Nate Silver is a poker player who is more commonly known as the founder of FiveThirtyEight (or 538), a data-driven political polling and sports analytical website owned by the Walt Disney Co.
Prior to his days with FiveThirtyEight, Silver played poker online professionally, mostly limit Texas hold'em games. He played poker for a living between 2004 and 2006 before moving on to a new career path.
In 2008, Silver launched FiveThirtyEight and gained notoriety in the mainstream media when he not only correctly forecasted Barack Obama, the Democratic Senator from Illinois, to defeat his Republican opponent, John McCain, in the US presidential election. But also for accurately projecting the results of all 50 states.
Silver would build 538 into a major website and sold it to ESPN, which is owned by Disney, in 2013. It would later be taken over by ABC News, another Disney-owned media outlet.
The poker player would remain with the website as its editor-in-chief until 2023 when he announced his role would be a part of a massive Disney company-wide layoff that included over 7,000 employees across various Disney brands.
In 2024, Silver was a guest on the Life Outside Poker podcast and talked about his book "On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything," political forecasting, Limit Hold'em, leaving FiveThirtyEight and more.
Poker Career
Silver is more than just a numbers guy and a political journalist. Prior to entering that arena, he played poker online professionally during the 2000s.
Following the COVID lockdowns in 2020, he began to resurface within the poker community, competing in tournaments in Florida and elsewhere around the United States.
In March 2023, he took fourth place for $99,750 in a $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament at the 2023 U.S. Poker Open and finished runner-up for $140,600 at the 2022 Poker Masters in a separate $10k NLH event.
According to Hendon Mob, Silver has over $600,000 in live tournament cashes. He's also been active in cash games since COVID, competing on poker shows such as Poker After Dark and The Lodge live-stream in Texas.
READ: Political Polling Guru Nate Silver Loses Big in Texas Poker Game
01:06:25 
