambling's for mugs. 99.9 % of people fail. Right. You know, so this is only a very small percentage who've seen a system stuck to it and beat it. The only counter I have to that is that you want to give me a pat on the back for just doing what everybody else in the world is doing. You're like, congratulations, you didn't smoke crack today. What about the Bruno Mars story I seen? You know what's crazy, man? I had, while it was happening, it happened at MGM. I was living in MGM while it happened. So all the executives that were dealing with him were dealing with me at the same time. So we'd go out together and everybody would discuss it.

1:02:23So I had said before on camera, like, yeah, like, you know, he lost 52 or 53 million and now he has to like work it off through all these shows and blah, blah, blah, blah. And nobody made a thing about it. Four years later, all of a sudden, it's like the most buzzing topic. But yeah, it was like, it was probably, I don't know, five years ago or something like that. Yeah. So is he working to pay off his debt? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's why he's like the poster child for MGM because they get all the free work out of him. What about Dana White? Did he not say he cheat? He said I cheat. Yeah. Dana said, you know, bro, Dana said not nice things about me on camera.

1:02:57Yeah, why? I don't know why. So he was on Flagrant Ace and they said, what do you think of Mickey Mace? And he goes, I don't know him. I'm thinking like Dana, we talk like every week. Like, what are you talking about? If you look right now, Dana follows me on Instagram right now to this day. Me and him have been on live stream. Me and him made videos. Me and him gambled together. Me and him, I thought, were friends. I thought we were good friends or friendly anyway. Then he says that and they go, you don't know him? And he goes, nah. And I'm like, I don't know why you would say that. Then they go, well, yeah, you got banned for winning too much or whatever they said to him.

1:03:31And he goes, he said Vegas won't ban anybody, even though he's been banned. There's videos of him being banned. He's talked about being banned on camera. So I go, what is he going on with all these lies about? Then he says, if anybody banned you in Vegas, it's because you were cheating. I go, that's weird, because you were banned from places. I'm thinking about him, right? And so after the video comes out, they send it to me. They go, this is what was said by Dana about you. They send it to me. I go, okay. So I just messaged Dana. I go, Dana, what's good, bro? Read it, never replied. And I haven't seen him since.

1:04:06But he still follows me. Maybe he's been told from the casinos to stay back. Maybe they've told them a lot of shit. Well, you know, his, so he owns the UFC. His partner's in that, the Fertitta Brothers. And we're back. Streaming on Peacock. May I present to you the award-winning staff of the Toledo Truth Teller. Slap me. Let's draw something loose. Ay, yes! I like that. The Certified Fresh Series returns. Your boss. You always like this? Or is this just an act? Oh, no, this is mad. Oysters, everybody! There's a certain satisfaction when you work with someone. Maybe we could be a family. You sadistic pig!

1:04:46The Paper. New season streaming September 9th, only on Peacock. This show gives me a reason to laugh. Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu is now streaming on Disney+. What are you waiting for? Hop on. The must-see galactic adventure comes home on Disney+. This is the way. Our only chance is to work together. I like this kid. Always wear your seatbelt. Star Wars, The Mandalorian and Grogu. Now streaming on Disney+. Read PG-13. This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects.

1:05:33And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro plans. They also own Stations Casinos, which is like Red Rock and Durango, where Dana brings all the influencers and celebrities for marketing purposes to gamble there. So I'm also banned from there. And they banned me pretty bad. so there is a version there is a world that exists where his partners in the UFC who also own casinos that have banned me said we've banned Mickey he's bad for business you should stay clear of him and he's obviously going to side with his partners that own the UFC with him you know and just simply that one sentence alone would make Dana pretend that he doesn't know me yeah but it's still upsetting if someone's your friend and you think these are cool to then speak and shit a simple message look I can't be friends such and such you know putting it to bed.

1:06:34You can literally just Google Mickey May's Dana White together and you'll see all the videos of us and whatever, man. Is he a good gambler on Blackjack? Or is it all made up shit? I've never seen his casino in law statements. So I can only speak on what I think based on information I've gotten and, you know, computed myself. I think that he's a good Blackjack player. He's been banned from casinos. do I think he's up tremendous money? I guess the word tremendous is all relative. I'm going to totally make up a story right now because I have no idea if this is real. Basically, the only place he gambles is at Red Rock and Durango, which is owned by the Fertitta brothers who own the UFC.

1:07:20Dana also owns the UFC with them. Every time Dana plays there, there are a million cameras and he brings every one of his celebrity and influencer friends there to watch him gamble and gamble with him. I can imagine a world where anytime he's gambling, it's not real money because it's his business partner's casino, but what is real money is all the money of all the celebrities he brings there to gamble, and all of them will lose. So he's playing as if he's betting big to get everybody else to bet. That's smart, though. I don't know if it's a fact. I know I wasn't in any of... I'm not in those back rooms with him and the Fertittas, but I suppose there's a world where that could exist.

