Extra: Gambling for a living | Forensic Files

my name is Brian rast I'm a poker player living in Las Vegas Nevada and in the 2011 World Series of Poker I won two
bracelets I mean I got into poker when I was in college and you know I didn't really have any money and I started
playing with like the little money that I did have and I kind of like built it up I eventually dropped out of school
cuz I had enough money and I decided this is what I want to do with my life I chose poker for freedom but I didn't
want to work for anyone I didn't want a 9 to5 I wanted I didn't want to have a boss I wanted to
just do what I wanted there's definitely kind of a Mystique about it and you know
for every person that maybe has my story there's countless of people that it like
doesn't work out that well for them winning and losing in a lot of things in life and gambling with money something
that people care about like gives people a rush some people just want to feel something the the TV tournament poker
just looks like this seductive easy way to win a lot of money that's why people play the lottery that's why people you
know do a lot of things in life everyone would like to win a million dollars easily that's why people put a dollar in
a slot machine you know and so poker's like some people slot machine but a little bit more fun CU you have to think
poker players like small businesses it's like over 90% fail in the first 5 years
that's just the way things are it's a difficult game it's hard to become good enough to have Edge and win the truth is
if that you're not careful you lose all your money and if you don't have money you can't play poker you need money to
make money in poker there's poker players that have gone broken you know they like might try to borrow money and
if they can't then they'll like go find something else to do with their life and
that would kind of be the rational like hey I'm a normal person response to the situation but you know not everybody
works like that poker players especially in Las Vegas are kind of like many celebrities or you
know poker is something that's very popular in Las Vegas like most of the people know who poker players are a lot
of the people work in casinos so they're kind of around and poker players are kind of people that come in some of them
are successful they win you know a lot of money I mean you know if you're one of the better poker players at like say
the Bellagio I mean you could make over a 100 or 200,000 a year and that's I mean that's a lot of money by almost
anyone's standards

"I chose poker for freedom," professional poker player Brian Rast told "48 Hours." The Las Vegas-based player talks about the lure and mystique of the game and why poker players are like small businesses. To watch full episodes of 48 Hours Mystery, CLICK http://cbsn.ws/1cai8zp

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Brief Summary

Brian Rast discusses his poker journey, the risks of the game, and the lifestyle of professional players.

Key points

Brian Rast's Poker Journey. Brian Rast shares his journey from college dropout to poker champion, emphasizing freedom and risks.
The Reality of Poker. Rast highlights the harsh truth of poker: over 90% of players fail within five years.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I chose poker for freedom.

Brian Rast on his motivation for playing poker.

0:26WatchDec 4, 2013

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