1999 saw predictions of worldwide computer crash and calamity, as software was thought to be unstable, not recognizing the calendar change from 1999 to 20– in the billions of computer codes around the globe. As you all recall, absolutely nothing happened, and there was virtually no change in our lifestyle or on the internet as a result of 1999 becoming the year 2000. But what was happening was a massive change in the outlook of thousands of young male college students, who were anxious to cash in on the exploding online poker scene. Many college attendees quickly became college dropouts as their get-rich-quick mentality began to pay off. ‘Ship It Holla Ballas’ is a new book that describes the rise and fall of one of the youngest and most successful crews in online poker history.

Many students took the skills learned in college math and statistics classes, and put it to use on the virtual poker tables. The national online poker obsession in the US by what was almost solely a young, male demographic saw the proliferation of multiple online poker sites. And young men who had grown up playing endless hours of video games, fueled on energy drinks and soda, saw the transition to playing poker for money as making all the sense in the world. Why go to class for anywhere from 4 to 8 years to get a degree which allowed you to make $50,000 a year, when you can make that much money in one night on the computer with your buddies?

Most of these players could not enter a brick-and-mortar casino because they were not yet 21 years of age. But with the ability of computer hardware and software to display ten or more games simultaneously on a large monitor, these young “entrepreneurs” quickly chased the instant payday, spurning traditional employment. And arguably, the best of them came together to form Ship It Holla Ballas. Marathon online poker and gaming sessions, unwavering support for their fellow crew members, and stories of rock star worthy parties and entourages quickly became known as staples for the highly intelligent and exceptionally young poker players.

In the new book whose title was the now defunct online poker crew’s name, authors Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback basically followed two particular members as they took down mountains of money. While author Grotenstein stated it is his belief that none of the crew members would probably qualify for genius status traditionally, they were all extremely intelligent, and perfectly in tune with the online poker phenomenon. The crew came up with their name thanks to Shakespeare, a traditional brick-and-mortar poker term, and an urban piece of parlance.

‘Holla’ first appeared in Shakespeare as a form of extreme agreement. ‘Ship it’ has been used for years as an exclamation used when a big or important pot has been won. And a ‘balla’ was originally used as a urban term to describe someone who was very good at basketball. But this term was eventually expanded to mean someone who was exceptionally good at anything. Not only did the crew name effectively describe this young team’s ability to efficiently and repeatedly take down massive pots, but it also helped separate them from players they saw as “old farts” and grinders. Taking down millions on a weekend, spending tens of thousands of dollars partying over that same 48 hour period, and then losing massive amounts of money was business as usual for the Ship It Holla Ballas, and the book makes for a very good read.