What Ever Happened To Guy Lalibert? – Casino.Org News

One of thewonderful things about poker is that it attracts people from all walks of life.From broke students to eccentric billionaires, the game is open to everyone.

Guy Lalibert,the founder of the famous Cirque du Soleil, clearly belongs to the lattergroup.

The Canadianbillionaire was a part of the high-stakes poker scenes for years, drivingaction in live and online games alike.

His life andpoker journeys are filled with excitement and controversy. While poker was justone of his many hobbies, it was probably the most expensive one on the list.

Lalibert enjoyedplaying against the best of the best. For him, it was never about the money. Hewas motivated by the challenge and the opportunity to sit across some of thegreatest minds in poker.

Of course, thiscame at a price. Taking on some of the most experienced high-stakes regulars ontheir home turf turned into a pricey lesson for the Canadian.

Luckily, he hadthe means to afford it.

Some billionaires come from the money and get to enjoy the fruits of the labor of those before them, but not Guy Lalibert.

Coming from a very modest background, he managed to build a billion-dollar empire on his own.

The Canadian startedas a simple street performer. When he turned 18, he hitchhiked across Europe,meeting other street performers and learning secrets of the trade.

Upon returningto his native Quebec, young Lalibert joined a group of performers there andcontinued to apply his trade. Then, in 1982, he caught a lucky break that wouldchange his life forever.

He helped set upan international festival of performers in his hometown and the event turnedout to be a huge success. Prompted by this, the Canadian applied for a grant tohelp finance Cirque du Soleil.

Despitestruggling initially, Laliberts imagination and determination helped keep thebusiness afloat. In 1985, they launched their first tour across North Americaand never looked back.

Offering uniqueand original performances fueled by Lalibertes vision, the circus grew inpopularity, becoming one of the worlds biggest sensations. It wasnt longbefore the simple street performer turned into one of the richest people inCanada.

Lalibert remained a major part of Cirque du Soleil until 2015 when a group of investors bought out a majority of the shares.

He still retained a small piece of the business and kept his role as a creative advisor until 2020.

Lalibertsbeginnings may have been difficult but once Cirque du Soleil became a globalsensation, he no longer had to worry about money. He could turn his attentionto other things, and the game of poker captured his fancy.

Its not exactlyclear when Lalibert first took up poker, however, he first became known to thewider audience as a poker player in 2007, when he made the final table of aWorld Poker Tour event.

Already beingrich and famous, he was naturally a catch for poker producers. It wasnt longbefore he received invitations to join popular poker shows, most notably HighStakes Poker.

The Canadians performanceon HSP is still etched in the memory of those who followed the poker world atthe time.

With a virtuallyinfinite bankroll and a very competitive spirit, Lalibert wasnt there justfor show. He was the one driving the action, getting involved in some of thebiggest pots the show has ever seen.

Mixing it up with the likes of Doyle Brunson, Patrik Antonius, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu and the rest, the Canadian was always an unpredictable opponent.

Of course, Lalibertwas outclassed in the company of the best poker players (and probably aware of it)but he was driven by the desire to beat them and was having a great time trying.

In one of themost epic HSP hands of all time, he and David Benyamine got involved in a huge$1.2 million pot. There was a lot of action on the flop, and it ended with Benyaminemoving all-in with a flush draw and Lalibert calling with the top two pairs.

When cards wereon their back, Lalibert decided to give Benyamine a break. He offered to takewhat was in the middle (around $70,000), before all the crazy flop action,instead of seeing the turn and the river for the full $1.2 million.

Of course, beingwell behind with his naked flush draw, Benyamine was thrilled to accept.

It was a greatgesture and not something youd see from any poker pro. But the Canadian neverpretended to be a pro. For him, it was more about the love for the game and thecompetition.

He understoodthat losing that pot would be a big hit for Benyamine, while a few extrahundred thousand wasnt a big deal for the billionaire. So he kept things niceand friendly and gave him a huge break.

Unfortunately, Laliberts kindness wasnt reciprocated later in the virtual felt as he became one of the main targets for big-name pros on Full Tilt Poker, but well come back to that topic in a minute.

In addition tobeing a poker enthusiast, Lalibert has always been a philanthropist.

So in 2011, hedecided to bring the two passions together and created the Big One for OneDrop, a $1 million WSOP event, with a portion of the buy-in going towards hisOne Drop foundation.

