Jay Farber's Funployment, Fast Cars and Jiu Jitsu

Jay Farber was already the top VIP host in Vegas to poker’s top partying 1% before he made the 2013 WSOP November Nine. Farber was the reason Antonio Esfandiari and Dan Bilzerian had the best booths at the hottest clubs on the Strip. He stood out at a final table featuring measured pros.

Farber was the quiet eye of the storm of the Final Table – the world couldn’t get enough of Bilzerian’s beard stroking girl, Bill Simmons nicknamed Ryan Riess “Megatron Nowitski” and a six foot dancing panda crashed the stage. He played his to way to heads-up, ran card dead as Riess was hitting the deck but collected $5.1 million consolation prize.

These days Farber lists “Funployment” as his job, which is mostly Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but also recently included driving his red 1969 Camaro in a short video shot for the Mandarain Auto Club.

Farber drove the third car – a 1969 Camaro. “It’s an event that the Mandarin Auto Club puts on every couple weeks. My friend Frank Napoli did a toy drive so we all loaded up the cars and drove them full of toys to his office to drop them off,” Farber said.

Farber’s affinity for fast cars isn’t a secret and he currently owns the Camaro, a Mercedes M3 and M5 and a CanAm Maverick X3. But he doesn’t plan to add to the collection anytime soon as he wants to travel more.

Farber spent most of the last year immersing himself in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and it’s something he sees as long-term commitment and more realistic than a WSOP bracelet. “(A) BJJ black belt – that’s somewhat inevitable. Just takes time on the mats,” Farber said. 

Farber still has time splash around in occasional big games at the ARIA but doesn’t seriously. “I play poker for social interaction, networking and to make money,” he said. “There’s little satisfaction that comes from the game other than financial reward – Jiu Jitsu is very different.” 

Grinding the late night poker in #IvysRoom. @Mister_Keating @JayFarber @PlayPokerLkAMan @DanBilzerian & Rob G pic.twitter.com/2LMvjYhuSS

— Jennifer Tilly (@Jtillathekilla2) July 19, 2016