The game of poker is alive and kicking. If you want any proof of that, just speak to PokerStake’s newest seller, Blaise Bourgeois. The self-confessed free spirit who has written about poker for many years has moved from his laptop to the poker felt and heads to Las Vegas this summer on a mission to extend his success. Selling a mid-stakes package to his action on PokerStake, we caught up with the player who brings the action whatever table he lands at.

A Breakout Year

“I spun it up from three blinds with 11 left and ran like God.”

Look up ‘bourgeois’ in the dictionary and you’ll see that to be so is to display middle class characteristics, perceived materialistic values and a conventional attitude. To say that Blaise Bourgeois goes against his name is an understatement. The walking definition of a free spirit, a mop of dirty blonde hair sitting atop a face that Jim Carrey might have launched a comedy career with, Bourgeois is anything but. He’s a traveller, a raconteur and a player who lives for action at the poker felt.

In 2024, Blaise burst onto the live poker scene, sealing his first-ever WSOP Circuit victory and with it the infamous WSOP ring and $20,000. For the writer-turned-player, it’s his highlight of the rollercoaster year in the rear-view.

“It was extremely validating, and I got very emotional, especially after such a heartbreaking week. I had finished fourth in the very first live 8-Game I ever played, then had enormous stacks in both the Mystery Bounty and the Main Event including being the Day 1A chip leader only to get no Day 2 bounties and coolered with kings losing to ace-king for 200 big blinds in the Main Event. I busted in the third level of the day.”

As Blaise was walking disconsolately from the felt, he felt a tap on the shoulder. His friend stopped in his tracks, and convinced him to take part in the last event, a Progressive Knockout six-max. Blaise agreed to fire a solitary bullet.

“That was all I needed. I spun it up from three blinds with 11 left and ran like God on the final table, ultimately rivering the winner in a heads-up flip for about 95% of the chips in play. It was a completely-empty building, outside the staff and media.”

The victory turned out to be more than a simple act of poker fate. The win gave Blaise entry into the Tournament of Champions week in Los Angeles, and he took his Mom on vacation to the City of Angels. It was there that he met his now-girlfriend Peggy Crawford by chance.

“We’re madly in love with each other and it’s really amazing to experience both of us growing our poker careers together, both from a poker and a professional perspective,” says Blaise. “It was also an amazing week with friends from all over the world and a reunion with many Americans I hadn’t seen since WSOP 2023. It was a life-changing year for me both on and off the felt. I left Latin America, where I had lived for nearly five years, and transitioned over to Europe.”

The Travelling Man

“I went to a family party when I was 12 and saw a poker game being played.”

Blaise mentions his move from mainland Brazil to Western Europe but that jaunt is the least of his travels. All told, he’s visited 33 of the 197 countries on Earth.

“I am out there in the streets, I’m practically an accidental flaghunter now, [cashing in] 11 countries! I grew up struggling and continued to struggle even into my 30s, opting to chase dreams instead of taking the safe route in life. I’ve been so used to fighting for every single opportunity that being able to thrive in the poker world for a living is an incredible blessing that I don’t take for granted.”

Blaise confesses that he finds it easy to laugh at life, having once been without a home on his madcap journey through life. He feels a deep responsibility to make others’ lives happier too, ‘apart from taking their chips’.

“I think it’s way easier to be nice than it is to be an a**hole. Maybe that’s why I’m likable and easy going at the table, I don’t know. I also have a lot of stories and even more jokes. I went to a family party when I was 12 and saw a poker game being played. I wanted to learn more, so I went to the library and read up on the game and played a lot of Zynga Poker. A few months later, I played a two-table tournament against the adults and won. I would continue dabbling in the game on and off until the pandemic, when I finally had money saved to have a consistent ‘baby bankroll’ and decided to study for the first time.”

Falling Onto a Fast Track

Blaise may have fallen in love with the academic side of poker but still needed to work, so he took a chance, leaving his career in soccer and taking a massive pay cut to see if he could make it as a professional poker player. Reporting for PokerNews in 2022 was an eye-opener.

“Absorbing hands and getting all this free knowledge really upped my game at an extremely fast pace,” Blaise says. “I worked my way up in the poker and gambling industry while I continued to work on my poker game. Despite a lot of early success, I still feel like I’m so green and have so much to learn, which makes my future in this game so exciting.”

Growing up, Blaise admits that he was a ‘human calculator’. Despite this gift, he didn’t put the work into his studies, and while he placed extremely high in county and state-wide math competitions, it took him some time to bring the discipline into his routine that allowed his mathematical intelligence to shine.

“I got my degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, as well as my Masters in Sport Management and Sports Analytics. I played soccer at a really high level, including college and beyond, so I’m extremely competitive when it comes to any game. I was always relied upon to come through in huge moments, so I actually thrive on pressure. I think the three-headed monster of absorbing math lessons unbelievably quickly, being ultra-competitive, and not succumbing to pressure will eventually take me to the highest level as long as I give the game the attention and respect it deserves.”

High Hopes for World Series Success

“I want the bracelet. It’s the last thing I think about before I go to sleep.”

Last year, Blaise’s WSOP campaign didn’t go to plan. He was 0 for 21 in live bullets, although he cashed three times in four events in WSOP online bracelet events. He calls his 2024 Series ‘absolutely devastating’ and admits that it hurt his confidence for some time afterwards.

“I didn’t play live poker for two months,” he says. “It’s also a bit silly in a vacuum, since 21 bullets isn’t even half of a Sunday grind, really. It was my first real WSOP schedule I made and had very high hopes. Honestly, I strongly feel something weird will happen at this year’s WSOP.”

