Barstool Sports is jumping into the livestreamed poker world this week, featuring a personality-soaked 18-person tournament on Tuesday before a heads-up clash with its founder, Dave Portnoy, on Wednesday.
The sports media company's biggest stars will sit down for the two-table tournament on Tuesday, headlined by Portnoy himself, and they'll compete for a $30K top prize. Portnoy will then take on Eric 'Barstool Nate' Nathan on Wednesday, a matchup that Nathan has been begging after for years.
"I've always wanted Barstool to get into the streamed poker arena," Nathan said on X earlier this week. "We've been close a few times so I'm pretty excited to see how it goes. We also have the best broadcast team in the biz coming for it. It's gonna be sick (if the tech works)."
Best in the biz
That "best broadcast team in the biz" is none other than PokerGO's very own Jeff Platt and Brett Hanks.
"Barstool Nate has had this dream of making a poker event happen with the Barstool crew," Platt told us. "Brent (Hanks) and I always told him that whenever he created something, we'd love to be a part of it. I'm not sure how many other broadcast teams were asked, but they got to us about a month ago and we've been a 100% 'yes' ever since the invite."
Eric 'Barstool Nate' Nathan has been dreaming of a heads-up match with Portnoy for years. The two commentators will jump on a flight for Foxwoods early Monday morning. "And nobody I'd rather spend Labor Day traveling with than Brent Hanks. I just hope he doesn't sit next to me. Tuesday will feature an 18-player multi-table tournament, King of the Felt, presented by DraftKings, with a $30K first-place prize."
Barstool is "really bringing out the big guns for this one," Platt says. "Portnoy, PFT, Big Cat, Kayce Smith, Nadu…it's a star-studded player pool." Wednesday will feature a heads-up match between Barstool Nate and Portnoy that has been in the works for a decade. "Can't wait for this one. I just think we'll see so much entertainment throughout the tournament in so many different ways."
It will definitely be different than what viewers are used to when they tune into livestreamed poker. Don't expect a high level of skill — but do expect a high level of entertainment.
"Some people will have a good feel for the game, some will be absolutely atrocious," Platt said about the Barstool crew. Some will really care about the money, some won't at all — all will talk trash, all will be entertaining."
Portnoy plays for keeps
But what can we expect from ultra-rich Portnoy playing for just $30K? Will he take any of this seriously?
Platt says that's not how Portnoy does things. "It's easy to say 'meh a $30k first place prize, Portnoy won't care' or 'oh he's playing Nate for just 20K? That has no impact on his life.' Dave Portnoy is all about WINNING. The man will be invested in this."
"He'd absolutely love to bust Barstool Nate in their heads-up match. He'd love to outplay him, he'd love to break him, he'd love to talk shit to him, he'd love to beat him. And for the King of the Felt tournament, well, we've seen his competitive nature in similar Barstool events. Combine this with his past poker experience, and he's a real threat to win."
Play kicks off for the 'King of the Felt' tournament on Tuesday at 6 pm Eastern on the Barstool Gambling YouTube with the heads-up clash to follow the next day.