This was beforethe time of super high rollers that you see all over today. A million-dollartournament was a huge deal, and it naturally attracted some of the biggestnames in the industry.

In the end, 48players put up the $1 million buy-in, including Lalibert himself. The Canadianmade it to the final table but eventually busted in fifth for $1.8 million.

The winner,Antonio The Magician Esfandiari, took home over $18 million.

Since then, theBig One for One Drop took place a few more times, but Lalibert wasntparticularly thrilled by the fact it was riddled with pros.

In his mind,this tournament was supposed to be a fun event for rich people who wanted tosupport a valid charity.

So, in 2016, hedecided to move the event to Europe, setting up the Monte-Carlo One DropExtravaganza.

This one wastargeted at recreational players who were allowed to have professional coachesthey could consult at any time they werent involved in a hand.

Despite thelofty buy-in of 1 million , unlimited reentries were also allowed until thestart of Day 2.

The tournamentdrew in 28 entries (including two reentries), so it wasnt a massive turnout butstill a fun experience.

The Guy Lalibertpoker saga took an ugly turn when the billionaire became more involved withonline action. This was around the same time he started to play in livehigh-stakes games, and he was mostly active on Full Tilt.

No one can sayfor sure how much money Lalibert lost playing on the virtual felt as hesbelieved to have had multiple aliases. The estimated number is over $30 million.

Over a fewyears, the Canadian tried to change his online identity to avoid thehigh-stakes pros who were following him around like sharks. His strategiesdidnt work, though, as they would always find him.

Lalibert online exploits ended with Black Friday and he disappeared from the online poker world for a while.

Then, in 2014,he gave an interview for Journal de Montreal, in which he stated that he lost alot of money playing on Full Tilt but felt he was cheated.

He said that FT pros, the likes of Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, and even David Benyamine, essentially had access to unlimited bankrolls provided by the room, which allowed them to play without any concerns.

Theseaccusations created a lot of fuss in the poker community.

Some sided with Lalibert,while others claimed that even if his accusations were true, it didnt matterbecause they did end up beating him, playing the game the way it was supposedto be played.

Regardless ofhow you decide to interpret the situation, it clearly put Lalibert off online poker.

Perhaps it wasan expensive lesson if his losses really do amount to over $30 million, butgiven Laliberts net worth, it was the kind of swing he could still handle.

You could say that the Canadian was the ultimate whale who happily gave away his money for the privilege to compete against the best. After all, thats how the poker economy works.

At the same time, though, poker skills arent the only thing that matters.

If Lalibert felthe was getting cheated and if that put him off playing, those who profited offof him the most let the proverbial fish off the hook.

After all, hepersonally knew most of the pros he played online. He gave Benyamine that hugebreak several years ago.

And after allthat, they had no problems hunting him down at the tables and doing whateverthey could to squeeze every single cent.

You could saypoker is a brutal game at times and thats just how it is, but you cantcompletely remove the human factor, either.

This behaviorcaused Lalibert to stop playing online hardly the outcome the pros wanted tosee.

In recent years,Lalibert hasnt been very active in the poker world.

It was probably the sum of all things that happened that turned the billionaire away from the idea of poker and towards other things.

He probably still plays on occasion, but his Hendon Mob is showing no recorded results past 2012.

He kept 10percent in Cirque du Soleil until 2020, at which point he sold his remainingshares and turned completely to his new ventures.

One of these isLune Rogue, a company he set up in 2017 to support various arts, entertainment,and technology projects.

In 2019, the entrepeneurs name appeared in the news when he was detained for growing marijuana on his private island, which he said was just for personal use.

Guy Lalibert continuesto pursue his passions, and hes keeping his entrepreneurial and philanthropicspirit alive. This is hardly a surprise given the background of a man who camefrom nothing and built a global empire of sorts.

But the realquestion is: Will we see Guy Lalibert take a more prominent role in the pokerworld once again?

While I have nomind-reading abilities and didnt have a chance to talk to the man himself, itseems highly unlikely given everything he said over the years.

There is thisfeeling that Lalibert was really disappointed by poker as a whole and thehigh-stakes community he was a part of for a few years.

Perhaps hisexpectations were too high. For better or for worse, poker players dont cut othersmuch slack and theyll take the edge wherever they can find it.

Thats just the nature of the beast!

Lead image: Twitter/DanBehringer221

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What Ever Happened To Guy Lalibert? - Casino.Org News