Oliver Biles is a famous British-born Eurasian actor and poker player born on March 15, 1990. He started off his career as one of the numerous talented actors trained in London, starring in productions by the Yellow Earth Theatre and the Young Vic Theatre. Currently, he is taking a break from acting to focus on his professional career as a poker player, participating in games around the world.
How Biles made the transition from acting to poker, and how he leads his life right now is nothing short of the dream.
Read on to learn more about Oliver Biles and what he’s been up to lately.
Early career in acting
Biles started off his acting career in London. After having trained in the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Biles toured the UK in his debut role for the 2011 Yellow Earth Theatre production of Why the Lion Danced. The following year, in 2012, Biles worked with actress Jessica Henwick in another Yellow Earth Theatre production, Dim Sum Nights – The Clean Up. He also made his on-screen debut in House of Anubis.
It was also in 2012 when he performed in a Young Vic Theatre production — a stage adaptation of Jung Chang’s nonfiction book, Wild Swans. The adaptation is based on Chang’s collection of memoirs following three generations of Chinese women. It documents themes of perseverance through tyranny and oppression.
Making the transition to poker
Although Biles had an exciting acting career in the early 2010s, he would soon evolve into working with another talent of his. Biles started playing poker in 2011 and has since become an avid player. Later on, he would realize the full potential of his hobby by turning it into a profitable pursuit.
In 2018, Biles quit his job as a part-time tennis coach in London, packed his bags, and went to travel to Asia with his girlfriend, Alice. But what had been intended as a two-year trip around Asia, playing poker for a living turned out to be a step towards his new life. Instead of going back to London as originally planned, Biles transitioned into playing poker full-time while putting his acting career on pause.
In 2018, Biles participated in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) — the poker world’s biggest and most anticipated live poker festival. The WSOP includes over 80 tournaments yearly, awarding the highly coveted WSOP bracelet to the winner of each. Biles cashed in three events in 2018 and even ranked an impressive 23rd in the No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed event, beating 275 other players.
What is he doing today?
Since he set off from London in 2018, Biles has been living primarily abroad for the last four years. He started a poker and travel vlog which won the Vlogger in Paradise contest, earning him a Platinum Pass to the first ever PokerStars Players Championship in the Bahamas in 2019.
Biles then settled down in picturesque countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam for months at a time, participating in poker games. He documents his adventurous lifestyle on Instagram while sharing enthusiastically about his poker and travel pursuits. He recently played in the WSOP 2022 tournament coming 1212th in the Main Event.
For another inspiring actor do check out our profile on Adi Alfa.
