Joey Ingram Opens Up on Hosting Major Wager

Joey Ingram is one of the busiest guys in poker between his podcast and social media presence, and now he is the new host of the reality series Major Wager on PokerGO. Ingram pits poker players against each other in performance-based prop bets where pride and dignity are on the line. He checked in with Remko Rinkema for the “Heads Up with Remko” podcast last week to discuss Major Wager and everything else happening in his world.

“The show is going to be really fun – in terms of how things went with the guys and Samantha Abernathy, how things went with the venues –  I tried to bring my high energy,” Ingram said. “I try to make it entertaining and a fun show that people can watch and enjoy. They’re able to see their favorite poker players in a fun environment, having a good time.”

“These sort of prop bets and side bets are a very popular thing in poker among players – some are public, some aren’t,” Ingram continued. “I thought it would be a fun way to feature those things.”

Ingram had behind-the-scenes conversations for around a year before Major Wager became a reality. He was interested in doing some sort of video content but when the opportunity to host arose, he jumped.

“I liked the idea for a couple reasons, one is I’ve never done anything like this before with a professional crew – I thought it would be fun experience, something new to try,” he said. “Two, I thought that it could be fun content that slightly differs from a lot of other poker content out there.”

“You have a lot of video blogs, strategic things and podcasts, but in terms of seeing some of your favorite poker players in a setting that gives you a feel of what their lifestyle is like, especially successful players, and I thought this would be a good way to showcase some of that,” Ingram said.

At present, three episodes are available on PokerGO – a Trapeze challenge with Daniel Negreanu and Abernathy, Pole Dancing with Antonio Esfandiari and Jeff Gross and a Busking challenge with Esfandiari, Gross and Brian Rast.

Joey Ingram in his favorite costume of the show.

One Ingram’s favorite parts of the show was dressing in costume. When he was 21-years-old he worked for a promotions company that sent him to nightclubs in costume. “Anytime I could get in a costume I went for it,” he said. “I got to wear a Circus Ring Masters costume and got a whip – that was fun.”

Ingram dove deeper into the production of Major Wager and into his own personal prop bet with Bill Perkins. Check out the entire episode and subscribe to all the Poker Central podcasts.