1:07:56I know a few guys in the UFC And the money they get is fucking terrible Yeah I wonder if they ever think of The money potentially They say they're losing And winning in casinos While they're getting paid buttons I don't know But like I say It's business is business And they've done amazing To get to the UFC Where it's at Those are worth 20 billion 15 billion now A lot Especially with the WWE Partnership or whatever Is there any other big gamblers High rollers Celebrity world there's a lot yes for sure you know gambles big is drake not not on stake that's all fake uh but in real life like he gambles big you know he does in real life um little baby gambles big there's a lot of business guys they actually gamble the biggest see when you win and you've got that cash wait what's the feeling this is my guess because i've gambled with basically every celebrity most of them don't take it serious and the the stakes that they gamble at is very high right so i think it is it's a almost like an ego trip like you know like when these like new money let's say like a rapper right goes to the club spends a hundred grand at the club popping bottles but he doesn't even drink you know has a whole section for all his homies and all the girls and all this what does he get from that nothing i think it's ego he's got this money spends the money whatever i think the casino is just another outlet for a lot of new money to spend money as part of like an ego who do you trust if you're walking out of the casino with millions who do you trust how can you trust anyone do you ever feel as if this casino can set someone up with maybe being followed and their briefcases get took off then is that does that happen or is that just in the movies it happened to me it happened to me i had four and a half million leaving the bellagio and I got set up.

1:09:42I got in a high speed pursuit down Las Vegas Boulevard and a security guard at the Venetian is who helped us. Me and Ian in a BMW. Four and a half million hundred dollar bills in the backseat. What about friends? Who can you trust when you start making money? Especially being flamboyant with it and people know you've got money. Does that become a hindrance sometimes? It's the hindrance is equivalent to anybody else who is successful and makes money. The idea that I have all this cash does not add a particular layer of danger when it comes to the people around me. I don't carry cash. I don't even carry a wallet.

1:10:19My pockets are empty. This is, I have a phone and a vape. It's the only thing I carry, right? So like when I was walking in and out of those casinos with millions, this was before I even had social media that I was doing it. I looked even more homeless back then than I do now. Nobody knew who I was. Nobody would ever assume I had millions in cash on me. it was never like that like nobody knew who i was um so the one time i got set up it was an inside casino job i not like casino executives are trying to like gun me down for enough million it was like a staff probably like a cashier or a dealer or a waitress something like that call somebody who you know look whatever but like as far as like uh like who do i trust like in my inner circle it was the same thing as anybody else who has a successful business and there wasn't like a physical danger for cash that that wasn't what was occurring i know homelessness is a big thing for you as well you do a lot for the homeless why because you've been homeless is that the simple fact probably you know um i think at first what really happened because you know las vegas is built above a city that's underground and that underground city is a homeless city Everybody in there is homeless and they make camp in the underground.

1:11:33And I think the first time I ever went was out of just like pure curiosity. I was like, there's an underground city in Las Vegas where what they call the mole people live. I got to see what this is about, you know, and I feel safe down there because I was homeless for so long. And, you know, like I just didn't feel I go. Yeah, I get it. Like, I know that's like I lived in comparable environments. So I really just went down, I think, the first time for like pure curiosity, you know. And then when I was down there, I was like, oh, this is crazy. I go, I just won$3 million like, you know, two hours ago.

1:12:08And now I'm down here with people that are living in sewage tunnels. I should probably give back a little bit. And I just did. And once I did, I just made it a thing. Once I became comfortable with the entrance of the tunnels, where the exits are, how to maneuver. There's also politics down there. There's like leaders. There's ways to, because it's their home. You know what I mean? so they have they don't want like random people coming up to where they're in their little living space you know so once I got comfortable with all that every week that I was in Vegas I'd just come bring food bring water whatever so is all the homeless getting put into these underground tunnels they're choosing to they get chased out of there sometimes by the cops why would they chase them you know I don't know because then you're thinking like if you chase them out of the tunnels the only place they've left to go is above tunnel which is gonna destroy on the streets yeah Yeah.

1:12:57How are these people treat you when you go in? Yeah, great. It's super rare that, as long as you follow their little politics, you know, it's... What is the sort of rules? There's people that linger outside the tunnels. So the first thing you want to do is you ask, hey, how many people are in each tunnel? And they'll tell you pretty outright, because they see your food or whatever, right? They go, we appreciate you bringing food. Thank you, right? They go, hey, in this tunnel, they don't want to see anybody. You just go, okay, cool. You don't want to see anybody. They're probably like smoking meth or something.

