Artur “Art” Papazyan

Artur “Art” Papazyan is an Armenian-American professional poker player from Glendale, California. He was born on January 1,1992. Art has over $1.4 million in live tournament earnings, with his biggest cash being $668K. Papazyan is the winner of two World Poker Tour titles in Season XVI and was awarded a prestigious honor of Hublot WPT Player of the Year, Player of the Year in 2018 and Breakout Player in 2017. 

Aside from his dominance in live tournaments, Papazyan has also appeared on well-known high-stakes cash game streams such as Hustler Casino Live and Big Bet Poker Live, formerly known as Live At The Bike. He currently has over $26K net winnings on HCL.

Art Papazyan Early Life

Art Papazyan played home games with friends throughout his teen years in California. He started playing poker in high school and went pro in 2010. When he was 21, he would occasionally drive down to Commerce Casino and play in the small buy-in games. At the age of 23, he was running very well at the $5-$5 game and built a bankroll of about $10,000. From there he decided to drop out of college and pursue a career in live cash game poker.

He continued to build a bankroll in the $5-$5 and $5-$10 games for the next year or so. Then a few months later, he began playing the higher stakes cash games in Los Angeles, primarily $10-$20 and $10-$20-$40. With the guidance of some close friends and fellow high-stakes poker players, he developed strategies to beat the highest stakes live cash games, and was then ready to dive into tournament poker.

In April 2016, Papazyan resigned from his job as a security guard in Los Angeles. It was a job that Papazyan described himself as “the worst employee ever.” Papazyan’s new career as a poker player took an exciting turn when he won the WPT Legends of Poker title. A $5-$5 bankroll resulted in lifetime membership in the WPT Champions Club. 

Papazyan’s Success on World Poker Tour

Papazyan won his first cash prize in a live tournament at the end of January 2014 in Los Angeles. He won the Main Event of the World Poker Tour at the same venue at the end of August 2017. He defeated 762 other players, including Phil Hellmuth in the heads-up match, and received nearly $668K in prize money. Papazyan won the WPT main event in Hanover, Maryland again in October 2017, securing his second WPT title. He defeated a field of 560 participants and received nearly $389K in prize money.

Art Papazyan Poker Journey on Hustler Casino Live

Art Papazyan has won more than $26,000 on Hustler Casino Live. He made his debut on Episode 20 in August 2021, winning more than $12.6K after playing $50/100 No Limit Hold ’em against Billionaire DoorDash Founder Stanley Tang, Versace Mark, Aaron Wojnowski and others.

Papazyan reappeared in HCL Episode 51 in October 2021. He won another $29.3K after defeating Francisco Fragoso, Nick Vertucci, Cowboy John, and others. They played the $25/25/50 NL game. A month later, in November 2021, Art won another $4.5K during the HCL Episode 71, after playing the $50/100 No Limit Hold ‘em game. He just kept on winning and winning since then. 

However, in March 2023, Art suffered a $20K loss for the first time during the HCL Episode 392. He played $25/50/100 stakes with Nik Airball, Mariano, Alec Torelli, and others. 

Conclusion

Art Papazyan is regarded as one of the legends in the poker industry. He will be remembered as the Los Angeles kid who “made it from the guard booth” to the “Champions Club.” Who would have guessed that his $5-$5 bankroll would lead to his poker success and lifetime membership in the WPT Champions Club?