Twitter engineer Ian Chan is taking the idiom “laying cards on the table” to a whole new level, tweeting his progress during a three-day World Series of Poker event in Las Vegas.
His colleagues at Twitter, including CEO Dick Costolo, are watching his journey and reacting via tweets, too.
Chan began the tournament as one of roughly 3,200 players. We’ve learned through his candid tweets that he has made it to day three, earning a spot in the top 15, who will compete for $3 million in prize money.
Chan, who fittingly works on “cards” for expanded tweets at Twitter, started playing poker in college in 2002.
“That might explain why my code always breaks twitter,” he jokingly said in a tweet.
His deluge of poker messages on the 6-year-old microblogging platform along with tweets from Costolo and World Series of Poker include gems like these:
Holy shit, very next hand, 2 people just went all in in front of me, I look down a this: #runningHot #allin twitter.com/chanian/status…
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 2, 2012
Gotta stop tweeting unexposed hands, just saw a guy across the room reading my timeline. Hah!
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 3, 2012
All of @Twitter is watching as one of their own, @chanian, is deep in the $1K. Photo by @WhoJedi. instagr.am/p/MmtiHnBh1X/
— WSOP(@WSOP) July 3, 2012
@chanian oh, NOW you go hoodie. Such a chip leader move. #iknewyouwhen
— dick costolo (@dickc) July 3, 2012
@rsarver tbh, tweeting + all the support has kept me healthily distracted from the fact that I’m playing for some of that $3,000,000! #wsop
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 2, 2012
Tips for live tweeting a 72hour poker tournament: external battery pack #wsop twitter.com/chanian/status…
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 2, 2012
Other players reading Card Player Magazine and Poker News. I’m reading AllThingsD and HackerNews… Lol, clash of worlds.
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 3, 2012
Chan sent his first tweet about the tournament Saturday and began live-tweeting Sunday. He is acknowledging his followers, responding to their @ mentions and thoroughly updating them on his progress.
Here is a selection of his tweets in chronological order (the ones without heavy poker lingo):
@chanian Make sure you don’t run out of battery this time!
— Tim Trueman (@timtrueman) June 30, 2012
With late entries, there’s a total of 3,138 players . A $3,138,000 pot, by far the biggest poker game of my life ;-D #wsop
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 1, 2012
My office for the next 3 days, $2,500,000 on the line. WSOP let’s do this… twitter.com/chanian/status…
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 1, 2012
There are 1,200 people remaining, which means I’ve outlasted 2,000 other players. Top 310 get paid out. Last year I got 800th.
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 2, 2012
Action shot: thing are getting serious, 1,100 players left. cc @iano #wsop twitter.com/chanian/status…
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 2, 2012
This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time, and sharing it on twitter makes it even more awesome. Thanks all for the support! #gogogo
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 2, 2012
“the bubble”: the last person out without getting paid. Today’s bubble, # 323. There’s 450 people left…Don’t be that person Ian.
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 2, 2012
IN THE MONEY! *the room erupts with applause*
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 2, 2012
@chanian congrats! Been following all night!
— adam bain (@adambain) July 2, 2012
Observation: many players at the table here at the #WSOP are glued to their phones reading tweets. Just like a dinner out in SF with techies
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 2, 2012
149 players left, still holding into ~$100K strong. Players will get a 20 minute break. I can’t believe I’ve outlasted 3,000+ others.
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 2, 2012
85 players left, avg stack is $110,000 – I have ~ $250,000
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 3, 2012
Here is a pic of me, still grinding away! I might look bored but I’m having the time of my live! twitter.com/chanian/status…
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 3, 2012
Reporter: “excuse me, are you Ian Chan?” shit just got real. #iWriteCode4ALiving haha
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 3, 2012
If you are one of the other 38 players remaining in this WSOP, and you are reading this: I have pocket Aces. #TweetBluff
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 3, 2012
For anyone interested, I started playing poker in 2002, played every day in University, that might explain why my code always breaks twitter
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 3, 2012
Made it through day 2.Time for some sleep, thanks all for following along and for all the support!15 remain.
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 3, 2012
@sferik 1pm, I’m super short so I’ll be jamming soon.
— Ian Chan (@chanian) July 3, 2012
Play continues on Tuesday at 1 p.m. PT. You can follow Chan’s tweets at @Chanian.
Thumbnail from WSOP’s Instagram
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