Wow, this thread is pretty sad overall, both the overall story and the people giving off a sort of "maybe he deserved whatever happened to him" vibe. I guess this story won't lessen those people, but I had some fun interaction with Brad. I've told this story before on here, but I'll remove some of the parts not including Brad.

I was playing 10/20nl at the Wynn back in the summer of 2008 and was having a great day, up to $12k from a $4k buyin. A guy came over to my table and asked if I would be up to join a $25/50nl with $100 dead button ante game they were trying to get going with John Duthie (CEO of the EPT at the time) and Brad Booth. $10k was the minimum buyin, so I figured I'd pocket $2k and only be in for $2k in a big game, so I decided to take a shot and play with some TV guys.

The game started 5 handed, with me, the LA cash guy, a quiet Asian guy who didn't play many hands, John and Brad. As the game got going, a few things were clear. The LA cash guy was a huge complainer and was capable of some wild, aggressive plays, the quiet Asian guy was a standard ABC nitty type player, John Duthie was a calling station and Brad Booth was a maniac. I picked up some big hands early, and also made several well timed semi-bluffs. Every time it went to showdown, I had a good hand, so everyone was convinced I was just sun-running, but I used that image to get several big bluffs through. In true rungood fashion, I even accidentally bluffed one time when I 3b ATs from the sb vs a button open from Brad, bet out on the T high flop, 3b over his raise and he folded JJ face up, complaining how hot I was running. I thought I was 3 betting for value.

A notable hand that I wasn't a part of happened between Brad and the Asian guy. Brad had bought in for like $50k to cover everyone, but the Asian guy was sitting on around $20k when this hand started. The Asian guy raised and 4 bet Brad, and Brad called. The Asian guy bet out on the Q high flop, Brad raised, the Asian guy 3b, Brad 4b, the Asian guy shoved and Brad went into the tank. Brad eventually called with AQ, the Asian guy unsurprisingly had AA, and Brad lost the pot. I'm honestly not sure what Brad was thinking on that flop, the Asian guy had never even been seen semi-bluffing so far in like 4 hours of playing.

We ended up taking a break for dinner, pausing the game, and I hit the Wynn buffet with Brad and John. We spent most of the meal talking about what a whiner the LA guy was, apparently the two of them had played with him several times and he's always miserable like that. They were both super nice guys and had some funny stories to tell. After dinner Brad wanted to add to his stack to cover the Asian guy again, but didn't have cash. He was asking around if anyone would buy $5k Bellagio chips from him. Later John mentioned that Brad had taken a marker for the Bellagio chips and that's why he was selling them instead of cashing them out back at Bellagio. John made it seem like this was normal behavior for Brad, using marker chips from one casino to pay people back or buy chips at another casino where his marker was already maxed.

Brad ended up leaving and the game wound down, the Asian guy and me both were up around $20k each and Brad was down quite a bit, with John down a bit and the LA guy around even. A few other people had filtered in and out of the game, but none stayed more than an hour or won/lost much. All in all it was a fun day, and I would have loved to play against John and Brad again, but the opportunity never arose.

I dont think anyone here is saying that he deserved, we are just describing how the real world is

Everyone likes Brad, he will be forever in our hearts, that hand against Ivey is a classic it will be admired for centuries

Hate to be cynical, but would you have wanted to play against them if they were up a lot and crushing? It seems like you only wanted to play against them again because they were losing.

I was 21 and had no respect for money at the time and was willing to play anyone who sat the games I was playing. Live poker was still super easy back then. Duthie was a whale and Brad's crazy style didn't match up well against mine. I'd much rather played with them again than the other 2 players at the table.

You are probably being sarcastic but that hand against Ivey is indeed a classic.

He pulled off a serious bluff against the one of the best poker platers in history. I get nervous just watching the hand. I always think things will change and Ivey will call and everyone will be shocked.

Great story rob, sounded like a fun evenings play. The story from fav earlier ITT was good as well.

Found this interview with Brad from the 2014 WSOP. Very open, honest and from the heart about his time in the poker boom and what he wishes he had done differently.

^^Thx for posting^^

so sad these guys squandered their winnings (or got cheated)

I'm trying to think of anything else that burned as hot as poker in its heyday and subsequently fell so hard but I'm drawing a blank

not sure if this was from my recent post, if not, just ignore, but I certainly do not think or ever thought "he got what he deserved". I just wanted to reemphasize the whole nice guy story over the benz should be in the same realm as some guy winning in slots and buying everyone around him drinks or some baller win big in blackjack and just give away $3000 to the stranger next to him. those type of acts aren't a measure of whether or not someone is "nice" (or not) even if they truly are a nice genuine person. they do seem emotionally charged and memorable though.

the more I read and see the more I want to hear good news about Brad. and for those who may be in debt, depression, midlife crisis, etc. his rebound toward a new life would have a positive impact on the community (not just poker) one way or another.