1:13:27They're all tweaked out, doing us all a favor by telling me that. You just don't go there. You know, and when you walk down, something that I do that I think is very polite is I'll kind of yell down the tunnel. I go, hey, is anybody back there? Is anybody hungry? And a lot of times they go, go away, we're not hungry. Just don't push forward, you know? Stuff like that. Yeah, who speeds them? Do they have enough food? Do they have shelter? Clothes? Do people dying under there? ODs? Yeah, yeah, they're probably, yeah. yeah they're probably dying under there um do they have like clothes and food like probably not really you know i mean some maybe i don't know but it's crazy to think the money that vegas is making it's just crazy that there's homeless i think two-thirds of the world are starving i think two-thirds don't have clean water either like it's madness of the world going off topic again but what do you think life is what do i think life is brother i have no idea I don't know I'm just trudging along I'm enjoying the enjoying it the most I can I think uh an important thing about life if I can do something now while I'm living that people will use after I die I think I've lived a successful life what was it like losing millions did you not lose eight nine million yeah of course I lost eight million in one in one sitting in one day in an afternoon losing 8 million was not as bad as losing 3 million losing 3 million means you just lost losing 8 million means that someone cheated you which means that there's a way to get it back what about the pedophile hunting stuff?

1:15:05yeah I'm super anti-pedophile call it a weird stanza I'm very anti-pedophile I think everybody should be you would think you would think. Listen to this. Did you know there's a population of people that think hunting pedophiles is bad? Yeah. Crazy. You know who's one of them? XQC. XQC's a pedophile protector. But you get people like that. There's people here having protests in the UK for like rapists who are, it's like illegal immigration. Like I don't give a fuck who you are. I think you've got to have the right documentation for whatever country you go to, but they're doing protests because there's girls getting abused.

1:15:46and people are protesting against the people who are abusing. Do you know there was two men protesting against the rapists and they get a bigger prison sentence than the actual rapist because they were protesting that they shouldn't be here unless they have the right paperwork? No way. There's over 12 ,000 people now being sent to prison for social media posts in the UK. Really? Yeah. What you post on social media could be a crime here? Punishable by prison? Mm-hmm. That's crazy. Canada, I heard a lot of crazy stories. I heard a story in Canada during the trans stuff, during COVID. Husband and wife get divorced.

1:16:25Daughter or son, I don't remember, lives with the mom. Young child, wants to become transgender. The dad says, I don't support that. He went to prison for saying, I don't support you being transgender in Canada. But this is what they want. They want to depopulize the world. They want the world being fucking crazy and thinking different. I think all that stuff's nonsense. You know what I really think? I think that these governments are looking and they go, how do we keep the idiots busy with idiocracy? They go, the busier they are with dumb stuff that doesn't ever actually make a difference, the less we're going to be distracted making real decisions for real change, whether for better or for worse change, I don't know.

1:17:03So the longer they can keep people arguing left versus right, liberal versus conservative, trans or anti-trans, and support. Obviously, why would you ever support a pedophile or a rapist? You know what I'm saying? But the idea that they're even creating that argument just lets dumb people be dumb and leave the big decisions to the big boys. Totally agree. When you look at people getting sent to wars, you have governments who fund both sides. Instead of left, right, fucking white, black Muslim, Christian, male, female Everybody's fighting against each other So if you're fighting, the people behind the curtain Pulling the string, can do what the fuck They want, they want to ask the questions Of how corrupt the world is You can go down the rabbit hole of the skies being sprayed And fucking the water being full of chemicals Everything is control So when everybody thinks they're fighting against each other They're just fucking It's just, they're in denial They're not really creating change They're just creating more madness And the people behind them can do what the fuck they want Yeah, I think that's it What do you think of government?

1:18:05I've always been anti-authority, anti-establishment Always Yeah, I think it keeps you in good stead I don't have all the answers, I'm not educated enough But I interview enough people I interview left and right and I think they're all full of shit I see good agreements On both sides But instead of fighting each other You need to ask the real questions In the UK you're paying 50 % tax the streets aren't as safe as they used to be the roads are fucked like you need to be fighting for more you know where do you go forward for the future brother what's your plans i've been doing a lot of movie and tv recently and i'm gonna keep diving deep down that path i think that's like the next chapter of my life for anybody listening or watching that's maybe struggling in life right now what advice would you have for them that's a tough one because i don't really know i i suffered from all those problems

1:19:01I can say this the word average means most so when most people do things their outcome will be average they will be average people forever unless you want to be average you have to be an outlier don't do what most people do don't do what average people do unless you'll be average most people are average if you want to be better than average or different than average you have to be different than most and you can't do what everyone else does what about the gambling thing the gambling school where people you give them money and they can't oh yeah what is that yeah so so i fund all of my fans gambling 100 so there's ever a loss i cover 100 of it and on all the wins we chop up the wins it gets a little complicated if you want i can share all the details with you okay so specifically what we do is do you know what a bookie is yeah Yeah, you're a gambling addict.

