Keith Gipson

Never let the quiet demeanor of this young man fool you. He is one of the best cash game specialists in poker today. Keith Gipson discovered poker early in life and has never looked back.

Born in 1983 in Huntsville, Alabama, Gipson has one brother four years older. He has never really entertained the idea of a “real job,” since he started playing in a band when he was 15 years old. He played the drums for a band that would tour the country during summers and breaks from school. After a couple of years, he realized that being in a band didn’t pay what he’d had hoped, so at 17 he began “bonus hustling” at online poker, building his first bankroll.

While making money as a seventeen year-old bonus hustler, Gipson would incessantly read blackjack books and forums. He learned a lot of the tricks of the trade by reading others’ posts. At eighteen, he moved to Santa Barbara, California with his band.

While in California, he was old enough to enter and win a fair amount of money from the Indian casinos. Although Gipson did well at blackjack, his main reason for moving to California was his music. When it became clear that music wasn’t the path he wanted to take, he moved back to Alabama to finish school, occasionally playing in places like Puerto Rico and other eighteen-plus friendly casinos. Once he reached the age of twenty-one, he realized how much money he could make playing full time. He left school. About then another pro "advantage player" suggested he should learn how to play poker. Gipson took him up on his advice, and now plays Las Vegas’ biggest no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha games in existence, including those at Bellagio, Wynn, Venetian, and the new Aria. When in Los Angeles, he frequents the games at Commerce Casino.

“I’m most proud of becoming both a highly successful ‘advantage player’ and successful poker player,” said Gipson. “Few people succeed in both fields.”

Outside of poker, he claims to be a “badass” at rock-paper-scissors - with no-limit hold’em coming in a close second.

Gipson has many poker stories, but one memorable incident comes to mind. “I once was playing with a guy so coked up that he refused to put his money on the table. He had all of his chips in a laundry bag and when asked about how much he had, he guesstimated to the nearest 100,000.”

Why Victory Poker? Gipson responds, “Representing victory is a no-brainer for me. Team Victory members are my closet friends in poker. Moreover, I love that we epitomize, the rewards reaped from dedicating ourselves to the craft.” He added, “I’m glad to be part of a team that has been so successful in both cash games and tournaments. I think we'll be able to impart a lot of the knowledge that has made us successful to the members of the Victory community.”