Mariano Grandoli and Ethan “Rampage” Yau have several things in common. The two prominent poker vloggers both started watching Andrew Neeme videos on YouTube, created their own channels around the same time, and worked their way up the stakes at the poker tables, progressing from low to high stakes. Both were nominated for the 2023 Global Poker Awards and are now regular players in the highest stakes games at Hustler Casino Live.

In this article, you’ll learn how they started playing poker and what motivated them to get into the poker vlogging space with their own YouTube channels. We’ll also detail the biggest pots they’ve won and lost in their careers. At the tables they compete fiercely for massive pots, but away from the felt they are good friends.

Mariano vs. Rampage: How they got into poker

Mariano was born in Argentina and moved to the United States with his family in 2002. In an interview with Nick Vertucci, he recounted how his poker story began:

“It all started in college when I was studying business and economics and began watching Andrew Neeme’s videos on YouTube. I liked the psychological and mathematical aspects of the game. At the time, I was working as a delivery driver for Pizza Hut and would occasionally go to the Gardens Casino to play the $1/$2 cash game, which seemed like the best plan in the world. Some days I’d be delivering pizzas for 10 hours and earn $100 in tips. With that money, I could sit in a comfortable, air-conditioned chair at the Gardens, have drinks brought to the table, and have the chance to double or triple that money in just a few hours. It was amazing to me back then. I started developing bad habits, and because I was frequently absent, I got fired. I had $600 left in my account, and I decided to use it to play at the Gardens, but three months later, I lost everything. I wasn’t very good at poker at that point, and my girlfriend had to buy me food for a few months since I had no income. My parents didn’t know I’d been fired, and I didn’t dare tell them. At that point, my friend Joseph lent me $500 to try poker again. I went to the Gardens and turned it into $3,000. Then I won $5,000 in a Bad Beat Jackpot, bringing my total to $8,000, which was my biggest poker win up to that point. I paid my friend back with interest and even called my parents to tell them. After that, I vowed never to lose my entire bankroll again, and I managed to do it”.

This is what Rampage said about his beginnings with poker in the documentary Dreamers: “I started playing poker because I was a total loser with gambling in college: I played blackjack and ended up losing a lot of money. Luckily, some friends taught me how to play poker, where you play against other people instead of the house, which always wins. I remember we went to play at the nearest casino and I lost $500 in just 20 minutes. I decided I was going to improve and started watching videos by Brad Owen, Andrew Neeme, and Johnnie Vibes, which ended up being an inspiration for my own cannel”.

Mariano vs. Rampage: Their First Poker Vlogs on YouTube

Rampage says: “I always wanted to be a YouTuber and content creator, and when I saw there was a poker niche on YouTube, I decided to launch my own channel to share my poker adventures. Luckily, the channel has grown over the years, and I know it won’t last forever, but I’m really enjoying it in the meantime”.

In 2018, he uploaded his first vlog titled: “ALL-IN FLUSH OVER FLUSH!” and introduced himself like this: “Hi, my name is Ethan, and welcome to my first video and my channel. I hope you enjoy this video, and I hope you’ll stick around since I’ll be uploading more videos in the future. I love watching poker vlogs on YouTube, and since I know how to make videos, I decided to give my own channel a try. I’m pretty new to poker and have only visited the casino five times, so I hope to learn from my mistakes while entertaining you”.

Mariano: “I started with Andrew Neeme as my main inspiration, and I think that comes through in many of my videos. Then I tried to find my own way, and about a year ago I started using a system where I talk a little at the beginning, show the hands I played, and close with a few words. Recently, we tried a new style, and for that, I brought my editor with me to the games I play so he could film the behind-the-scenes action. I got the idea from a couple of YouTube channels I follow, and I think it’s more inclusive for showing more details of each session I play.”

On February 25, 2019, he uploaded his first vlog to his channel, titled “Going All-In with 4th Pair”. He introduced himself as follows: “Hey, this is the first episode of my poker vlog, and I’m on my way to the San Manuel casino. I’m going to try to get some aerial shots with my drone from the parking lot. It’s on Native American land, so if I can do it without getting shot or having my head chopped off, I’ll be starting a lucky streak. Let’s see how it goes, see you inside.”