1:19:51Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So bookies give you, like, websites with credits on it and they can see you can bet, you know, 5K a week, 50K a week, 500K, whatever it is. Yeah, the mafia used to do it. Yeah, exactly. It's the best answer. Yeah. So what I do is I have thousands of active accounts. We take these accounts, we log in, we use the VPN, so the IP address always looks like your local address. So it looks like you're logging in all the time. I run all the action. I have very sharp action. You can't tell your bookie that I'm doing this. You have to act like it's you. every Tuesday comes, collection day, the bookie pays you 100%.

1:20:21You keep your share and you send me the rest. Legal, obviously. 100 % legal. We have very sharp action. Because we do a lot of things. You know, we do everything from court siding. You know what sharp action is? You know how it all works? No, not sharp action. I'll give you... Is that American? Well, definitely we use it in America, but I assume it would be everywhere. I'll just tell you. So we do a lot of things. I'll give you a couple examples. One of the simple versions is we do something called court siding. Court siding is we will literally send somebody to a game. There's a delay, right?

1:20:51Call it usually a 30 second or so delay, sometimes 120 seconds. There's a delay. We have that person live on the phone to another person that's running bots for all of our accounts. So they're watching something happen in the game. A basket score, a foul, the score before halftime, whatever. In real time, sharing it to a guy that we have in an office running all the bots. So we're placing all these bets 30 seconds before anything is updated to say that that's happened. So we're essentially betting 30 seconds into the future on those bets.

1:21:45PG-13. This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro plans. At ZocDoc, we know you care about your health. You wouldn't do that early morning cardio if you didn't. So the fact that your annual physical is overdue just shows how hard it can be to get seen by a doctor.

1:22:30Sorry, that doctor's not a network. Press 1 for more options. You've reached us outside normal business hours. The next availability is in three months. But ZocDoc makes finding the right doctor easy. Download the app and search by specialty, insurance, and availability. Read real patient reviews, then book instantly. ZocDoc, ready to be seen? That's just one example. Another thing we do is let's say Team A versus Team B. Everybody knows Team A is going to win. I know it, you know it, the world knows it, the bookie knows it. All the sports books know Team A is going to win. So if you bet on Team A, you bet 100 to win 10.

1:23:03Team B, you bet 10 to win 100, right? We don't want to risk that money to only make a 10th. So what we do is we'll take, let's give an example. We take 100 of our accounts, right? We put$1 ,000 on each of them and we bet Team B. We know Team B is going to lose. We know it. Everybody knows it. We take that money, 100 ,000 across 100 accounts, 1 ,000 on each count, and it automatically confuses the computer, tricks the computer to say to themselves, wait a second, Team B might not definitely lose because look at all this action. 100 people just bet 100 grand was just placed that team B is going to win so the computer adjusts it then we take 200 accounts with 1000 on each and bet team A that we knew the whole time so we're changing the line there to get a better price on team A What percentage do people get if they win?

1:23:51It depends on the exact deal and the deal depends on essentially two things. One your ability to negotiate and the only leverage you have is if you know the game like if you know how this works. I didn't invent this they've been doing this for as long as sports been in their own right? So if you know the game, you can negotiate well. And the second thing is how good your account is. If you have a large account, the larger the account with the longest possible losing history is the most valuable. If a guy's down 5 million, we'll say, it's worth more to us than a guy that's down 5K because when we start winning, the guy who goes, we'll win more than 5K before we win more than 5 million, that account gets caught and it gets banned sooner, right?

1:24:27But usually we do a 10 % free rule unless we're selling equity of the account, which I don't want because I want to take. I want to take the most amount of exposure I can. We're going to win. Winning is not the hard part. Finding places to lay the winning action is. So we sell equity for up to 30 % or we do a free roll at 10%. But I would like everyone to take the free roll option. It leaves more for me. How long do these accounts stay open for? Do they ever get shut down? Of course. Because when I was doing gambling, sometimes you win more than 500 ,000 pounds to shut them down. We used to bet in cash 20 years ago.

1:24:59You could bet big 10, 20 grand. Yeah. But the laws changed. Everything changed and everything became You had an ID If you put a bet on over 5 ,000 They had to phone it through and then it was 1 ,000 So everything changed All the rules, all the regulations changed Obviously there's loopholes But how long do these accounts last? So getting the winning actions I have very sharp action My action will win, that's why I put up 100 % of the money I have no problem taking 100 % of the risk Because we win anyway The hard part is disguising the winning action What we need is the accounts to stay open as long as possible.

1:25:35The longer they're open, the longer I'm printing money. The longer we're all making money, except for the casino and the bookie. So it depends on what skin we're using. I mean, there's a variable, whether it's a live bed or how early we close the line. Sometimes they get banned or restricted in the first day. Sometimes they last a year. our main objective that we work every day the hardest on is how do we continue to disguise the action you want my i can give you like a guess i'm gonna guess i don't know like if we had to average all my accounts six months that's my that's my average guess but we're printing cash the whole six months do you have any regrets in life in life so many so many i think i have more regrets than i do whatever the opposite is good things just before we finish up what's the sort What's the worst thing you've seen in prison?

