In a blog post, one person claimed they used to play with him at Hollywood Park before he got famous. “He would often come in on a Friday or Saturday night after playing a gig. He was a decent enough laggy player, but I doubt he made any sort of living from it. Even back then he had a certain charisma and I’m not surprised that he is famous.” Another person recalled playing with him a “handful of times in 2009 at Commerce $5-$10. He was the type of guy that you would ‘rush’ to get a table change for. I also remember him usually losing a single $500 bullet and leaving. There was no way he was playing for profit.” A third said he was the “best player (aside from Greek Steve) I ever played against at Commerce. Incredibly balanced and impossible to play against if you can’t beat him at showdown. Lotta heart.”

In another blog post, one poker player recalled a night he played high-stakes poker with Mars. In a 16-hour game that went up to $30,000, Bruno lost in what became this poker player’s “most memorable poker hand ever.” He remembered as Bruno stood up to leave the table, he asked, “Do you mind [throwing] me a $10 chip for valet, so of course I did, and then he disappeared into the night.”