Blending sharp analysis with Scottish charm, Gary Blackwood has emerged as one of the game’s most insightful voices. In this edition of Inside the Poker Circles, we feature the strategic vlogger whose thoughtful breakdowns and deep dives into poker theory have earned him a loyal following.
Whether he’s navigating complex spots at the tables or delivering content packed with clarity and value, Blackwood brings a rare blend of precision, passion, and personality. His content doesn’t just entertain—it educates, thereby making the game more accessible to players looking to level up.
In this interview, taken from the pages of Between the Blinds: Interviewing Poker Professionals by Sara O’Connor (coming this fall), he shares his journey from grinder to content creator, the mindset behind elite decision-making, and what fuels his pursuit of poker excellence.
Do you remember your first time playing or when you were ready to call yourself a poker professional?
The first time I ever played poker was on Zynga poker, a free Facebook app. There was a girl that I really liked. She asked me to dump chips to her so she could play in bigger games. I absolutely did it, no hesitation. At the time, I didn’t really care for the game much, but I did care for this girl.
I called myself a poker professional far, far earlier than I should have (laughs). It’s true! I quit my job when I had $1,500 and no savings.
I had a very small bankroll. I wasn’t particularly good at the game. What I was focused on was grinding a lot of tables at once to make rake back. I jumped in much earlier than I should have.
Was there a moment, hand, or day when it hit you that you’re going to make a lot of money playing this game? Please describe that moment.
It’s got to be the first time I played poker at the Commerce Casino around 2017. I was playing $5/$10. I was staked. I had very little money. Though I had to pay my expenses, a guy flew me to L.A. and my backer put me into some games where I realized you could win a few thousand dollars each day.
When you go on a losing period, do you begin to question if you still have an edge? What do you do to prepare yourself anew for the next time?
All the time! It happens to everyone. The best thing you can do is really focus on the facts, i.e., I’m still a winning player and people pay me to coach them and make content.
There’s a lot of things you can do when you’re playing to minimize the losses during those losing spells. When you go through a losing spell, it’s easy to start playing your B, C, or D game. You may slip when you get frustrated.
Try your best to play as well as possible. Play shorter sessions. Take a little break. It’s also really important to have interests away from poker, like sports, family, friends, the gym, and hobbies. There’s nothing worse when your life is revolving around your downswing.
I’ve been there. You have to have things to take your mind off of the grind. That will directly affect your play.
If you go play soccer and hang out with your friends, then you feel mentally stronger. But if all you do at night is think of your downswing, you’re probably not going to do as well the next time you play.
Any favorite moments when playing?
In 2011, before I was a professional, I won $10,300 playing a tournament online. I was 21 years old. It was a $109 buy-in and I truly cried with happiness. I didn’t have a lot of money. It meant so much to me.
In 2017, I was at the WSOP and had a really rubbish summer. Then, on July 2, I got third place for $35,000 for a $400 buy-in tournament. That was an incredible feeling. Again, I didn’t have a ton of money, and I ran really well.
The best part was two days later, I played another tournament at the Wynn, and we chopped it 6-ways. However, I got them to agree to give me the trophy for $50 of the prize pool. It was totally worth it.
Finally, after watching so many hours of the Hustler Live stream, being able to play a $25/$50/$100 game with amazing characters like Dentist Dave, Nick Airball, and Mariano was terrifying but a real achievement for me.
What’s something you wish you were told when you started playing?
Proper efficient high-quality study is absolutely essential to succeeding in this game. Two great ways to study are firstly a network of your peers who play the same game as you.
You should study scenarios and hands together. Getting a different point of view and insight into how people play the game is invaluable. You learn so much from asking your buddy, and you can integrate their advice into your game.
Secondly, study with solvers and use them to shape your game into a solid unexploitable strategy. Honestly, it kind of sucks, but it’s so necessary in 2025.
If you want to play low-stakes, you might not need it. But if you want to move up and become a solid player, using solvers to study is a necessity, not a luxury, in 2025.
Have you noticed any common mistakes or misconceptions that new players have about poker?
One really common misconception is that recreational players don’t bluff. Instead, they’re some of the biggest bluffers! That said, when they want to play for all their chips, they’re probably not bluffing. But in the smaller to medium pots, they’re probably bluffing.
As a player, how, if at all, do you handle disputes at the table?
I try my best to stick up for the person who I believe is right. If there’s ever an amicable dispute, contributing your opinion is really important. If you know that seat 2 said “raise” and they say they didn’t when confronted, you should speak up.
If it’s super confrontational, I’ll try to mellow things out. There’s nothing worse than someone being rude to the dealer, so I will always stick up for and defend the dealer.
Do you have any pre- or post-game rituals you practice?
I really should. Everyone should. Fifty minutes of studying before you start a session is great. It’s like playing a basketball game without stretching. You need to warm up your brain to start thinking like a poker player.
Also, a minute of meditation and composure before going in so as to be calm, settled, and ready to play are things I should be doing, but I don’t yet.
Be prepared for the grind ahead. You don’t want to stop fifty minutes into a session because you need water. You need to be ready and set.
Afterwards, I try to screenshot interesting spots where I wonder what I should have been doing. I do a hand history review of those spots. I find that the more I do that, the more I am right. The more I review poker hands, the more I get right in the game over the years.
What is the largest pot you remember winning or the most memorable win you’ve accomplished?
The largest pot I ever won was $41,000 on the Hustler live stream. I think Nick Airball gave me a bit of sympathy and went all-in when I was strong. He’s rich, so maybe?
My biggest tournament win was me winning a European Poker Tour (EPT) side event for $20,000. The beauty of that was we played Day 1 and got really drunk, because it was one of the last flights.
I made Day 2 with 10 blinds and won every hand super hung over until I ran the whole thing! I didn’t play well, but I couldn’t help winning every hand. I’m really proud of that achievement.
Have you ever been involved in a prop bet or know of any good ones?
I’ve done a lot of them, actually, over the years. Some of them I can’t really talk about. I’ve done some very stupid prop bets in my life.
A friend of mine once bet me $2,000 that I couldn’t give up eating pizza for six months, which is ridiculous. That was one of the quite weird ones.
I have a prop bet right now where if I hit a million subscribers before Brad Owen, I’ll win $1,000. It’s really important that I follow that up with this disclaimer: that it has nothing to do with Brad Owen.
I think he’s the godfather of vlogging. I did it to motivate myself, but I honestly gave up after realizing how hard it would be.
How, if at all, does having such a big social media following affect your play?
It’s motivating. I don’t want to fuck up with all these eyes on me. It’s not out of fear of disappointing people; it’s that I don’t want to be judged. I don’t want thousands of YouTubers telling me how badly I played a hand.
There’s been some vlogs that I’ve put out showing that I played horrendously, but I usually want to play as good as I can to prove to players that I’m good.
Where do you see yourself in five to ten years?
I think in five years, I’ll definitely still be playing poker. In ten years, I probably won’t be. I’m really focused on the content side of things. I like working on my YouTube channel, @GaryBlackwoodPoker, and seeing it grow.
I really want to build my brand to the extent of Brad Owen, Rampage, and Andrew Neeme.
When I started my channel a couple of years ago, it was quite overwhelming at first. I was doing everything wrong. My thumbnails, intros, and titles were all really bad.
My good friend Mike Brady stepped in and taught me all the tricks in the trade and really improved my channel. Now, it is growing really nicely.
I’m a professional player first and foremost, but growing my channel is so important to me because it opens the door for me. It allows me to work with companies, people who are writing books ask for interviews, I get invited to games, and more.
Viewers are getting a good experience when they watch, and I’m motivated to build my channel the best I can.