1:26:30Is there anything that sticks out in your mind? I've seen something, not that it was so crazy, not that it was so wild. I don't think it's what anyone's thinking. So I saw a guy. He was in the cell next to me. It's kind of like an older dude. They called his name for release, and he refused to leave. He had been in jail for so long, and he had nothing on the outside. At least while he was in jail, he was guaranteed shelter, food, three hots and a cut. And he refused to leave, and they had to come and physically remove him from the jail. Doesn't want to leave? He had nothing waiting for from the outside.

1:27:02He was going to no money homelessness. He was in there for so long, it's all he knew. So when they called his... I thought it was crazy. I was young. I was like 19 when I seen mine. I thought it was crazy. But yeah, he didn't want to leave. Where do you go with the tattoos now? How long have you got? I started the tattoo removal seven years ago. Honestly, I'm pretty lazy about it. I probably haven't gone back in two years. Do you feel like a different person? Do you feel different when you look at yourself? If I didn't have these tattoos, for sure. Because I've already removed a lot off my face, and I already feel better.

1:27:37I already feel. When I look in the mirror, I like more what I see. What was your first ever tattoo? I got two at the same time. I got these stupid letters across my chest, and I got a stick figure pushing a lawnmower on my pubes. What's the one with the biggest memory to it, the biggest attachment? is there anything you would never get lasered if i could snap my fingers and have no tattoos i would it's not realistic so i'm gonna keep some i i have one on my ankle it's a gucci flip-flop and it says i don't say curse words but the tattoo has curse words it says f your b around the gucci flip-flop on my ankle i like that tattoo god is well as a big part of your life yeah for sure when did that when did that sort of happen when was that sort of belief i believe I believe in a higher power.

1:28:26I believe in a creator. I don't know what the fuck that is. I believe, I've never read the Bible or the Quran. I've never, I've dipped my toe in to try and understand it. I believe in something's bigger than me, outside of me. I know this, but what about God to you? What happened? It started in jail, actually. It was a pretty crazy experience. I'll save you the boring details. I basically had a bunkie who was like a very infamous gangster and he forced me to pray. and if he wasn't such, if he wasn't so prone to violence, we're also from two different groups. You know what I'm saying? And we're in a cell together.

1:29:03So I thought kind of the best way to keep the peace for myself was to sort of just like placate him. So he would force me to pray with him every morning and every night. And then very slowly, I sort of saw things happening in my life, even though I was still locked up, that like I couldn't really explain on my own. So then I started saying like, just in case I was wrong my whole life because I was atheist like hardcore so I started saying eventually I go just in case I'm wrong and maybe there is a guy there's no loss there's not but just in case there is I was like let me make this prayer a good one so I started praying like from my heart and then like more and more I kept seeing God enter my life and then eventually I built a full conscious contact with God do you feel a presence around you this is it's gonna be such I don't know how deep you want to get into this can get pretty interesting but a few years ago I had like what I would say is uh like a problem with my relationship with God like mine and his relationship we almost had like a fight basically like a spiritual fight I feel like where I thought that I should get things that I wasn't receiving and then I was receiving things bad things that I felt that I didn't deserve and then he and I would start to battle over it and I'm still working on ways to like mend the relationship so to speak i almost refer to a higher power as like as if i had a best friend that was like watching my back and looking after me now my abro we went to the bar together i got jumped by these dudes why were you not by my side we went into this bar knowing that we'd protect each other and you let this bad thing happen to me where were you you know and he's like my bad bro i was doing something else i go that's not cool dog because you said to me that if I, you know, do this thing for you, like if I watch your back, you'll watch mine.

1:30:47I've been watching your back. Why didn't you watch mine? And then it led to like this like spiritual friction almost, you know, this like combative nature between my higher power and myself. And I'm still working on ways to like fix it. Yeah, fix it. But sometimes if you're praying or asking for anything, if you're asking God for strength, he's not going to make you strong. He's going to give you. He makes you weak. Yeah. To then fight through it and find strength. I think there's a depoy on footprints in the sand. Amazing. Yeah. When like someone, you lose your partner, you lose a family member and they says, God, I prayed for you and where were you?

1:31:24And what happens is there was two sets of footprints and then it became one. And it says, where were you in my darkest time? It says, my son, I was the one carrying you. Yeah. Like fucking powerful. I think that passage is like one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. It like sticks with me. But I'll say like, I think a lot of people justify, I think a lot of people try to justify things happening. I don't think everything happens for a reason. As a matter of fact, I think nothing happens for a reason. I think things just happen. I don't think that people say like, oh, like, it's okay you guys broke up because there'll be a better relationship down the road.