In 2024, Blaise entered the series on the back of playing tough fields in Brazil for over a year. He remains a huge fan of Brazilian poker players.

“Even their version of a fish would be considered a halfway decent player at WSOP, as they really ramp up the aggression,” he tells us. “Unfortunately, I tried to bring ‘Brazilian style’ to the WSOP and paid for it dearly. I was too aggressive too early and didn’t adjust to the players as much as I should have. While I did get coolered time and time again, I also don’t think I was adequately prepared to play softer fields last year.”

This year is different. Blaise has been focused on a big WSOP comeback all year, making the exploitation of softer opponents a focal point.

“I now focus on well-timed aggression and have added a few tricks up my sleeve that absolutely print. I also play a much lower variance game against recreational players and try not to take flips unless the upside far outweighs the downside. Even though I’ve only played seven festivals since WSOP 2024, I’ve flirted with six-figure scores and major titles a handful of times and still reached the GPI top 2,500.”

Blaise hopes for the kind of World Series summer that Francis Anderson experienced in 2022 after a disastrous 2021. He believes his game is more complete, and that he is much better prepared for WSOP fields from start to finish.

“While the primary focus is to play my best and take care of myself off the felt, I’m expecting to run deep multiple times,” he declares. “I want the bracelet. It’s the last thing I think about before I go to sleep every single night. I won’t die without one.”

A World of Poker

Playing against poker enthusiasts, recreational hopefuls and experienced professionals all over the world has given Blaise a uniquely broad view on the global game.

After enjoying travelling in his early years, he seeks comfort, a warm pool and a cold beverage… along with WiFi for online poker. He’s a more cultured player and person than he’s ever been in the past. Looking back on the locations he’s enjoyed, South America is still the best.

“While the rake can be pretty high at some stops in Brazil, it’s such a great time no matter what. The felts are new, the cards are crisp, the chips are perfect, there are time banks for every single tournament, and the best dealers on Earth. It’s cheap to eat and drink and generally in phenomenal locations, oftentimes right near the beach. They have high-class accommodation, and flights are also much less expensive than almost anywhere else.”

Blaise also loves the Italian town of San Remo, where Liv Boeree became an EPT champion, calling everyone ‘extremely professional’ in the Italian getaway. He’s also a big fan of the Merit Casino in Cyprus where Triton Poker Series events have taken place.

“You’re comped everything, they have fantastic tournaments, unbelievable hotels and sick views. It’s just a pain to get to and if you don’t have your room comped, it can get pretty pricey.”

Taking on the Best

Far from wanting to pluck low-hanging fruit from the trees in Las Vegas, Blaise is motivated by taking on the best, in both the short and long-term.

“I’m a poker strategy expert by profession, so I’m practically being paid to soft study,” he laughs. “From the beginning of my poker career, watching millions of hands has really helped me with pattern-based learning, especially at low and mid-stakes. I have an enhanced sense of when something just ain’t right and have the balls to trust my gut.”

While he is used to identifying players based on type, Blaise knows that on any given day at the WSOP, everything can change. A seat draw or table break in a bracelet event can be the difference

“The most important thing to do when you arrive at the table is to pay attention,” he says. “Figure out who’s opening too wide, too tight, who’s getting too frisky, who’s too passive and really absorb information when hands go to showdown. Even the super professionals are exploitable at some level. Everyone, myself included, has holes in their game.”

Poker, as Blaise says, a game of constant adjustments. While GTO exists, it’s only a baseline to use at a new table until the true table dynamics become clearer.

“If you’re relying on GTO as a default strategy, you’re doing yourself a disservice. I get excited to face stiffer competition. It’s only going to make me better in the long-run and I know I can give them headaches in the short-term.”

Selling Action on PokerStake

“I truly believe in my heart that I’ll be able to deliver them an experience.”

Over the next two months, Blaise is excited about his WSOP adventure and is selling action to his summer on PokerStake. Sharing accommodation with great fried ‘TJ’ Terrance Reid, also a poker player in the poker media, Blaise will be documenting his journey online. He says Terrance and he make each other better at the felt and will be making content with his girlfriend Peggy a.k.a. popular poker vlogger ‘Pocket Peg’ too.

“Peggy will be playing in a handful of events, including the Tag Team with me, and is looking for her first-career WSOP cash after also winning a ring. Her game has improved incredibly over the course of the last year.”

The summer promises to be a fun sweat for anyone backing him on PokerStake and his action is selling fast.

“I’m super-excited to take the fans on my summer-long journey,” he says. “It’ll be an enormous step in my career no matter how it unfolds. I’ll be heavily documenting both my tournament runs and my day-to-day life on social media – the highs, the lows, and everything in between. I truly believe in my heart that I’ll be able to deliver them an experience both on and off the felt that’ll represent my love for the game and life via my rather unhinged personality!”

Blaise is selling 20% of his mid-stakes package on PokerStake at a markup of 1.15, which totals $45,000.  He calls it ‘by far the largest and most ambitious package I’ve ever put together’ So as his fans – ‘The Bourgeoisie’? – follow the fun, he’s determined to bring home the gold.

“I’m the best I’ve ever been and the worst I’ll ever be and I’m ready to make myself and the fans a whole lot of money this summer!”

You can check out Blaise’s WSOP mid-stakes package on PokerStake right here, with all the current WSOP player packages that are available listed here.

Photography included from award-winning photographers Hayley Hochstetler and Danny Maxwell.