Vince Van Patten talks his wild career, from acting to tennis to poker commentary and pickleball

From child actor to tennis star to a return to acting to poker commentary to professional pickleball, it’s been quite a ride for Vince Van Patten. He recently spoke to AA about that journey, and what appeals to him about each of those areas.

On the poker commentary side, Van Patten has been a World Poker Tour commentator since 2002, and was recognized as one of two recipients of last year’s WPT Honors. (WPT broadcasts currently air on the Bally Sports regional networks and on several streaming platforms.) He’s currently preparing for the WPT World Championship, which has its festival start Wednesday at the Wynn Las Vegas (with the World Championship itself part of that, running from Dec. 12-21). Van Patten told AA poker commentary is a passion of his, and gives him a fun way to stay involved with a game he’s played since childhood.

“It’s one of the great jobs out there, that I can know a game and love a game that was a secret game,” he said. “When I started broadcasting, it was kind of like a secret game; I was playing since I was 14 years old and I was playing in big, big games since the 70s.”

He said he’s thrilled to see the way poker has grown in prominence over the years.

“For the game to finally explode and for me to have the opportunity to take on this job and then see it really explode has been a delight. It’s been a thrill. And I’ve been going for 21 years, and it’s gone by quick. It’s fantastic, and it’s exciting.”

Van Patten said one big change in those 21 years of broadcasting is the quality of play he’s commenting on.

“Poker is getting stronger and stronger, and there are more players that are pretty good, very good. Back in the day, in the first five years, there wasn’t as much literature, there wasn’t as much online. So you had more suckers and whales.”

“I was mostly a high-stakes cast game player, and I always did very well. But over the years, even the cast game players have gotten much, much better. So it’s a tougher game to beat. You have to be really shrewd and really patient and find the right spots. But overall, we’re seeing some great, great poker.”

He said part of that boom in poker popularity is about the broadcasts, and about one innovation in particular: letting viewers see hole cards.

“And the World Poker Tour, the genius of [founder] Steve Lipscomb, he had the idea of ‘Let’s show the cards.’ That was his idea, he brought it there first, and then the World Series did it later when they saw what he was doing. But for him to have that genius and say ‘Oh yeah, that’s going to make it a giant sport’…because once you see the cards and see the play, the guys that are doing it today and some of the calls they can make off of huge bets, it’s really remarkable.”

Van Patten said for him, the thrill of commentary is when it comes to calling smart plays.

“I like to come from the perspective of I’m truly just seeing the hand unfold. And I’ll call it like it is more or less. I’m a little softer on bad plays, I don’t think it’s necessary…the world will get it, the shrewd people will get it, that they’ve made a major mistake. And I’ll call it a mistake. I will also, I’m delighted when I see a brilliant play, a brilliant call with queen-high or something.”

“…Those kinds of moves, I get excited about and I’m enthusiastic about. And that’s part of my job, to really keep the drama going like I have something at stake, like I have half of his action. So when that guy makes that call, I’m excited for him, or when that guy makes a brilliant bet.”

It’s been quite a run for Van Patten, from acting to tennis to poker and more. He’s the son of actor Dick Van Patten, and got started in acting very early in life. But then he went over to tennis.

“As a child actor, I was working all the time and did a lot of different movies and TV series. Then I gave it up to go to the professional tennis circuit. I was ranked in the top 25 in the world and was the ATP Rookie of the Year in 1979.”

He said tennis was great for a while, but it eventually wore him down.

“When you’re winning in the beginning, when I was having a huge run in 1979 and my ranking went from over No. 600 in the world to No. 40 and I was beating everybody, all these legends I’d looked up to like Stan Smith and Tom Okker and these names who were top-10 players, I couldn’t believe it. No one gave me a chance, no one ever thought I was going to become a top pro.”

“So to make those kinds of wins, and along the way I beat John McEnroe twice, it was a thrill. But when you start losing, it’s horrible. Now they expect you to win, and everybody’s coming after you. And it’s a grind out there. It’s the only sport in the world where there’s no offseason. It’s a tough, tough sport. I was happy to retire at the end, because I’d had enough.”

That led to him returning to Los Angeles to pursue more acting, and getting more into poker along the way.

“But then I stepped away from that, came back to LA, and while I was waiting for certain jobs as an actor, as a writer, I got a local poker game going in the San Fernando Valley. And it was a big game, and it got bigger as it progressed, got to Beverly Hills.”

And that poker game, and the bets around it, actually wound up feeding back into Van Patten’s acting career. He co-wrote, produced, and starred in 2019 film 7 Days To Vegas about a side bet he made during that poker game.

“In the game, we were making crazy prop bets. Basketball, ‘I can throw from halfcourt, I get five shots from halfcourt for $5,000, $10,000 bucks.’ We were always making crazy bets. What I proposed was that I could walk from LA to Vegas in seven days.”