1:32:00I disagree. I go, why couldn't that have just been the better relationship? Why did I have to have that pain to have pleasure down the line? I didn't need that. God could have just provided me pleasure from the beginning. He didn't have to give me these scars. God, so to your point, like, what do you say? You said that when I pray for strength, that he'll put me in a position where I'm weak to build my strength. Why would he do that? Why? Why couldn't he just make me strong? There's questions we can ask and never get the answers either. Do you search a lot about life or do you try and live it daily to the best of your ability?

1:32:37Because my mind is, like, I can think about fucking aliens and spaceships and outer space earth is flat round my mind i can sit trying to go to sleep at night and i'm thinking what's a cow's favorite meal when i'm fucking googling mad shit like my mind is fucked but i try and ask the right questions to understand it more i don't have all the answers i genuinely don't i'm not the most educated but what i can do is have a conversation no notes no question take on a journey i believe that's my gift obviously the scottish accent i'll need to work on but we'll get there brother like you've done fucking amazing to get to 90 minutes you know but like do you ever question life itself like what the fuck is it yeah i question constantly with every question all i do is realize that i know even less and i have like more questions and more confusion i feel more lost i can't help myself but to question a lot but i try not to i try to just live um every time i question bro i just feel like overwhelmed with ignorance and like more questions do you feel as if you're an empath do you feel pain other people's pain other people's misery no no no i really i don't really tolerate other people's problems um most people are dramatic most people are pussies most people are weak and lazy and i have zero tolerance for that the la fires you're la fires very outspoken about that and i believe obviously it was a set up as well there was definitely something behind that different fires and different times all happening at the same time i don't think the fire hydrants had water either like it doesn't make sense but what's your opinion on it did you see the clip of me yeah that's why i'm asking bro so so crazy bro so my house was going to be the next house burned on fire when the fire spread to the la hills or the hollywood hills so me and my couple of my buddies were there we packed up all my belongings we had a truck like backed up ready to go basically right And so, like, everyone's looking at me like I was trying to hold out.

1:34:32Like, I don't want to, like, admit defeat. They go, Mickey, it's time to go, bro. I go, all right, before we leave, let's just drive to the other house, like the last house that's currently on fire, so I can just, like, kind of, like, say bye, right? We pull up. We pulled up. As soon as we pulled up, firefighters looked at me and two of my buddies and go, can you guys help? I go, for sure. Not that we did much. They would have done the same thing without us, just to be clear. Like, I can't pretend I actually made an impact, but we were willing to. So we, like, helped. they had me pulling um like a pulley with with chainsaws to firefighters that were on a higher deck that's what we were doing right they ended up putting that fire out when they put the fire out there was all these news cameras there there's a dude from ktla who filmed me like a year prior on some other thing he saw me out in the street and he filmed me so as soon as we were done helping the firefighters put the camera in my face he goes mickey uh say your name and what you're doing here i go i'm mickey mays and uh la's lighting the city on fire or the government's lighting LA on fire right they use that clip as the intro to every conspiracy video for a month on the news in LA about those fires yeah yeah but there's people who start calling you a conspiracy nut as well like people don't a lot more people are aware now you can speak out a lot more crazy shit and people kind of understand it but I think sometimes including myself can search too much and forget to live you know and just enjoy life that's kind of what I'm saying like so like with the fires i'm convinced for sure the government lit the city of la on fire there's no you're not i think you're an idiot to even try to tell me it was a natural i don't know coincidence man all wrong like for sure they did that right when you're gonna ask me why what when all this stuff that's when it starts like to what end am i gonna dedicate my life to understanding why they did it you know, like, I can't change it.

1:36:21I can't do anything about it. I'll never even actually be able to know if what I believe is right is right. And all it's going to do is stop me from living my life. Yes, the government lit the city of LA on fire. Why they did it, I have my guesses. But after I guess, I'm not thinking more on it. It already happened. I can't control it. Do a lot of people come forward to you for advice about addiction, drugs, gambling? mostly people just ask me for money and the second most common thing is they ask me for gambling advice but gambling advice not in the sense of helpful advice they're like such idiots what's the sauce what's the secret mission on how you win gambling you know the only thing i could really tell them is to gamble on kirgo at least thing all casinos cheap every online casino has came to me and said, Mickey, can we work out a deal?

1:37:15And they've offered me crazy money, right? We get to the final portion. I go, hey, the only thing I ask is that you allow me to take a look at anything I want. I want to audit any backend, any software, the providers. I want to audit anything I want. And if I find anything not kosher, I'm going to share it to the people. And they go, sorry, we can't do this deal anymore. Every single one, except for Kirgo. And Kirgo doesn't pay me, by the way. Kirgo came to me with open arms and they said, anything you want, we're going to use you as a way to audit our own stuff. I go, when you find something, post it, we'll watch it.

