Published on: 12/20/2015IST

33 Year Old High-Stakes Poker Player, Venture Capitalist, Risk Taker, recent Actor and undoubted Playboy King with a net worth of a staggering 100 million dollars it’s easy to see why everyone is talking about and infatuated with Dan Bilzerian.

He’s an icon, a force to be reckoned with and definitely someone that should be respected. Rivers of money, sizzling hot women, once in a lifetime parties, gold-plated guns, fast Italian racing cars that would leave any man drooling over the pavement are what surrounds thebearded Dan. No wonder why he’s Instagram’s “Most Interesting Man”.

Here’s 10 things about Dan Bilzerian that you didn’t know but should know.

1.  SELF-PROCLAIMED BILL GATES OF POKER

MR. Bilzerian in the company of a few lovely ladies

He’s the self-proclaimed Bill Gates of poker playing and having won over an astonishing50 million dollars through poker playing alone, and with a notable win of 10.8 million dollars in a single night, it’s no doubt that he truly is the Bill Gates of poker. However, for Dan it’s not about the money or the cars. He says, “It’s all about the freedom and being able to do whatever it is that you want to do.”

2. HE WAS ARRESTED IN HIS SENIOR YEAR

Bilzerian is an avid gun enthusiast

He was arrested in his senior year for having a machine gun in his car on school property. Always for the love of the guns, isn’t it Dan? He owns 97 guns and has a loaded gun on display in every room of his mansion in Hollywood Hills that he leases for 35,000 dollars a month from Ngit Liong Wong that happens to be one of Singapore’s richest men.

3. AN EX-NAVY SEAL

Bilzerian during his days in the Navy

He was enlisted in the Navy for 4 years where he spent 510 days going through gruelling Navy SEAL training but a few weeks before graduation he got kicked out of the program after having a dispute with one of his administration officers which lead to him being honourably discharged. He then enrolled in the University of Florida where he majored in Business and Criminology.

4. HAD 2 HEART ATTACKS BEFORE 30

He has had 2 heart attacks before the age of 30 and it’s no surprise why he lives his life to the fullest and seizes every moment. After 5 days of partying, snowboarding, gambling, crazy sex, sleep deprivation, consumption of cocaine and the introduction 200 milligrams of Viagra, Dan had his first heart attack on the 4^th day and while he was in hospital he was treated by Michael Jackson’s doctor -Conrad Murray- who coincidentally treated Dan’s grandfather a year prior where he passed away from a heart attack in the same hospital. 12 hours later, Dan had his second heart attack in the hospital but luckily he survived and after 2 weeks of recovery, he was as fit as always.

5. THERE FOR HIS FRIENDS

Dan once invested 2,000 dollars in his personal friend and fellow poker player, Jay Farber-nicknamed “Panda”, who finished second in the 2013 WSOP Main Event and scored 5.1 million dollars of which he gave Dan 1 million dollars and a goat in return for his 2,000 dollar investment. Dan said that he can’t just have one goat so he got a second and now he’s the proud owner of two goats which he says are “pretty awesome animals.” I couldn’t agree more and come on, owning a goat would be awesome!

No one can argue Dan is very successful in playing poker and made a ton of money out of it, but he was rich long before that. There is a link between his wealth and his father, quite a controversial character.

When you have the money to begin with, it is easier to make even more. You can invest it and make a fortune, and from that point it all goes in circles. Dan wouldn’t be what he is today without his talent to play poker, we give him that. He was able to go from broke to selling his guns and getting $750 that he later turned into $10,000, and in a single day went to Vegas and made $187,000. Quite impressive!

But what is questionable about Dan’s wealth is how clean was the money he first had? In the 90s, he did inherit some money from his dad. That wouldn’t be such a big deal if his dad’s wealth wasn’t a huge problem back in the 90s, and still is today. As new facts about his family’s wealth appear, it gets even more confusing to understand where does Dan’s money come from.

Dan’s father, Paul Bilzerian [source]

Dan’s father, Paul Bilzerian, was a corporate raider, and a very successful one. He made a fortune in the 80s and New York Times described him as ‘a takeover artist’ and ‘practically born to be a corporate raider’. At that time, it was said he had a promising future. But it actually turned out to be quite the opposite. In 1989, Paul Bilzerian spent 13 months in prison after being convicted of fraud. He later filed for bankruptcy and within years heowned the SEC $62 million.

