Andrew Moreno’s career in poker has taken him places that most kids from Fort Wayne, IN will never see. He’s earned $4 million in tournaments while grinding his way up from $50 home games. Now as a regular in major events, Moreno is in the money at the World Poker Tour Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open and feeling confident despite a short WPT resume.
“Regretfully, I haven’t played too many WPTs in the past. They’re great events, great structures and almost always at destinations I want to be at,” said Moreno. “It’s a little unfortunate that I haven’t been out to a bunch earlier. I believe that I’ll perform well in these over time.”
His career best WPT finish came in April in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown where he got 15th place for $56,800. A top 12 finish this week would top that.
VCamp Poker Retreat
Next up on his schedule after the tournament is a new endeavor – VCamp Poker Retreat. It’s an all inclusive poker bootcamp he’s running alongside Alex Livingston in Las Vegas from December 1–3. It’s in partnership with tech-world entrepreneur Victor Li designed for other business professionals passionate about poker.
“Victor Li is a guy who I was coaching one-on-one for a little while. He has a bunch of friends in tech that also play poker, one day he approached me and asked what I thought about running a boot camp,” Moreno said. Li wanted to bring his friends to a mansion for complete poker immersion for three days.
“The idea sounded great to me initially,” Moreno said. “So, I decided to do it because it gave me a project where I could spend time studying poker, thinking about poker and creating something of my own. Which is something I wanted to do after so many years in poker.”
Taking advantage of life-changing money
Moreno’s next step in creating a bootcamp brand is a natural extension of his passion to provide for his family. His life came together with perfect timing two years ago when he won a life-changing $1.4 million at the Wynn.
“I was most grateful for that because I was expecting my first son,” he said. “It’s a lot of financial pressure to have a child and that brought me a huge relief. Mainly, it was being able to a lot of time away from poker and spending it the first couple months at home with my son.”
Moreno literally married into the game. His wife, Kirsty, spent a decade working her way up in poker media to one of the best on-air presenters the game’s seen. Recently, they shared the news that they are expecting a second child in 2024.
Moreno’s brother Johnnie, aka JohnnieVibes, has been in poker at his side for years. But with growing families Andrew knows his time traveling for poker with his poker is limited. “Thinking on it brings back a lot of good memories and I’m sad that era is likely going to be closed,” he said. “But we’ll still have a lot of time where we have short spurts spending time around poker together, so I’ll be looking forward to those.”
Another Moreno on the way
Moreno’s next year looks pretty busy with everything coming his way and as a man so clearly anchored by family, will balance in life and poker be possible?
“Finding the balance between work life and family life has been challenging so far,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about how I want to spend the next year. I’m always going to prioritize my family, so I’ll look to spend as much time as I can with them.”
“When I feel the urge and get some time, I’m definitely going to travel for poker,” Moreno added. “I’m so grateful that I’ve had success where I can sit back and enjoy it with my family.”