1:37:46And that's how we'll know where things are wrong. I go, amazing. And on Kiergo, this is a huge thing. People don't know this. When you gamble in Vegas, you can get comps for anything. You can ask for essentially free stuff at any turning point. They'll say no to all the important ones until you reach a certain level of gambling. the most vital one I did not have to I was a large gambler seven figure gambler their most valuable negotiation tool is what's known as a discount that's money back anytime you lose I don't know if you're familiar with that okay so when you're a big enough gambler in Vegas the main thing that the gambler wants to negotiate is what percentage of their money they get back in cash when they walk out of the door so the biggest I was ever offered was 25%.

1:38:38It was from the wind. So if I lose$4 million, they hand me a million in cash on the way out. I have a million dollar discount on my loss, right? I did the opposite. I would negotiate, when they would offer me discounts in Vegas, I would say, you know what? How about you give me a 0 % discount, but instead higher betting limits. And to them, that's like the exact opposite that big gamblers want. And they would, they thought that I was so stupid that they would just grant it to me, but it worked for me. So Kirgo if you ever lose on Kirgo 24 hours later you get money back and not enough people know that and what is this an online casino yeah Kirgo Kirgo.com K-I-R-G-O.com what's the best advice you've ever had I've had a couple great pieces of advice the first one that stood out to me just now as the best advice ever received is anybody can make money but it takes a successful man to be able to hold on to it.

1:39:37Do you ever look at people in the casinos and feel sorry for them, knowing that they're just wasting money? I don't feel sorry for them that they're wasting money. You know what, hold on, let me change my answer I think. Let me think about this.

1:40:00No. I don't feel bad for people that are losing money in the casino. I look at these people that lose money in the casino and the majority of them lose a thousand dollars two thousand dollars five thousand dollars and to them that's all the money in the world they have no idea how much money is in this world available for the taking and i remember when i would lose a thousand or two thousand it was all the money to my name and i thought it was all the money in the world then i look at where i am now i'm very excited for them when they finally make it through life and realize that one grand, two grand, five grand they thought was all the money in the world was nothing.

1:40:37And they look back and they go, whoa, those were good times. What makes a good gambler? Someone that can walk away while they're up. The second thing, which makes, that's the short answer. What makes a great gambler? Someone who can walk away while they're out. What makes an advantage gambler is somebody who does not gamble for enjoyment, but gambles based on casino weaknesses. like the Kirgo thing, for example, the money back, right? There's actually a lot of things you can do on Kirgo. So for example, if they don't force you to submit your identification to make an account, you can make as many accounts as you want.

1:41:17And so Kirgos, for example, other casinos do this as well, but I don't play on those other ones. If they don't let me look at the back, I'm just completely disinterested. So on Kirgo, you can play. they're regularly giving out like a sign on bonuses and this kind of benefit, etc. Right. So this is what this is not that I'm advising people to do this. My real advice is nobody should gamble. Definitely don't gamble. But people aren't going to listen and they don't listen. So if they're going to gamble, what they can do is make as many accounts as they want and abuse all the bonuses as much as they can.

1:41:48Right. And eventually one of them hits and it becomes profitable. That's a sign of an advantage gambler getting money back. When you play on some dumb sites, like I don't even know what they're called. anymore. Spinbet and Razor and whatever dumb, I don't know, dumb online casinos exist. Most of them are illegal, have no licensing, just total offshore nonsense, right? They're just losing money. They lose money every day. When you play on a place that gives you money back, it's so simple. That is your signs of being an advantage player, is playing on a casino's weakness. You're not playing for enjoyment.

1:42:22You're not playing for sport. You're not playing because you're having fun. You're playing because there's a weakness that you can expose where it can become profitable for you as a player. When was the last time you cried?

1:42:37I feel like it was recently, but I really can't remember. I remember I moved at the beginning of September. And I remember standing in my empty closet my last day in that house. I remember crying and talking to my grandfather who passed away. So what did he hear about? Yeah, yeah. He lived a beautiful and full life. And I remember he passed away some years ago, but I remember just a couple months ago in September, my last day in my house, standing in my closet, empty, all my clothes were packed up and gone, and crying, kind of talking to him like, look what I did. You know, I made it. You know, look at this beautiful house that I'm leaving for a better house.