So did he pay it back? Most certainly not. In the years that came, Paul made all the efforts to hide his assets from the SEC and made them believe he didn’t have any money left. What came next was a game of trying to locate his wealth. The game gets very interesting and it continues even today.

Paul used all possible ways, including claiming bankruptcy, transferring assets from one place to another, involving series of corporations and companies, offshore accounts, and even his family. He made sure to find every single loophole and legal setback to avoid the debt. One judge even called his tactics “shenanigans”.

Dan’s parents on the day his father was conviced of fraud. [source]

To this day, Paul has paid only $3.7m of the $62m. And he has no intent to pay it. Every time the SEC gets closer, Bilzerian family finds a way to make it even more complicating. Paul once said: “I would rather starve to death than earn a dollar to feed myself and pay the government a penny of it.” We can surely see that. Now, he and his wife live in St.Kitts, in the Caribbeans, in a place owned by their son Adam.

To learn more about the possible background of Dan’s wealth, check out our story – Is This The End For Dan Bilzerian?

Are you ready to have your mind boggled?
Or, to see why Dan will stay an icon of the Playboy world, the Life of the Party, the avid Risk Taker that we have come to know and love him for?

6. HE’S A RACE CAR ENTHUSIAST

BIlzerian near to his Lamborgani and in his 1965 Shelby 427 Cobra

Being the avid race car enthusiast that he is, Dan once made a mind-blowing 400,000 dollar drag race wager against fellow enthusiast and Supreme Court Litigator, Tom Goldstein.

Goldstein with his 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia and Dan with his ‘tricked out’ 1965 Shelby 427 Cobra went head to head in this high risk, one-of-a-kind quarter mile drag race that left everyone’s palms sweaty and tensions strung through the air.

Dan won the race clocking in at 10.74 seconds and a top speed of 132.88 miles per hour. Goldstein lost the 400,000 dollar wager with a final time of 11.54 seconds and a top speed of 121.97 miles per hour. This was definitely a great win for our man, Dan Bilzerian.

7. HE’S AN ACTOR AND STUNTMAN

Bilzerian dirtbiking in the desert

Dan has become a recent actor and stuntman as well. Having roles in the 2013 movies“Lone Survivor” starring Mark Wahlberg and “Olympus Has Fallen” starring Gerard Butler where he doubled for Butler’s stunts.

He also had roles in the 2014 movies “The Equalizer”starring Denzel Washington, “Cat Run 2” and “The Other Women”. Dan also pushed 1 million dollars into the production of the “Lone Survivor” as a trade for a role in the movie as “Sr. Chief Dan Healy” that the producers promised would have at least 8 minutes of screen time and 80 words; this contract was breached and Dan only appeared in the movie for less than one minute with only one line. The conclusion is that Dan is busy suing the producers of Peter Berg’s “Lone Survivor” for the original 1 million dollars plus a 20 percent penalty fee.

8. HE’S BAILED HIS FATHER OUT OF JAIL

Bilzerian regularly donates money to charity

Dan undoubtedly has an altruistic streak as well that few people ever see because of the image that he portrays. In 2013 he started “The Robin Hood Project” whose aim is to give back to the needy but only in 10,000 dollar installments at a time to avoid taxes in America. He has also helped a woman that lost all her limbs to make her home more handicapped accessible.

Dan's Private Jet

10. HE’S A CAT LOVER

Bilzerian’s cat, Smushball

Dan Bilzerian, built like a tank, chick and money magnet to the max, risk taker and gun fanatic by nature, ironically, along with the two goats, owns a cat called, “Smushball”. Who would’ve ever thought that Dan would be a the cat kind of guy but hey, Smushball is adorable and that I can’t contest.

Well, there’s 10 things you didn’t know about Dan Bilzerian; I hope that you enjoyed getting to know him better as much as I did and keep on watching since Dan will definitely be leaving us stunned in the future.

Is this the end for Dan Bilzerian? - Part 2

Aussie Dan Bilzerian Has more Sportscars and Women, However there's a Catch

 

12/14/2017 | | Permalink