A Chat With Casino King, Talented Ignition Partner

Casino 30 April 2024 By Ignition Staff

Join the Casino King at the poker table with flying chips and fiery slots action—feel the thrill of the game

We sit down with one of the most creative poker and casino content creators out there

2023 was a CRAZY year for Matt Gothard, aka Casino King. When he started the year, he was an executive producer of video at Sports Illustrated. He was a regular working guy, enslaved to the 9-5 grind. However, by New Year’s Eve, he had become a professional poker player, gambler, and online content creator. A free spirit. An entrepreneur. A dude who makes a living off crazy bets.

How did he do it? Does he regret his decision? What will he do this year to spit in the face of stability and terrify his loved ones? Read on to find out!

The Transformation from Matt to “Casino King”

During his time at SI, Matt had dabbled on the side on TikTok making fun videos. In 2022, one of his poker videos on the joys of playing pocket jacks went viral, generating millions of views. Not wanting to risk his job just yet for the sake of Internet fame, he raced to change the account name from his real name to something more appropriate.

The Casino King was born.

The idea comes from how casinos treat you when you like to gamble and you don’t necessarily get great results. You get special attention, comps, benefits, and more. They treat you like a king! So, the name isn’t really Matt thinking of himself as a casino crusher; more of a guy who likes to have fun and who casinos love to have around.

Career Taking Flight

If you’re interested in being a poker content creator, what do you do to generate a following? How about interviewing one of the biggest names in the game – that should work, right? CK cold emailed Phil Hellmuth and simply asked to play poker and do an interview.

Hellmuth said “yes!” How lucky is that?

After creating the videos with Hellmuth, Casino King went on to play poker on Hustler Live, putting up $20,000 of his own money to get into a $20/40 game.

Is it smart to put up a significant portion of your life savings to gamble with? Well, if you’re going to run good, sure! Casino King crushed his appearance on Hustler Live, flopping sets left and right and drinking the sweet, sweet tears of his opponents. The man was off and to the races.

Afterwards, he was invited on podcasts, locked down a sponsorship with a major casino brand (hey, that’s us!), and life was good. But what was his approach going to be all about?

Casino King's social media feed showcases his poker journey with daily updates, big wins, and strategic bluffs

Casino King’s Philosophy: Just Be Yourself

There’s no shortage of poker nerds out there who can teach you exactly how often to 4-bet pre with queens against two other players out of position. These guys live, eat, and breathe poker charts and stats. If you do something suboptimal, they’ll come in through your window at night and brand you with a spade-shaped iron to teach you to play with better discipline. Casino King is not that dude.

Early on, he realized that being miserable playing poker is not it. It’s not what he wants to do. It’s not what we want to see. And it leads to frustrating, stressful, often dark and depressing poker sessions.

(Apologies to anyone who feels called out.)

Instead, on the advice of industry insiders, he embraced what already came naturally to him – having a good time! Casinos are a place to let loose and get a little reckless. Casino King is the type of player who gets a nice score and then wants to have fun trying to snowball it. And that, friends and players, leads to videos we want to watch.

Can Anyone Be a Poker Streamer?

Nah. For those wondering, you can’t just rock up to a casino and stream your sessions. You often need a bit of a relationship with a casino to gain approval. For Casino King, Running Aces in Columbus, MN was one of the first places to say “yes” to him. Consequently, it led to more buzz and traffic in the casino, so it worked out for everyone involved.

After that, you need a little phone stand and ideally a good editor to take the clips you like and concepts you want to publish, and make them into slick videos. If you can get there, you can really get cranking.

Is Casino King a Pro Gambler or Content Creator?

The answer is simple:

“One of my life goals is to be one of the biggest content creators out there.”

So, while he’s quite a solid poker player, the man is here to connect with people, entertain, and bring something good to the world. It’s not about being the biggest casino game crusher, but instead crushing the online content game.

Caught on camera: Casino King sporting shades and a cap, calling out poker tells on a smartphone screen.

Favorite Places and Games?

If he’s alone, poker is Casino King’s game. If he’s with friends, it’s usually playing blackjack. Blackjack is way more social and doesn’t require you to destroy your friends and try to take their money.

He hits up Vegas frequently, and actually is a fan of the high limit room – not because he spews wagers – but because it’s nice in there! It smells great, there’s double deck blackjack and other favorable game variations, and it’s got that luxury feel. Even if you’ve got a hundred bucks, take it on in there some time and lay down a bet. You could get some comps and you just might have a good time!

The only thing better than that? The rush of a sportsbook on Sunday. Being a native Minnesotan, he’s a fan of the Vikings, as well as the Michigan State Spartans.

A casino he wants to visit? Believe it or not, he wants to go to Atlantic City to hit up the casinos with friends who live in the area. It’s good he has attainable goals to go with his more pie-in-the-sky plans.

Casino King and Crazy Sixes in a friendly heads-up poker game in the Nevada Desert during the WSOP event.

What’s in Store for 2024?

2024 will be more casino fun. He’ll be putting down a $100 bet every day, so be sure to follow him on at least one platform found below to see if his ship comes in.

Like any poker player, he’ll also be at the World Series of Poker in the summer. He’s thinking about hitting up high stakes cash games, maybe setting up some private games, and putting out some live streams. And then there’ll also be “some degenerate stuff,” by which we understand he means, fun, reckless activity.

We can’t wait!