1:43:18you know all his pain and all his struggle and all his fight to keep me alive and give me whatever i could to be a better person like finally paid off you know the thing i see with you brother i see a good person i see a genuine fucking soul like i see someone who is a good and i believe you can do greater help than what people actually think instead of people asking you how to gamble i think they're asking you the wrong questions i think you have the answers for other side of it for people to be better and how to make changes because it's not can you take compliments can you accept compliments I could hit you with a thank you I think from what you've understanding your story from what you've been through to what you're doing now like it's fucking unbelievable like it's it is a mad story are they going to do a movie about your film about your life yeah yeah they're working on it right now beautiful matter of fact oh I can't say anyway any Scotsman in that movie any crazy fucking Scotsman at the roulette machine full of cocaine I can you know what I can maybe do am I even kidding I might be able to throw you like a cameo in some recreate as like one of the maniacs I could probably find a spot but like I say I think it's unbelievable and I know I'm very proud of you for what you've done I know you don't need that that sort of pussy shit but like I say when I hear these stories it's amazing because people you don't understand how many people listen and watch these podcasts who are battling so many different demons and a lot of people in life are lost sometimes I talk as if I have it figured out, but I don't know as much as the next one.

1:44:50I just, I've masked a good game. I'm playing a character like we all are. I've just, this character's just making me win for the first time instead of losing. I'm more in control, but I think it's a great thing that from fucking sleeping on the streets and snowballs, what we call them here, to then making movies. You're in contact with some of the biggest names on the world, like Kevin Hart and other big names. How is that feeling when they contact? Bro, it's crazy. It was crazy, you know? I'm just some kid, you know? That's barely not homeless, how I feel about it. And all my biggest idols from growing up and all that are contacting me, begging me to hang out.

1:45:32They're begging me for my knowledge so I can teach them. And I'm like, are you guys good? Are you sure you want my help? Crazy experience, very surreal. My brother, listen for coming on today and telling your story. I thoroughly enjoyed that. I think what you're doing is amazing. I genuinely look forward to what you see for the future I believe this is the start of a great friendship I think we're definitely going to do Something together I don't know what it is but I genuinely Feel that would you like to finish up On anything else I'm definitely tired of Doing interviews where people ask me about gambling It's the same interview a hundred times I always I tell interviewers that you know I go why are you Going to ask me the same question someone else asked me So I appreciate you know I switched it up a bit I think that anybody watching this podcast is looking for inspiration emotionally, but not rationally because if they were actually...

1:46:26I'm not giving up. I am selling the building. The final season of FX is the bear. The restaurant is flooded. Everything's either going to be okay or not. We are outgunned and we are outmanned, but we have each other. FX is the bear, the final season. All episodes now streaming on Disney plus. This episode is brought to you by chat GPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons podcast. Have you guys heard about chat GPT work? It's the new way to use chat GPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports.

1:47:17Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro plans. At ZocDoc, we know you care about your health. You wouldn't do that early morning cardio if you didn't. So the fact that your annual physical is overdue just shows how hard it can be to get seen by a doctor. Sorry, that doctor's not a network. Press one for more options. You've reached us outside normal business hours. The next availability is in three months. But ZocDoc makes finding the right doctor easy. Download the app and search by specialty, insurance, and availability. Read real patient reviews, then book instantly.

1:47:52ZocDoc, ready to be seen? Looking to do something with that inspiration, they wouldn't be watching his podcast, they'd just be doing it. I think people who watch podcasts, I know it's your business. that's going to piss off everyone's going to hear this because the only people that are going to hear this are the people it applies to. I think they're all lazy and weak. You're listening to us. You know, these people are listening to us talk about things instead of them doing things. I ain't got time for that. They should be doing these things. I hope that this is the last podcast any of them ever watch.

1:48:20I hope they get up and do something. Not that podcast. Keep watching, fuckers. Keep being lazy. Keep being bums. You know, keep being lazy as fuck. My brother, listen, thank you for calling on. Again, enjoy the rest of your stay in the UK. And I look forward to seeing what you do for the future. Thank you, brother. God bless, bro.

From the publisher

Anything Goes with James English Ep 530

In this powerful and unfiltered episode, we sit down with Mikki Mase to uncover his unbelievable journey from addiction, prison, homelessness, to winning millions in casinos.Mikki opens up about hitting rock bottom, battling addiction, sleeping on the streets, and the mindset shift that completely transformed his life. We delved into how he cracked the casino world, the mental strategies behind high-stakes gambling, and the lessons he learned along the way.This is a raw, emotional, and inspiring conversation about resilience, discipline, risk, and redemption, a story that proves it’s never too late to turn your life around.If you’re struggling, chasing big dreams, or love incredible comeback stories, this episode is for you.


You can contact James on his social media platforms.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

http://instagram.com/jamesenglish2https://x.com/jamesenglish0

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577060205838

https://www.tiktok.com/@jamesenglishpodcast?_t=ZN-8z0ZI6MBb9C&_r=1

https://open.spotify.com/show/4PIErllOO06wFHyX4LkGLH?si=c36a8b3f513d4316

https://itunes.apple.com

More from Anything Goes with James English

All 123 episodes
From Prison Cell to Beating the Casino for Millions – The Mikki Mase StoryAnything Goes with James English · 1 h 40 min
Listen in VO