Gary Blackwood built his poker career in cash games, then started letting people watch. Known as GazzyB, the Scottish professional combines YouTube vlogs, strategy coaching and the occasional tournament run, including a six-figure score at the World Series of Poker.
There is plenty of action in his videos, but the decisions matter as much as the pots. Blackwood’s appeal is that he can explain a hand as a coach while still sounding like someone who has just spent eight hours trying to get paid with top set.
Who Is Gary Blackwood?
Gary Blackwood is a professional poker player and content creator from Inverness, Scotland. He is known for live and online no-limit hold’em cash games, his Gary Blackwood Poker YouTube channel and his work with Upswing Poker.
London and Los Angeles feature prominently in his poker story. He has spent extended periods playing in the US, while building a public career that includes commentary, teaching and filming sessions. Among Poker Type’s poker creators, he sits at the point where vlogging and serious strategy overlap.
From Play Money to Playing for a Living
Blackwood’s introduction came through Zynga Poker on Facebook. In a January 2025, he described progressing from play-money games to penny-stakes sessions with friends, then asking a professional player he knew question after question.
He eventually left his job to play full-time in 2014. His own account puts his starting bankroll at just $1,500, playing 50NL. That is 30 standard buy-ins before allowing anything for rent, food or the possibility that he was not yet beating the game.
Blackwood has been candid about how early he made that jump. His initial approach depended heavily on volume and rakeback, with poker friends helping him improve. The useful lesson is the work that followed, rather than treating a small bankroll and a resignation letter as a career plan.
Cash Games, Commerce and the Move Into Vlogging
In a 2025 Pokerati interview, Blackwood recalled playing $5/$10 at Commerce around 2017 while backed. Those games changed his view of what live poker could offer, although being staked and paying travel expenses meant the money on the table was not a simple measure of personal wealth.
By October 2023, the World Poker Tour was covering his three-month stay in Los Angeles. He was filming at Hustler Casino, playing $5/$10 games that sometimes included a $20 blind, and trying to grow his channel. His earlier content had included a Two Plus Two blog and Instagram posts.
Filming a session adds another job to playing it: selecting hands, explaining decisions and giving viewers a reason to return. A winning pot supplies a result; a useful vlog also needs to show how the player reached the decision.
What Is on Gary Blackwood’s YouTube Channel?
His channel, @garyblackwoodpoker, centres on cash-game sessions, with trips and tournament appearances adding variety. London, Los Angeles and Las Vegas all appear in the catalogue, alongside games where straddles make the effective stakes much bigger than the smallest blind suggests.
Examples include A Realistic Look at Midstakes Cash in London, Running INSANELY Hot In LA Poker Games! and I Folded Pocket Kings Preflop In The WSOP Main Event. Those titles give newcomers three ways in: a regular session, a heater or a difficult tournament decision.
For someone arriving through Brad Owen’s poker vlogs, Blackwood offers another cash-game perspective with coaching as a substantial part of his work. Watch the reasoning before the showdown: knowing that a bluff worked tells you less than understanding why the opponent might fold.
Upswing Poker, Commentary and Coaching
Blackwood’s route into Upswing included approaching Mike Brady about commentating on the Doug Polk versus Daniel Negreanu heads-up match. Commentary led into coaching, and he also became a host of the Upswing Poker Level-Up podcast with Brady.
Upswing lists him as a Lab 2.0 coach, with lessons covering subjects including multiway preflop play and turn strategy. His stated approach combines a theoretical foundation with adjustments for the actual opponent, rather than copying solver outputs regardless of the game.
As he puts it in his Upswing introduction: “use the solver as a guide, but don’t do everything that it tells you to do.” If an opponent rarely bluffs, a line that depends on inducing bluffs deserves another look.
Tournament Results: EPT London and the WSOP
Blackwood won the £330 No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack side event at EPT London in October 2022. PokerStars records 484 entries, including 171 re-entries. It was an EPT festival trophy, distinct from winning the EPT Main Event.
His biggest recorded live cash came in June 2025, when he finished fourth in WSOP Event #10, the $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack. The tournament attracted 6,090 entries and paid him $118,468, with Kenneth Kim taking the bracelet.
| Year | Event | Finish | Verified detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | EPT London £330 Deep Stack | 1st | 484 entries |
| 2025 | WSOP $600 Deepstack, Event #10 | 4th | $118,468; 6,090 entries |
The final hand was a blind-versus-blind confrontation. Short-stacked, Blackwood called Kim’s shove with ten-five of diamonds against king-jack. A five on the flop briefly put him ahead, but a king on the turn ended that lead and the river brought no rescue.
How Much Has Gary Blackwood Won?
The Hendon Mob lists $410,323 in live tournament cashes. The $118,468 WSOP finish accounts for his largest recorded result.
That total is not his net worth or career profit. It excludes unrecorded cash-game results and does not deduct tournament entries, travel or other costs. For a player whose work is largely built around cash games and content, a tournament database captures only one part of the business.
Gary Blackwood’s Most Popular Video
Gary plays cash games at London’s Hippodrome Casino, with stakes ranging from £2/£5 to £5/£10/£20. He talks through key hands, explains his decisions and shows how reads on his opponents shape his approach as the action changes.
Life Away From the Table and Current Work
Blackwood has spoken about the importance of sport, friends and interests outside poker when results go badly. In his Pokerati interview, he described the danger of letting a downswing occupy every hour away from the table as well as every hour at it.
His public work spans vlogs and Upswing coaching. His channel listing also identifies CoinPoker sponsorship and Team Lucid involvement.
Quick Facts About Gary Blackwood
- From: Inverness, Scotland
- Known as: GazzyB / GazzyB123
- Main game: No-limit hold’em cash games
- YouTube: @garyblackwoodpoker
- Coaching: Upswing Poker Lab 2.0
- Podcast: Upswing Poker Level-Up with Mike Brady
- Largest recorded tournament cash: $118,468
Why Follow Gary Blackwood?
Blackwood’s career gives viewers more than one way to engage with poker. The vlogs follow the sessions, the coaching examines decisions, and the tournament record includes both a trophy and a near miss at a bracelet.
The strongest reason to watch is the connection between playing and explaining. A session can go badly even when the decisions hold up, and a winning session can hide mistakes. That is useful territory for a creator who also teaches the game.
Gary Blackwood FAQ
Where is Gary Blackwood from?
He is from Inverness, Scotland. London and extended stays in Los Angeles have both featured in his professional poker career.
What is Gary Blackwood’s YouTube channel?
His channel is @garyblackwoodpoker. It features live cash-game vlogs, poker trips and tournament content.
Does Gary Blackwood coach poker?
Yes. Upswing lists him as a Lab 2.0 coach, and he hosts its Level-Up podcast with Mike Brady.
What is Gary Blackwood’s biggest tournament cash?
His largest recorded live cash is $118,468 for fourth in the 2025 WSOP $600 Deepstack. That prize is a gross cash, not net profit.
Has Gary Blackwood won an EPT Main Event?
His 2022 EPT London victory was in the £330 Deep Stack side event. It was not the festival’s Main Event.
