{"id":30119,"date":"2022-01-02T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-02T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/?p=30119"},"modified":"2021-12-16T12:43:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T18:43:45","slug":"what-ever-happened-to-guy-laliberte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/what-ever-happened-to-guy-laliberte\/","title":{"rendered":"What Ever Happened To Guy Lalibert\u00e9?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the\nwonderful things about poker is that it attracts people from all walks of life.\nFrom broke students to eccentric billionaires, the game is open to everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guy Lalibert\u00e9,\nthe founder of the famous Cirque du Soleil, clearly belongs to the latter\ngroup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Canadian\nbillionaire was a part of the high-stakes poker scenes for years, driving\naction in live and online games alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His life and\npoker journeys are filled with excitement and controversy. While poker was just\none of his many hobbies, it was probably the most expensive one on the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lalibert\u00e9 enjoyed\nplaying against the best of the best. For him, it was never about the money. He\nwas motivated by the challenge and the opportunity to sit across some of the\ngreatest minds in poker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this\ncame at a price. Taking on some of the most experienced high-stakes regulars on\ntheir home turf turned into a pricey lesson for the Canadian. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, he had\nthe means to afford it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guy Lalibert\u00e9:\nFrom Street Performer To Billionaire Businessman<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Guy
Image: Twitter\/Mat_NEA<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some billionaires come from the money and get to enjoy the fruits of the labor of those before them, but not Guy Lalibert\u00e9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming from a very modest background, he managed to build a billion-dollar empire on his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Canadian started\nas a simple street performer. When he turned 18, he hitchhiked across Europe,\nmeeting other street performers and learning secrets of the trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon returning\nto his native Quebec, young Lalibert\u00e9 joined a group of performers there and\ncontinued to apply his trade. Then, in 1982, he caught a lucky break that would\nchange his life forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He helped set up\nan international festival of performers in his hometown and the event turned\nout to be a huge success. Prompted by this, the Canadian applied for a grant to\nhelp finance Cirque du Soleil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite\nstruggling initially, Lalibert\u00e9\u2019s imagination and determination helped keep the\nbusiness afloat. In 1985, they launched their first tour across North America\nand never looked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offering unique\nand original performances fueled by Laliberte\u2019s vision, the circus grew in\npopularity, becoming one of the world\u2019s biggest sensations. It wasn\u2019t long\nbefore the simple street performer turned into one of the richest people in\nCanada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lalibert\u00e9 remained a major part of Cirque du Soleil until 2015 when a group of investors bought out a majority of the shares. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He still retained a small piece of the business and kept his role as a creative advisor until 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In 2009 Lalibert\u00e9 spent $35 million on a trip to space, making him Canada’s first space tourist. [Image: NASA HQ PHOTO\/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Guy Lalibert\u00e9 The Poker Player<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lalibert\u00e9\u2019s\nbeginnings may have been difficult but once Cirque du Soleil became a global\nsensation, he no longer had to worry about money. He could turn his attention\nto other things, and the game of poker captured his fancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not exactly\nclear when Lalibert\u00e9 first took up poker, however, he first became known to the\nwider audience as a poker player in 2007, when he made the final table of a\nWorld Poker Tour event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already being\nrich and famous, he was naturally a catch for poker producers. It wasn\u2019t long\nbefore he received invitations to join popular poker shows, most notably High\nStakes Poker<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Canadian\u2019s performance\non HSP is still etched in the memory of those who followed the poker world at\nthe time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a virtually\ninfinite bankroll and a very competitive spirit, Lalibert\u00e9 wasn\u2019t there just\nfor show. He was the one driving the action, getting involved in some of the\nbiggest pots the show has ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n\n\n<\/span>