Matt Berkey

Matthew "Matt" Berkey was born on January 29, 1982, in Leechburg, Pennsylvania, where he grew up with two siblings. His family faced financial struggles, and Berkey initially hoped baseball would be his path out. He was talented enough to receive college baseball scholarship offers, but he turned them down because the schools were too far from home. Instead, he attended Gannon University and earned a bachelor's degree in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. Berkey had started playing poker in high school, often for quarters with friends, and in college he began to take the game seriously during the poker boom sparked by Chris Moneymaker's 2003 World Series of Poker victory. After graduation, he decided to pursue poker rather than baseball, a choice that would define his professional life.

Berkey began playing online under the screenname "berkey11" before moving into live no limit hold'em cash games and tournaments. His first major breakout came at the 2010 World Series of Poker, where he finished 43rd in the Main Event for $117,349. Three years later, at the 2013 WSOP, he took third place in a $3,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold'em event, collecting $199,733. In December 2015, Berkey won the $25,000 High Roller at Aria for $315,180. His biggest tournament cash came in May 2016 at the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl, where he finished fifth for $1,100,000, a figure that remains his largest recorded live score. Overall, Berkey has made eight WSOP final tables without securing a bracelet. His lifetime live tournament earnings are recorded at $4,730,762 across more than 125 cashes, and he has ranked as high as the top few hundred on poker's all-time money list.

While his tournament results are impressive, Berkey is best known for his work in Las Vegas high-stakes cash games. He has appeared on Poker After Dark, Live at the Bike, and High Stakes Poker, regularly facing some of the toughest players in the world. One of the most memorable televised pots of his career came on Poker After Dark in November 2017. Berkey held K♠ K♥ against Garrett Adelstein's A♠ A♣ on a board of 7♥ K♦ 5♠ A♥ 6♣. Both players made sets, but Adelstein's aces improved to a better set on the turn, and the pair got all in on the river; Berkey lost the $459,000 pot. Around that same period, he appeared on Card Player's Poker Stories podcast and discussed a separate $1.6 million winning session from a high-stakes big game, offering a rare look inside the swings of elite cash play. In 2023, Berkey defeated Nik Airball in a highly publicized heads-up grudge match at Resorts World Las Vegas, taking home $1,029,700.

Berkey has leveraged his technical and mathematical background into a poker education brand. He founded Solve For Why, a training academy built around advanced strategies and a rigorous, theory-first approach to no limit hold'em. In 2021, he teamed up with Tim Wheaton to co-found Above The Felt, an entertainment and marketing agency for poker, with Daren Elias, Chris Moneymaker, and Jamie Kerstetter also involved in the project. For years, Berkey also hosted the Only Friends poker podcast, providing commentary on the game and its personalities; the podcast concluded in April 2025.

Berkey has never shied away from conflict. He has engaged in public feuds with prominent figures such as Doug Polk and Nik Airball, often using his platform to criticize opponents and industry practices. In 2023, he made cheating allegations about a private Los Angeles poker game that involved former NBA guard and coach Chauncey Billups. Those allegations later surfaced as part of a federal indictment and drew national media attention in October 2025, cementing Berkey's role as a controversial but influential voice in the poker world.

Berkey is known for an aggressive, balanced style that applies constant pressure. He favors large bet sizes as a central part of his toolkit and looks to exploit opponents' tendencies through detailed study and preparation. His training content places heavy emphasis on poker theory, range construction, and frequency analysis, reflecting the analytical mindset he developed as a computer science and mathematics student. That combination of aggression and technical rigor has made him a respected, and sometimes feared, presence in both live cash games and high roller tournaments.

Berkey resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of the latest reports, he is not married and is not publicly dating anyone.