Poker Vlogger's $100 to $30k in a Month Challenge Ends in 'Irresponsible' Decision
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A young poker vlogger attempted an improbable bankroll challenge — turn $100 into $30,000 in a month — and actually spun it up quickly before an "irresponsible" decision ended the run.
Alex "KDog Poker" Kobzyev a Texas poker player with 11,000 YouTube subscribers, began the challenge on January 1, and it concluded seven days later when his bankroll hit $0. He admitted the odds weren't in his favor.
"Is it realistic? No. But, is it possible? Absolutely," he said before embarking on a challenge he knew would likely end in failure.
Poker pros such as Chris Ferguson, Doug Polk, and others have attempted improbable bankroll challenges. Most attempts have failed, often without ever building up much of a bankroll. This one was different.
Poker Vlogger Spins it Up
The challenge was simple — turn $100 into $30,000 by Feb. 1 — but difficult to complete. Day 1, in many cases, would be the end of such a challenge, as he couldn't start over from scratch. Once he lost his bankroll, the challenge was over. But, while playing at Texas Card House in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, he tripled his stack during the first $1/$2 session, before running a set of jacks into a set of aces to lose about half his stack.
"KDog" would go on to run it up to $700 and decided to continue playing in a game with a $300 cap that had been running since the night before. There was too much money on the table to get up and leave. He'd end up losing a chunk of that stack but still walked away more than quadrupling his money on the first day.
Kobzyev left the TCH Las Colinas location to play in another $1/$2 game at TCH's second card room in the Dallas area, buying in for $100 again and hoping to spin it up. This time, however, he had some extra bullets in the tank if he were to run into a rough hand.
He booked a small profit in a game that played too big for the restraints of the challenge, so he moved on to a different location and game. By the end of the first day, the bankroll reached $902, a nearly perfect start. Day 2, a five-hour session, wasn't so great as he lost a small amount. But he'd pick it up the third day at the new Poker Palace, where the heater began, thanks in part to hitting runner-runner quads in a $450 pot.
Did He Play Too Big?
Kobzyev nearly doubled his bankroll on Day 3 and was on pace to reach the $30,000 goal. Things would get even better for him over the next few days, as the bankroll surpassed $4,0000, although he lost a few hundred on Day 7. But this is where it all came unraveled.
On Day 8, he decided to quit playing in games he could buy-in for $100-$200 after starting the day off with a loss in a $2/$2 game. He called an audible and entered a bigger game, this one at the $1,000 buy-in level. With match-the-stacks available to players entering the game, he knew there would be thousands of dollars on the table before long, and that meant he could conceivably get to within striking distance of his one-month goal early in the month. But it was also a risky play.
The $5/$5/$10 game played bigger than the blinds, as there were frequent straddles. "KDog's" entire stack would be in play in a three-way preflop all-in hand with AxKx against JxJx and 10x10x, and with $2,700 up for grabs, the players agreed to run the board twice, neither of which went his way.
That was a huge setback, but it was only downhill from there. On his second bullet, he raised to $30 with A♠Q♣ and faced a three-bet to $250 from the player in Seat 1. Kobzyev, with $1,200 in his stack when the hand began, told his opponent "I'll either jam or fold."
"I'll show you after the hand," Seat 1 said.
"Can you just show me one?" the poker vlogger then asked.
Kobzyev then said "I have queens," which wasn't accurate. But Seat 1 flashed a card that the bankroll challenger confused as an 8x. That proved costly, as he then moved all in only to get snap-called. They'd run the board twice, and neither board improved the ace-queen hand. Seat 1 then turned over his hand, which was pocket queens to scoop the entire pot.
He bought in for another $1,200 and quickly got it all in with pocket jacks against the same player, who had pocket aces and took down the pot. "KDog" was down to his last $496 and went all in with KxKx, only to lose to a player who hit a straight with AxKx. And, just like that, the challenge came to an abrupt end when his bankroll reached $0 on Day 8.
"That was irresponsible," Kobzyev admitted after finishing his final session. "I don't know, man. I felt a lot of pressure to try to make more money more quickly and, yeah, I ended up just like putting it all in that game. It sucks, honestly."
He explained to PokerNews that taking a shot at some point would be necessary because "$30,000 is too big a number to grind to." Kobzyev said if he were to try this challenge again, he'd take a similar approach, "but I should have stuck to what I said, which is just leave if I lose the $1,000 and rebuild instead of dumping it all."
"My goal was to just get close enough to give it a run at the end of the month," he said.
He took a shot with 23 days left in the challenge, and it didn't work out for him — this time. Maybe next time will be different.
