2018 Gambling Olympics Participant Profile: Joey Ingram

The Highlights

• Joey Ingram is one of the participants in the inaugural Gambling Olympics.
• He’s a popular poker vlogger with more than 12 million views on his YouTube channel.
• He’s also a legendary prop bettor, which makes him one of the biggest wild cards in the field.

The 2018 Gambling Olympics is a two-day, 12-person contest taking place in Las Vegas on July 9-10. The buy-in is $2,500, and the winner gets $10,000.

Before, during and after the Gambling Olympics, we will provide extensive coverage via participant profiles, event breakdowns and live in-person analysis. Be sure to follow all the action in the Gambling Olympics section of the site.

Introducing the 2018 Gambling Olympics

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Chicago Joey

Joe Ingram — also known as “Chicago Joey” or “Papi” — is a character in a field of interesting characters. He’s an online poker sensation who specializes in Pot Limit Omaha, and his YouTube channel has amassed over 12.8 million views. His “Poker Life” podcast features conversations with some of the best poker players on the planet, including fellow Gambling Olympics participant and 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Scott Blumstein:

Ingram is also famous for his legendary prop betting. He set a world record in 2009 by playing more than 50,000 hands of online poker over a 24-hour span, netting a profit of more than $30,000. In 2017, he booked a prop bet that required him to swim one mile in the ocean despite the fact that he didn’t know how to swim. (He's still alive, so he presumably won the bet.) His most recent prop bet involves Adam Levitan, Jonathan Bales and Peter Jennings, who are laying 6-1 that Ingram can’t become fluent in Mandarin over the course of a full year:

In other words, Ingram is a perfect fit for the Gambling Olympics.

Analysis

Ingram has the proper mental makeup for this event, but it remains to be seen if he can compete with the brutal Gambling Olympics field.

Ingram’s signature event is not on the docket, but the man still has tons of experience playing No-Limit Hold'em. He’s one of the favorites there, trailing only Blumstein (+300) with his +400 odds.

Ingram also appears to have bought into the crypto boom:

However, he’s listed as a +1000 dog in the Crypto Portfolio event: Only BlackJack Fletcher and Sean Koerner have longer odds. Given that they've both identified crypto as potential weaknesses and Ingram at least has some crypto knowledge, Ingram might be a value.

But after that, Ingram is a mystery. He's opted not to disclose any information in advance of the event (for competitive reasons), but the World Series of Poker is in full swing, so it's doubtful that he's busy preparing for the Gambling Olympics. On top of that, we know nothing about his experience with most of the events. Does he play DFS or bet on sports? Is he yet another participant who has never heard of Acey-Deucey? Is he experienced in the sweet science known as beer pong? We have no idea, which makes Ingram the biggest X-factor in this whole event.

How Ingram wins: He displays an unexpected knowledge of most of the games and grabs top-four finishes in Blackjack, Acey-Deucey, Yahtzee and Connect Four. After taking first in both Poker and Crypto Portfolio, he wins the title with a dominant beer pong performance, sweeping the field without dropping a game. After winning the Main Event, he officially dons “Olympic Papi” as his new nickname.

How Ingram loses: He struggles to transition from Pot Limit Omaha to No-Limit Hold'em and ultimately disappoints in the poker event. He also puts in exactly zero hours of prep heading into the tournament, which puts him behind the eight-ball in the majority of the events. Even though he finishes dead last, his spirits remain high after booking a prop requiring him to run from Vegas to Chicago in under six months while dressed as Forrest Gump.