“It was a real bet I made, for big money. And that’s what it is based on. Now, there’s exaggerations, it’s based on the story, not completely the story. But we’re actually going to make a sequel.”

He said it was a real thrill to get a movie made based on a bet he made, and he loved getting to work with friends on that.

“I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I love writing, love it. The day goes by quick when I write. It’s something I love. And I love con movies and hustle movies, and that’s what this was about. It’s fun, it will make you laugh, and it was based on a true story.”

“To get it made is always the tough thing, to raise money, but I did that. And to make it with friends, and with my brother, and other people I like either writing or acting in it was a dream come true, to give them that opportunity. And it turned out great. It was highly regarded. And we’re writing a sequel now, and it’s an honor to be able to make a film.”

And Van Patten said acting and tennis have fed into poker for him as well.

“I feel that my time as an actor and as a tennis pro has helped me in poker. That’s why I love poker, because I’m competitive, there’s a way I can win. It’s exciting, there’s a challenge, and I’m in competition again.”

“And to be a great poker player, you really need that kind of thing, where your ego’s on the line and you make the right move at the right time. You’re always testing yourself. You have to get someone else to blink, even in the long run. So I love that, and I think there’s a correlation; in acting, you have to have talent and heart, as in tennis, and poker’s the same thing.”

“You’ve got to be able to take it when you run bad for eight sessions, and come back, and then you see it working. And that’s the exciting thing. So I think those professions I’ve done have all sort of lined up with what I do. And that’s what I love about all three professions.”

In addition to his poker commentary and movie work, Van Patten’s also recently returned to playing sports, taking up professional pickleball.

“Believe it or not, I’m playing professional pickleball on the senior pro circuit, 50 and over. And I’m actually sixth in the world in the APP [Association of Pickleball Players] rankings. It’s new, it’s small money, but it’s just so much fun. It’s a new great hobby I have, and I’m playing professional, and this game is getting bigger and bigger, as everyone knows. It’s great.”

He said pickleball is a blast for him.

“I never thought I wanted to be on a tennis court again. But pickleball is different. And it’s fun, and it reminds me of the old days where I was grinding to make it as a pro. And now I’m trying to make it as a top pro in senior pickleball, and it’s all working. It’s like the time flies by, and it’s so healthy, and you get in great shape.”

“And you meet more friends in pickleball than in any other sport, because you’re so close, and everybody is in a good mood, it seems like. And it’s so social, everybody’s out there, they’re drinking wine on the courts as they’re waiting. And the turnover; from tennis, you wait 30-40 minutes for them to end the set and get more people out there, but pickleball, every 10 minutes, the game changes over, so it moves really quick. It’s delightful.”

On the poker front, Van Patten’s excited about this WPT World Championship, which will feature a $40 million guaranteed prize pool. He said he thinks that kind of incentive will help make the event an even bigger deal.

“With 40 million dollars guaranteed, anybody that’s playing poker is going to grab their money, try to win satellites, try to win local games. Every cash game in Hollywood is building towards that. The winner’s going to usually get about 18 to 20 percent of that, so we’re talking about six or seven million dollars as a first-place prize. That is life-changing money. …It’s building, and poker is booming once again.”

On the commentary front, Van Patten has been working with Tony Dunst since 2017 following Mike Sexton‘s retirement after 15 years. Van Patten said Dunst has slid into those shoes well.

“He’s had a very tough role to follow, the great Mike Sexton, and he’s done incredible, I believe. He’s really shrewd, really sort of analyzes poker like a computer. He’s got a great sense of humor, we’ve got a great rapport, and we make fun of each other. He’s the perfect guy for me to work with.”

The admiration is mutual, with Dunst telling AA Van Patten has been great to work with.

“It’s been a pleasure. Vince is somebody that I’ve looked up to coming up in the game. And he’s somebody that I always thought was really interesting. And as a tennis guy, he was 26th in the world in men’s singles, so I love having the chance to kind of pick his brain about tennis, and talk sports and gambling and things like that.”

“We just have a generally easy rapport. And Vince, he’s a real goofball; he jokes around a lot. But he’s also a really solid professional. The guy is always on time, always comes with great energy, always right where he needs to be. It’s a pleasure to work with people that are so reliable. And I don’t know that people expect that out of Vince.”

Van Patten said he’s thrilled with where poker is at right now, and excited to keep calling the game.

“It’s bigger than ever. Everyone now knows poker. And all those players that used to go to the casinos to play blackjack and roulette and craps, they’re not going there as much for that, they’re going ‘I’m going there for the poker,’ because they feel like they can win and have a better chance to win. Without a doubt. They know it. And that’s why there’s so many players that play.”