Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the 21st episode, Connor speaks with Survivor legend Boston Rob, aka Rob Mariano, about growing up near Fenway Park, learning poker at the age of 6, studying psychology at Boston University, applying for Survivor and winning Season 22, his recent appearance on Deal or No Deal Island and filming an upcoming season of The Traitors.
Boston Rob also revealed a story about Costa Rican authorities raiding a 2006 high-stakes poker tournament at gambling mogul Calvin Ayre’s mansion that included Daniel Negreanu, Josh Arieh, David Williams, Michael Mizrachi and actress Cheryl Hines.
“Calvin had a big party at the house, and they came in guns drawn,” he said. “And we were fine, but we all had to stay at the party until they checked our passports and everything. I think it was a little bit of a shakedown. But we had a good weekend.”
This interview was filmed at the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) festival at Resorts World Las Vegas.
The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Boston Rob by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.
Be sure to follow Boston Rob and Connor Richards on X.
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Time Stamps
| TIME | TOPIC |
|---|---|
| 0:00 | Intro |
| 0:49 | Growing up in Boston |
| 2:12 | Studying psychology at Boston University |
| 5:25 | Learning poker at age 6 |
| 7:18 | Poker game raided by Costa Rican Federales |
| 8:54 | Balancing skill & luck |
| 10:34 | Playing poker with celebrities |
| 13:34 | RunGood Poker Series |
| 15:51 | Boston Rob cook book |
| 19:07 | Survivor & reality TV |
| 25:34 | Other poker players on Survivor |
| 26:12 | Deal of No Deal Island |
| 30:26 | Traitors |
| 33:50 | NAPT Las Vegas |
| 34:49 | Book recommendation |
| 36:08 | Advice for younger self |
| 36:54 | Favorite life lesson from poker |