Trevor Savage Takes His Vlog Live! at WPT Maryland

By Sean Chaffin

As a full-time player, Trevor Savage (pictured) spends plenty of time at the poker table. Over the last year he’s also spent plenty of time editing video. A married father of three, Savage grinds it out at the New Jersey online poker tables and has been hosting his Raising the Nuts vlog on YouTube since last September.

The production came about after popular poker vlogger Andrew Neeme held a competition last year. The winner of his vlogging competition earned a Platinum Pass, which meant a free $25,000 entry into the PSPC at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas and complete travel package.

“You had to make vlogs with different topics that were already preset,” says Savage, who’s been a poker pro for 15 years. “I made the top five but didn’t win. That’s where it started and it just kind of grew from there and I kept it going.”

Savage, who was among those playing on Day 1a at WPT Maryland, decided to keep the YouTube channel going and played in the PCA event despite not winning the contest. The show now has almost 9,000 subscribers.

Beyond just poker, Raising the Nuts also includes focuses a bit on his family and life as a New Jersey grinder with appearances from his children. Plenty of humor is tossed into the mix.

“I have a lot of videos where the kids recreate famous poker hands,” Savage says. “We do a lot of fun things on the channel and like to get them involved. It’s just a fun, creative project for me.”

“A lot of the videos I make are not traditional-type poker blogs because I really don’t play live poker. Most of the poker vloggers are out there grinding live cash games. I play online for a living and my poker vlogs are mostly about meet-up games or my ‘play every hand challenge.’”

The challenge involved showing up at a casino for a $1/$2 or a $1/$3 game. When playing, he’s not allowed to fold preflop unless there is an all in or three-bet before the action gets to him. He donates the winnings to charity and is up $800 after eight attempts.

After battles with anxiety attacks, the 36-year-old also focuses on mental health as part of his media projects. His wife works as a nutritionist, and together they also host the Raising the Nuts podcast, which deals with mental health, parenting, and nutrition.

“I’ve lost about 70 pounds over the last nine years,” he says. “She’s been a big help in that.”

At the live poker tables, Savage has more than $530,000 in earnings including three cashes on the WPT for almost $29,000. His best live cash came in a $3,500 event in 2011 at the Borgata Winter Poker Open, where he finished third for $189,611.

“I always just view tournaments as a bonus,” he says. “It’s completely separate from my regular grind – kind of like a getaway.”

Savage is hoping this getaway brings a final table and big bonus at Live! Casino & Hotel. That would certainly be something to vlog about.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.