Chamath Palihapitiya, a billionaire venture capitalist and co-host of the popular All In podcast, sent ripples through the poker community on Tuesday when he posted to Twitter/X about "starting a new hi limit poker tournament in the U.S." Palihapitiya has long been enthusiastic about poker as a recreational player and has a seemingly permanent seat in Phil Hellmuth's home game, along with an appearance on High Stakes Poker to boot.
In Palihapitiya's proposed tournaments, there would be three key conditions to abide by: players would be subject to drug tests in an attempt to curb usage of "performance-enhancing" drugs like Adderall and Ritalin; no face coverings of any kind allowed at the tables (no sunglasses, hoodies, or masks); and reasonable formats and timing to avoid drawn-out tournaments or turbo all-in style events.
Palihapitiya's vision for the tour appears to be somewhat molded on the Triton Super High Roller Series, but taken to a new level – or, as he puts it, "Triton++."
Phil Ivey and Chamath Palihapitiya on High Stakes Poker. Antonio Abrego
Big-name poker players react
Within minutes of posting, Palihapitiya's proposal drew the attention of thousands of poker enthusiasts, all sounding off in the replies with suggestions, nods of approval, or identification of potential roadblocks along the way.
Daniel Negreanu replied, writing, "Avoid California and the 7% tax. It makes high-stakes tourneys impossible."
Joey Ingram was quick to ask for clarification surrounding the drug testing aspect of Palihapitiya's proposal, while Liv Boeree was more concerned with the scale of the buy-ins for the events.
Nikhil 'Nik Airball' Arcot expressed his enthusiasm for the concept, citing the travel aspect involved with the Triton Super High Roller Series tournaments as an inconvenience. "Sounds fun; I think there’s a lot of interest for this as a lot of players, myself included, find the travel to Triton to be too inconvenient but would happily play similar style/stake events in the US."
Chance Kornuth chimed in with a suggestion on how to keep the recreational to professional player ratio enjoyable for all parties. "Make it like the Triton invitationals... Businessmen must invite a pro for them to be able to play. Keeping the ratio of Recs to Pros at a reasonable ratio will keep recs coming back as they have a better shot to win and a more enjoyable experience overall."
While many players took umbridge with Palihapitiya's drug testing condition, he explained his reasoning well in the replies. "The problem is poker players abuse these drugs during big games and tournaments," wrote Palihapitiya. "Not fair for those of us who don’t do them and gives the folks taking them a clear edge at times, especially during late runs."
The discussion surrounding Palihapitiya's proposal has captivated the poker world's attention this week – what do you think about his ideas? Let us know in the comments below.
