8 things you didn’t know about Jordan ‘bigbluffzinc’ Drummond

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In the Wizard of Oz, the wizard himself remains unseen for most of the novel and movie. Yet Dorothy and her group of friends travel to the Emerald Isle believing he is the only person capable of solving their problems.

BBZ Poker founder Jordan “bigbluffzinc” Drummond–a poker wizard, if you like–also went unseen for years, except by a few select students who he flew out to live with him. He’d solve their poker problems, and they’d be on their merry way to profit town.

But unlike the Wizard of Oz–who is (spoiler alert) eventually revealed to be a fraud–Drummond’s public unveiling in 2020 lived up to every expectation.

Before launching BBZ Poker, Drummond was a hugely successful poker player and prolific poker backer and coach.

He then became one of the best poker streamers on Twitch, where thousands of aspiring poker pros saw him play and wished to learn from him.

Now he’s simply one of the most sought-after coaches in the entire poker world, with students including Lex Veldhuis, Benjamin Spragg, Fintan Hand, and Parker Talbot.

But aside from his poker skill and ability to explain complex ideas with clarity, how much do you really know about the man known as BBZ?

Here are eight things about Jordan “BigBluffZinc” Drummond you might not have known.

Before poker, he worked at a 7-Eleven and as a door-to-door salesman

This guy has come a long way from his humble beginnings.

Before he discovered poker, Drummond worked at a local 7-Eleven for some 80 hours a week. He then took a job in a clothing store and as a door-to-door salesman out in the often harsh Canada weather.

Then poker gripped his attention.

“I was fanatical about poker,” he says. He certainly put a lot of work in and studied around the clock to improve.

“In my first month of playing poker full time I made $8,000 and $10,000,” he adds.

The same thing happened the following month, and he officially turned pro.

He works 16 hours a day

Some believe poker attracts lazy people who will do anything to avoid a real job. But the truth is, nobody reaches the top of the game without grit, determination, and a hardened work ethic.

This is certainly true of Drummond, who to this day still works approximately 16 hours a day.

“When I first started, I wasn’t rolling in money,” he says. “Most of us don’t have the background to be business people, [or at least] I didn’t.

“But fortunately, I was making a lot [of money] playing. I made Supernova Elite on PokerStars and I wasn’t playing tournaments, so I had a lower variance format where I had money coming in month after month.”

But these days it’s coaching, running BBZ Poker, and creating training material like the BBZ Bundle that takes up most of his time.

He doesn’t like to gamble

You’d think that anyone who runs an enormous staking business would also like a flutter at the casino. But not Drummond.

“I’m far more risk-averse than your average poker player,” he says. “I’ve never spun a roulette wheel, for example.”

Drummond was able to take the risk of backing other players thanks to his skill and edge at the poker table.

“The swings of the staking business were smoothed out by my income from playing poker, which was actually substantial,” he adds.

When asked the largest amount a staked player has ever been in make-up with him, Drummond answers: “Probably around $270,000 or so.”

That’s an eye-watering figure for anyone, but Drummond can handle the impact as a result of his staking business model.

“In a perfect world, you can buy lottery tickets profitably,” he says. “But that’s not what happens.

“What I try to do with the staking business is a massive lottery ticket buying machine. I want to buy the tickets as small as possible so that the variance smoothes out.”

The two reasons he stops staking someone

With the ability to have a horse stuck more than a quarter of a million, have you ever wondered what it takes for Drummond to stop staking someone?

“There are two conditions,” he says. “The first one is if they’re done [with poker]. The last thing you want to do is give money to a person who wants to lose it.

“The second, and the worst part of the business, is when someone puts everything into it–their heart and soul–and still comes up short. Those spots are the hardest. But it’s totally understandable from a human standpoint. If you haven’t made any money after years, you’ve got to go.”

He flew Conor “1_conor_b_1” Beresford out to live with him when he was stuck $100K

You probably know that long-time BBZ member Conor “1_conor_b_1” Beresford is a former no.1 online tournament player in the world, still considered one of the very best in the game.

You might also know that he was coached and staked by Drummond for years, and feels he wouldn’t be where he is today without him.

But what you might not know?

“When people lose a lot I move them in and we work on their games,” says Drummond. “Conor was stuck a lot so I flew him out to live with me. I put him on a plane from the UK–he’d never been to Canada–and moved him into the house to try and get $100,000 back. That was the plan.

“We put things together and the rest is history. Me and him are like brothers. We still have a great relationship. He’s been extraordinarily successful since.”

He studies through coaching

“A lot of my studying is done when I’m coaching, especially when I’m coaching higher level guys,” Drummond says. “There are a lot of sims involved.

“While I’m coaching I’m learning, even if I’m preparing the session. A lot of times I’ll be running a sim for someone else and I’ll notice something new and explore it.”

He’d consider playing on a big televised cash game

Drummond spent years behind the scenes, but now that he’s the face of one of the best poker training sites out there, he’d consider playing in a big televised cash game. “It’s a cool idea,” he says.

He has also been asked whether he wants to start battling in the huge live Super High Rollers.

“When I first got into poker it was all about dollars, whereas other people just loved the game,” he says. “For me, it’s all about money and I’m pretty shameless about that. The rewarding part is the coaching part rather than the competition. I do enjoy poker but I’m here a) for dollars and b) to support people.

“One of the best parts of staking and coaching is to take someone whose life is similar to what mine was–working at the 7-Eleven or something–and then guide them to a six or seven-figure bankroll. That’s where all the reward is for me. I love that.”

He always had faith in Conor O’Driscoll

BBZ Poker streamer Conor “ccOOnnOOrr” O’Driscoll has an incredible backstory, which you might not know about.

“This is a guy who played for me for like four years and was unsuccessful almost the entire time,” says Drummond. “He was probably on the verge of quitting in his head and was in around $80,000 worth of make-up. He was really stuck after four years of working. We gave him access to the type of money that would allow him to eat and pay his rent, but he was getting in over his head.

“Then in early September 2020, his girlfriend became pregnant. He immediately smashed a score of around $100,000 in early September. We didn’t take the whole $80,000, we took around $60,000 off the make-up and let him chop the rest so he has a nice solid $20,000 for himself.”

Drummond could have cut him loose, but he wanted to keep working with O’Driscoll.

“That’s the faith part,” he says. “I thought the kid was good, so we kept going. Fast forward a week later and he has another six-figure score. Four years and the dude’s stuck $80,000, then in a month he won $250,000 and the entire four-year period looks like he was making $60,000 a year. That’s just the way it is.

“We kept believing in him.”

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