Kane Kalas

Kane Kalas was born at the Bryn Mawr hospital, and was raised in Media, Pennsylvania. He is the son of the Philadelphia Phillies play-by-play commentator and Baseball Hall of Fame member Harry Kalas and brother of Todd Kalas, current commentator for the Houston Astros.[3][6] Kalas attended the University of Miami.[7]

Kalas starting playing online poker professionally under the handle NASCAR_1949, during his freshman year of college in 2008.[3][8] Between then and Poker Black Friday, Kalas competed in the largest cash games that have ever run online.[5] He was a regular in Full Tilt Poker's Rail Heaven $500/$1000 No-limit Hold 'em games.[5] During this time, Kalas made poker training videos for Pokernews Strategy, which later changed its name to Poker Phenoms.

Kalas' debut in televised poker occurred on the Fox Sports Network in September 2014, when he placed second in the WPT Borgata Poker Open for a total prize of over $500,000.[4][9][10][11] He was featured in ESPN's coverage of the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event.[9]

Kalas is the winner of the biggest pot in televised poker history. In May 2018, he won a $2,178,770 pot in the Triton Cash Game from the Triton Super High Roller series held in Montenegro.[12][13][11][14][15]

In 2019, Upswing Poker released a Six-plus hold'em training course featuring Kalas as the instructor.[16]

As of September 2020, he has earned $1,580,000 in live tournaments.[17][18][19]

Kalas has invested in Bitcoin, purchasing his first bitcoin in 2013.[17]

Beginning in 2015, he transitioned from poker to securities and digital assets markets. In 2020, Kalas founded the hedge fund Crystal Oak Capital, Crystal Oak Partners, and Crystal Oak Digital Assets.[2][20]

Kalas is a regular broadcaster of the World Series of Poker for PokerGo, PokerCentral, and CBS All Access. He has called play-by-play for a number of World Poker Tour (WPT) events including PartyPoker's WPT Montreal, WPT Thunder Valley, WPT Deepstacks Parx, and WPT Borgata.[7]

Since 2016, Kalas has regularly broadcast Poker Night in America cash games. In 2020, Kalas voiced the television intro to the Poker Night in America Celebrity Home Game series. He called play-by-play for the first broadcast of the Triton Super High Roller Series in Montenegro in May, 2018.[4][17][11][21]

When the Patrick Antonius Poker Challenge tournament and cash game series debuted in 2019, in Tallinn, Estonia, Kalas commentated on the event. Kalas also commentated on the “High Stakes Feud” grudge match between Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk in 2020.[22]

Kalas has also broadcast events for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, Live at the Bike, and the Borgata Poker Open.[4][23]

Kalas has appeared in several musicals, including Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof and Jekyll & Hyde. He has also performed in Beethoven's Fidelio, Neil Simon's Rumors, and in the original production of the opera Augustino and the Puccini Clarinet.[3]

Kalas has sung "The Star-Spangled Banner", "God Bless America", and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Citizens Bank Park.[3] He has sung the Star Spangled Banner at every Phillies home opener since 2016.[17][24][25][26]

In 2008, Kalas performed "America, the Dream Goes On" at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. In 2009, Kalas sang "America the Beautiful" at the Media Memorial Day parade.[27][28]