Ignition Poker Pro Crazy Sixes: A Comprehensive Look at His Career

This year has been a great one for Ignition poker pro, Shaundle Pruitt (aka CrazySixes on Twitch) – his most profitable yet. But he didn’t just wake up one day living the life of a successful professional poker player. It took years of hard work to get there!

Join us and we’ll take you on a journey from “dude from Ohio” to “final table regular,” and we’ll all learn a thing or two along the way.

Falling in Love with Poker

Pruitt was raised in Columbus, Ohio and now calls Canton, Ohio home. His start with poker came when he was a student at Kent State. He and his friends got a home game going and learned the ropes of Texas Hold’em. Putting his newfound skills to work after graduation, Pruitt entered tournaments and found that – lo and behold – he was a pretty good player. In fact, he was good enough to make a living playing the game, and so that’s just what he did.

The late 2000s saw him earn over half a million in tourney cashes. He was on his way, possibly to the top. Who knows where he might have gone? But, like so many players, the rug was yanked out from under his feet on April 15, 2011. On Black Friday, the big online poker rooms were shut down, and poker as an income source for Americans pretty much died overnight. So much for the life of a poker pro, right?

“Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in!”

Pruitt picked up the pieces and moved on with a new career in real estate. He did quite well, supporting his family as an agent and then rising property manager. The work was stressful, and often ran him ragged (he still says we wakes up stressed about old properties even years later). It wasn’t The Dream^TM, but it paid the bills.

In 2017, however, he was invited to a local poker league. They ran a tourney with a prize package that would send the winner to the WSOP Main Event. And wouldn’t you know it? Pruitt won the top prize!

Once again, the poker bug had bitten him. But he wasn’t ready to jump in with both feet. He decided to live two lives for a bit.

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

To restart his poker career, Pruitt would study the game, play poker, and stream the journey on Twitch at nights (from his laptop!). Then, after long sessions, he would wake up in the morning and go to his property management day job. It was a grueling schedule, but success takes sacrifice and dedication. In fact, Pruitt credits much of his success to being willing to “outwork the competition,” especially when it comes to being a student of the game of poker.

It took around two and a half years before he could let go of the 9-5 and commit to poker full time. By then, it was clear that his earnings from poker, coaching, content creation, and the like would be enough to support his family.

Poker Pro’s Current Routine

When your life revolves around poker, you need to work nights. Very late nights, actually. Sixes often plays poker through the evening until “3 or 4 a.m.” He wakes up at 10ish to start his day.

He does a fair amount of work for pokercoaching.com (free to join!) during the days. He says that one of the keys to consistent success with poker is to be “constantly studying.” He hosts a group for two hours twice a week, in addition to private coaching of personal students. And it’s always an additional boost for Pruitt to see those students doing well at the tables.

Pruitt credits discussions with skilled and knowledgeable fellow pros like Justin Saliba and Matt Affleck with helping keep his game sharp.

Sixes’ Stream on Twitch

Pruitt’s poker stream on Twitch typically goes live around 8 p.m. Sunday is the biggest day to tune in, when Pruitt plays a weekly big tourney at Ignition. You can often catch him on Wednesday or Thursday as well. Friday and Saturday are generally saved for family time. You got to have a little balance, you know? Those are the days that help him recharge and be ready to hit the tables with full competitive focus and motivation on Sunday night.

Ride along with the stream if you want to see what it takes to crush big tourneys!

Sixes on Dedication

This might surprise some of the young guns in the audience, but Sixes hasn’t had much time for diversions like movies or TV in years. Even beloved sports games aren’t always getting a full watch. Unfortunately, sacrifices have to be made.

“Dedication to study, play, and hand review has to be a top priority,” he says. This is what helps you get an edge over the competition. When it comes to “not having time” to do things, he wants it to be “somebody else who’s making that excuse.”

Relying on gut feel just isn’t realistic. As he says, that whole “I’m gunna look him in the eyes and see if he has it” attempt to soul read opponents isn’t really the path to success at the poker tables. It isn’t psychics who win at poker. It’s largely hard workers who are students of a game they love.

Big wins – Highs and Lows

Sixes has over a million dollars in lifetime tournament cash prizes. Here are some highlights of his tournament career:

• Won seat to the Aussie Millions tournament.
• Won trips to poker tournaments in the Caribbean (e.g Aruba).
• Won the Ignition 150K guaranteed tournament.
• Won the Ignition 100K guaranteed tournament.
• Won the Mad Monday Main Event.

But, of course, it hasn’t all been glorious cash stacks raining down from the sky. There have been hard times too. Downswings and variance have caused many successful poker pros to question their choice of career, and Sixes is no different. But he’s a proponent of time-tested bankroll advice:

“If you’re getting your ass kicked, move down to smaller stakes and focus on winning.”

In no time, you’ll be ready for another run at the games above.

He’s also a proponent of sound bankroll management in general. He advises players to have “at least a year’s” expenses set aside when you’re a poker pro.

2023 Poker Results

In his best year ever, Sixes has taken down some nice tourneys at Ignition. These include winning the 75K guaranteed tourney outright and reaching final tables in back-to-back weeks at the Ignition 200K guaranteed tournament.

It’s been a consistent year, and while the wins weren’t necessarily major (by superstar pro standards), he’s cashed in 4 consecutive WSOP events. We can imagine that he will build on this success as he goes along. Rome wasn’t built in a day!

The Poker Star’s Plans for 2024

In 2024, Sixes plans to keep playing WSOP events. If possible, he’d also like to return to the Irish Poker Open. His trip there in 2023 with 50 lucky Ignition players was a highlight of the past year! He’ll be trying to play in some Mid-States Poker Tour events locally, and will also look to get into his share of live poker games. And of course, there’s always Vegas.

His main issue with live games is the expenses. It all adds up quite a bit when you’re traveling for poker events. (The good news at Ignition’s online casino is that this problem doesn’t exist!)

Other Poker Activities

Pruitt creates content for Pokercoaching and hosts study sessions with LearnProPoker. Want him to coach you personally? Reach out through Poker Coaching to see if he’s available! He’s a busy man, but he definitely has taken on students in the past.

Don’t forget to follow Sixes on Twitch and drop in to see him take on tourneys. He always brings it and fears being a bad player most of all. That’s a mindset we can get behind.

Upcoming Ignition Activities

At Ignition, Sixes generally is down to play all $300 buy-in tourneys, $162 buy-in tourneys, and every Sunday high roller game.

And as of recently, he’s also been hosting his very own Ignition freeroll tournaments; follow Ignition Casino and Crazy Sixes on social media to know when the next one’s coming!