Poker Stories: Dylan Linde

Dylan Linde didn't find poker until he was 23, instead focusing on competitive video games and Magic: The Gathering during his youth. The Coeur D'Alene, Idaho native began taking poker more seriously after seeing the wins put up by his friend and fellow poker pro Kevin MacPhee.

Linde has become a consistent force on the tournament circuit in the years since, having won more than $4.1 million live to go along with another $6 million won online. Last December, Linde earned the biggest score of his career, banking $1.63 million for taking down the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio. He also owns a WSOP Circuit ring, haing won the Chicago main event in 2016 for another $350,000.

When he's not playing, Linde provides content for training site Run It Once. He also recently wrote a poker book, available now from D&B Publishing, called Mastering Mixed Games: Winning Strategies For Draw, Stud, And Flop Games.

Highlights from this interview include an amazing seat draw in his first WPT event, a rude gift from Mike Matusow, all sorts of nerdery, cruising the lake on The Dylan, going to college at 16 and staying there for 7 years, being a Street Fighter, high-stakes video games, unique short-stack strategies, coming up in the game with Kevin MacPhee, teaching Stephen Chidwick how to be an adult, using solvers to find exploitative spots, the barrier to entry in mixed games, getting Phil Hellmuth to endorse his book, escaping arson charges in Canada, a 30-minute crying session at the PCA, and the $1.6 million score that allowed him to play on his own.