A Billionaire Plans a Drug-Free High Roller Poker Tournament Series

Chamath Palihapitiya, a billionaire entrepreneur and close friend of Phil Hellmuth, shared his vision for the new high-roller tournament series on X (formerly Twitter) and asked his followers for their thoughts on the initiative.

As reported by PokerNews, Palihapitiya, the founder and CEO of Social Capital and a former Facebook executive, sees poker as more than just a business opportunity. He is an avid player who has appeared on High Stakes Poker and Hustler Casino Live and regularly participates in Hellmuth's private games.

One of the main rules of the new series would require players to pass a drug test, including screenings for performance-enhancing substances such as Ritalin and Adderall. Additionally, masks and sunglasses would be banned at the tables—an idea Hellmuth has long advocated.

Palihapitiya also emphasized that tournaments would feature "reasonable schedules and structures" to avoid turbo shove-fests while ensuring they don’t become never-ending marathons. Hellmuth, who recently announced that he would be skipping the 2025 WSOP Main Event due to the tournament’s lengthy format, seems to have influenced this concept.

The billionaire plans to offer buy-ins ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 for smaller events but will primarily focus on high-stakes tournaments with buy-ins between $50,000 and $1,000,000. These events would take place in the United States and boast multimillion-dollar prize pools, creating direct competition with the PokerGO Tour and potentially even Triton Poker.

Several high-profile poker pros have already expressed interest in the idea. Shaun Deeb commented, "If you’re serious about this, I can help connect you with the right people to run it."

Daniel Negreanu also shared practical advice: "Avoid California and its 7% tax, which makes high-stakes tournaments impossible. But I assume you already knew that." – tweeted Negreanu.

According to Palihapitiya, all recreational drugs—including marijuana and psychedelic substances like mushrooms—would be strictly banned. However, in response to a commenter’s question, he clarified that alcohol consumption would not be prohibited. While he did not explicitly state it, his proposal strongly suggests that performance-enhancing drugs and recreational substances are prevalent in high roller poker tournaments.

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