Dan Bilzerian

Daniel Brandon Bilzerian (born December 7, 1980) is an American poker player, businessman, and social media influencer.

Daniel Brandon Bilzerian was born on December 7, 1980, in Tampa, Florida, the son of corporate takeover specialist Paul Bilzerian and Terri Steffen.

He is the brother of fellow poker player Adam Bilzerian.

He is of half Armenian descent through his father.

His father was a corporate raider on Wall Street who provided both his sons with trust funds.

Bilzerian claims to have studied for four years at the University of Florida, majoring in Business and Criminology, but dropped out of college to pursue a professional poker career.

Bilzerian played in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing in 180th place.

In 2010, he was voted one of the funniest poker players on Twitter by Bluff magazine.

In November 2011, Bilzerian was one of those sued by the estate of Bradley Ruderman over winnings from poker games, which were alleged to have been paid with funds from an illegal Ponzi scheme.

That same year, Bilzerian defended Alex Rodriguez publicly against accusations that he had gambled illegally, claiming that he was present when the alleged gambling event had taken place and Rodriguez was not present.

In November 2013, Bilzerian posted an unconfirmed claim that he won $10.8 million from a single night of playing poker, and in 2014 he claimed to have won $50 million throughout the year, adding that he "doesn't play against professionals anymore and the most he's ever lost in a single session is $3.6 million."

Bilzerian has discussed his Poker career on Joe Rogan's podcast on YouTube.

Bilzerian runs the company Ignite International Brands Ltd., which sells electronic cigarettes, CBD oils, water bottles and vodka, among other products.

In 2014, Bilzerian split his time between homes in Hollywood Hills and Los Angeles (California) and Las Vegas (Nevada).

In 2014, Bilzerian sued the producers of the film Lone Survivor.

His lawsuit stated that he invested $1 million in the film in exchange for at least eight minutes of screen time and 80 words of dialogue, but his role was later reduced to less than one minute and just one line.

His lawsuit demanded $1.2 million—the original investment plus 20 percent.

The lawsuit was later dropped, and Bilzerian reportedly generated $1.5 million in revenue due to the film's commercial success.

In August 2014, Bilzerian was banned from a Miami nightclub for kicking model Vanessa Castano in the face during a brawl.

Bilzerian stated that Castano and another woman attacked Bilzerian's female companion.

Castano stated, "There were two girls standing next to me at the table that were fighting. People started getting shoved and I tried to separate them. Then Dan pushed me off the banquette and once I fell he kicked me in the face."

Castano later filed a lawsuit against Bilzerian for her injuries.

It was also reported that Castano has asked Bilzerian for US$1 million to settle the suit citing the possibility of greater punitive damages based on his income if the suit went to trial.

In 2014, Bilzerian was involved in a legal matter with pornographic actress Janice Griffith.

Griffith was featured in a photoshoot with Bilzerian for Hustler magazine in April 2014, which involved Bilzerian throwing her off the roof of a house and into a pool.

Griffith fell short of the pool, hitting the edge, and broke her foot.

The 18-year-old asked Bilzerian for $85,000 for her injuries, which was rejected.

In December 2014 she filed a lawsuit against both Hustler and Bilzerian.

In June 2015, Bilzerian announced his bid to run for President of the United States in the 2016 election.

By December 2015, Bilzerian was praising Donald Trump for being unfiltered, eschewing political correctness, and being pro-gun.

He moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air in 2018.

On August 28, 2018, Bilzerian flew to Armenia with his brother Adam and father Paul to take their oaths to obtain Armenian citizenship and join the Armenian Armed Forces.

On that same trip he visited the Republic of Artsakh where he visited a shooting range, and fired weapons there.

The government of Azerbaijan sent a note of protest to the United States over these actions due to the contested status of Artsakh, and summoned U.S. Chargé d'Affaires William Gill to take an official note of protest addressed to the State Department.

A court in Baku issued an arrest warrant for Bilzerian and put him on the international wanted list.

Ignite is a public company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, that began trading in January 2019 under the BILZF ticker.

The company reportedly lost over $50 million in 2019, mostly on marketing and office rental expenses.

Due to his drug abuse, Bilzerian reportedly suffered two heart attacks before the age of 32.

Two years later, Bilzerian and other members of his family donated $250,000 to the Armenia Fund to support Armenia and Artsakh against Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

He has also declared that he was "very disappointed that Azerbaijan decided to attack the Armenian people".