Tracking the Growth of their YouTube channels

Both Mariano and Rampage have seen their YouTube channels grow over the years, and today both are among the top 20 most subscribed poker channels in the world. Here’s the Top 20:

1. Papo MC > 2.5M
2. Wolfgang Poker > 1.7M
3. Masato Yokosawa > 1M
4. Daniel Negreanu > 942K
5. Brad Owen > 800K
6. Jake Poker Vegas > 749K
7. Doug Polk > 460K
8. Rampage > 368K
9. ZampZh > 342K
10. Zeros Vlogs > 342K
11. Jonathan Little Poker Coaching > 240K
12. Mariano > 211K
13. Next Gen Poker > 199K
14. Andrew Neeme > 196K
15. BlackRain79Poker > 192K
16. YoH Viral > 177K
17. Joey Ingram > 151K
18. Lex Veldhuis > 139K
19. Jeff Gross > 135K
20. Ryan De Paulo > 130K

Nominated at the Global Poker Awards

Rampage was nominated at the 2022 Global Poker Awards for Vlogger of the Year, where he lost to one of his mentors, Brad Owen. The following year he was nominated again, this time alongside Jaman Burton, Brad Owen, and his friend Mariano. This time he won the prestigious award.

These were his words of thanks: “First, I want to thank Carl, the silent partner of the Rampage channel, who forces me to sit down and work. I wouldn’t be here without him. I also want to thank everyone who watches my videos and my girlfriend, who supports me in everything I do. I’d also like to acknowledge the founders of poker on YouTube: Andrew, Jaman, Brad, and Johnnie. All four of them were a huge inspiration to me and to the hundreds of poker vloggers out there. This award means a lot to me, thank you so much.”

Mariano vs. Rampage: The Biggest Pots They’ve Won

The two eventually moved up in stakes and started playing high-stakes games, where six-figure pots became commonplace. In 2023, Mariano won a $788K pot when his A-A beat the K-K of two opponents. And last year he surpassed that amount when he hit a straight on the river and beat his opponent’s lower straight, winning $909K with that hand.

You can see the hand here:

Rampage’s biggest pot ever came just a month ago during a special Hustler Casino Live game at the 2026 WSOP in Las Vegas. The table included aggressive players like Martin Kabrhel, Texas Mike Moncek, Santhosh Survana, Rampage, and Nik Airball. In the hand in question, Texas Mike went all-in blind in the big blind, and Rampage called with K-Q. Mike showed K-6, and Rampage avoided the bad beat, winning $675K in that hand.

Mariano vs. Rampage: The Biggest Pots They’ve Lost

While both have won several six-figure pots, they also lost big ones, too. In Rampage’s case, he lost a $622K pot in 2025 when his trips were beaten by his opponent’s full house on the river.

In 2025, Mariano also lost his biggest pot, during a game at Hustler Casino Live. He hit a straight with K-Q against Nik Airball, who had a higher straight with A-Q, and the enormous pot was $663K.

Mariano vs. Rampage: The Biggest Difference Between Them

One thing that sets Mariano apart from Rampage is his love for live tournaments. Mariano played some WSOP tournaments in Las Vegas, but he doesn’t enjoy playing tournaments and prefers cash games. Rampage, on the other hand, has outstanding results in both online and live tournaments.

Ethan cashed for the first time in live tournaments in 2019, and during the pandemic, he switched to online tournaments. In 2020, he won his first WSOP bracelet in Event #26, the $500 Grand Finale, taking home $164K. In 2021, he won his first live tournament at the MSPT in Las Vegas, cashing for $230K. Over the years, he has won six WSOP Circuit rings, four of which were in online tournaments.

He has earned $3.8 million on the live circuit and his biggest prize was in 2022 when he won the High Roller $25K of the WPT World Championship for $894K. This year at the end of June, he won his second WSOP bracelet in Event #16, the $5K Hybrid Championship. The tournament was played online and the final table was live, where he beat 6-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos in heads-up to win $228K.

Mariano vs. Rampage: Tale of the Tape

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