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Paul Gunness on Going From a $70K Score to Broke in Three Months, Then Third in the Millionaire Maker

On The Table 1 Podcast, Paul Gunness says he turned $600 into $70,000 at the Venetian, went broke in three months, then made a deep Millionaire Maker run.

By RealNameOf Staff · · 3 min read

Painted scene of a lone player seen from behind, holding a slim wallet as he walks a glowing gold path through a vast tournament hall of countless poker tables toward a towering chip stack.
Original illustration for RealNameOf. Not a likeness of any real person.

Clip: this source video does not allow embedding on other sites. The same clip is posted as a YouTube Short and a Facebook Reel. The full source is linked below.

Quick answer: On The Table 1 Podcast, Paul Gunness says, "I'm I'm working for Steve Seagull and one weekend, you know, I have 600 bucks and I play the 600 at Venetian and I win for 70 grand." He told his boss, in this telling, "See you, Steve. I'm out. Peace." He quit. "Yeah, dude. I am rich." "I was broke 3 months later." After "the tournament score," he says, "I instantly go sit down at like the 1020 and it's like the best players in the freaking world and me." "What am I doing here?" "I bust that bankroll like quickly." Later, "my dad he made me a deal that basically he would back me for one summer of WSOP tournaments. I could quit my job," "on one condition." "If I wasn't profitable, I'd go to law school." He then "played the millionaire maker, the $1,500 millionaire maker. And at a 10,000 something entrance, there was only three people left when I got knocked out. Me and two others."

The official YouTube title, from an episode uploaded November 9, 2026, is He Won $70K, Quit His Job, and Was Broke 3 Months Later | Paul Gunness. The $600-to-$70,000 score, the 10-20 game, the three months, and the law-school deal are his account in this clip; this article does not independently confirm them. The Millionaire Maker finish is a matter of public record. PokerNews's results page for the 2023 World Series of Poker Event #53, the $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em, lists Paul Gunness in third place for $650,058, behind winner Pavel Plesuv and runner-up Florian Ribouchon, and puts the field at 10,430 entries. A Card Player profile lists the same finish, prize, and date, June 28, 2023. He does not, in the used clip, name the year or the prize. Those official figures are labeled as such, not as something he states here.

"I am rich," then broke

Gunness starts at a job. "I'm I'm working for Steve Seagull." The used clip does not explain who that is. One weekend, he says, he took "600 bucks" to "the 600 at Venetian" and "win for 70 grand." He announces that he is leaving: "See you, Steve. I'm out. Peace." He quit. A voice on the podcast needles the boss; Gunness's own line is, "Yeah, dude. I am rich." Then the turn: "I was broke 3 months later."

He ties the bust, in this telling, to what he did with the score. "I make the tournament score and I instantly go sit down at like the 1020" — the usual shorthand, in a poker cash game, for $10/$20 — "and it's like the best players in the freaking world and me." "What am I doing here?" "I bust that bankroll like quickly." The used clip does not name the casino for that cash game.

A summer, or law school

After that, he says, his father "made me a deal": backing "for one summer of WSOP tournaments," so "I could quit my job," "on one condition." "If I wasn't profitable, I'd go to law school." The used clip does not say whether he was profitable overall that summer, only what happened when he "played the millionaire maker."

"Only three people left"

"I played the millionaire maker, the $1,500 millionaire maker." The field, as he puts it, was "a 10,000 something entrance." "There was only three people left when I got knocked out. Me and two others." That matches the official 2023 result cited above: third place in a field PokerNews lists at 10,430. He does not, in this clip, describe the last hand or name the players who finished ahead of him.

Related reading

FAQ

What does Paul Gunness say happened after he won $70,000?

He says he quit his job, sat down at "the 1020" with "the best players in the freaking world," "bust that bankroll like quickly," and "was broke 3 months later."

What deal does he say his dad made?

His father, he says, would back him "for one summer of WSOP tournaments" and he "could quit my job," on the condition that "if I wasn't profitable, I'd go to law school."

What does the official record say about his Millionaire Maker finish?

PokerNews lists him third in the 2023 WSOP $1,500 Millionaire Maker (Event #53), for $650,058, in a field of 10,430 entries. Card Player lists the same place, prize, and a June 28, 2023, date. In the clip he says he was knocked out with "only three people left" from "a 10,000 something entrance," and he does not name the year or the prize.

Does the clip confirm the Venetian $70,000 score in an official database?

No. That figure is his account of "the 600 at Venetian." This article does not match it to a specific published result.

Sources

  1. Super Intelligence Poker: From a $70K Score to Broke in 3 Months, Then 3rd of 10,000 in the Millionaire Maker
  2. Facebook Reel of the same clip
  3. He Won $70K, Quit His Job, and Was Broke 3 Months Later | Paul Gunness (YouTube)
  4. Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker | 2023 World Series of Poker
  5. Paul Gunness (United States) - Poker Player

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