You clearly didn’t own Enron stock.

FWIW, I don’t think any of the posters in here think that Brad deserves anything bad.

I was not being sarcastic

for some reason my memory had Ivey holding 99s in that hand. had Kings..crazy.

This interview makes me sure that it didnt have anything to do with Poker, he was in debt for more than 10 years, very used to handle Poker debts

And again, Gamblers are really soft with debts because deeply we kind of understand each other

If it was a money issue he got into something different than Poker, with a different circle of people that did not know him fully

Maybe he used his Poker videos to get credit with people that are outside of poker world?

I know Brad has had his struggles over the years but I hope in the end he is safe. Does anyone else find it odd that PokerNews.com hasn't written up an article about him missing? I am sure its spoken about often at the table in Nevada but the only online platform I've seen it talked about is this small(ish) thread and a twitter post here or there.

yea clearly being loose with money and giving **** away is not smart and can in fact contribute to you being in debt, no question. the reason i shared was i didn't get narcissist visions of "it'll be +EV for my cool factor in the future if i flip this kid $100" when he did it discretely sitting next to me

anyway, i know this is NVG and nobody is spared from ridicule/rumors, but the guy is missing and i think i read that his family was reading this thread so just wanted to pass on nice thoughts

I didn't, thank gawd but wasn't that a scam from the get-go?

Whereas poker legit swept the nation and the world. I went from having like 4 books to read and nothing but 30 minute crappy videos about the WSOP main event to watch to having 100's of books, training courses and TV shows with seemingly everyone joining the party

I've been on the fence about this for a few days, I'm fully aware a post like this is not going to win me any friends.

While I agree that it's a bit in poor taste at this very moment to make posts talking about him being a scumbag, I strongly disagree with those reprimanding the people who have done so. There's moral hazard in forgetting/forgiving what he repeatedly did just because something misfortunate has occur.

It sucks that his friends and family are reading this seeing so much negativity, but I think it's important for would be scammers to see how that will stay with them and haunt their legacy. Brad would have rightfully been imprisoned and possibly still incarcerated today if our laws didn't strangely treat theft by deception so much differently than other forms of theft. He stole more than most bank robbers ever take and yet only consequence is an embarassing internet thread and apology video which is best viewed with this song playing in the background.



Brad legit looks like a great guy, I'm sure if I ever met him I'd have genuinely liked his company and wanted to get a beer or three with him. But there's no way I'm inviting him to my place to hang out and leaving him out of sight. It's just what it is and we shouldn't be obligated to pretend or forget otherwise. He has been a running joke among poker players for some time and this event shouldn't force people to change that.

Brad and other people like him are why I and many other here on the forum need to try so hard to avoid bringing up their past as a poker player because society in general doesn't differentiate us from guys like Brad. He's a stain on all of us and his past transgressions shouldn't be forgotten.

rickroll - you're doing god's work and this is definitely the venue where we'll win over society thinking poker players are scum.

No matter how much debt he owed i think we can all agree he doesnt deserve any physical harm.

He had a gambling disease and was in over his head but really seemed like a genuine guy when the disease wasn't over taking him.

Wishing the best for his return as doubtful as it seems as time passes.

100%, i just don't think people should be reprimanding those who bring it up like that should just get wiped off the slate, nor should it be referred to as "debt"

that's gonna be a no for me dawg

if you steal money from people then they have a right to hurt you. I don't think people should be badly hurt, at least not for trivial money.

I don't know about you but if I'm lending ppl money im doing my research and go in knowing its a calculated risk on whether I get the money back or not.

There is a difference between stealing someone's wallet or breaking into their home and not paying a borrowed debt.


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lee, i suggest you read the numerous threads about his transgessions before you continue asserting it was simply unpaid loans

he stole, nobody debates that, not even brad even where we get his version of events where he glosses over everything, he still makes it clear that with doug's 30k he now had 55k total, hence he had 25k to his name when he engaged in the "trade" so he was never in a position to execute the transfer

it wasn't an issue of him engaging in good faith and then the demons got the best of him, it was a premeditated scam

since you insist they were loans, this time I'm actually sharing the video directly with appropriate background music



dude is a scumbag and stop calling it "unpaid loans" and "debts"

it's theft and there's no nuance about it

If he does owe some shady figures a significant sum he might just be on the lam and has no desire to be found. Saying your going camping would be a reasonable story to buy you some time while you get the hell out of dodge.

I know he's a scammer but if you look at people with gambling problems that's just what happens. What I'm saying is I wouldn't have any financial transactions with an addict. It's been well known for years he's a broke scammer but doesn't mean he deserves to be killed.


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yes but then the homicide dept got involved so we know that there must be a reason for them to do so.