Poker Rags started the same way most great poker stories do: with a questionable financial decision.
Back in 2017, DGAF printed a batch of 'Straddle?' shirts just before the World Series of Poker. The goal wasn’t to build a clothing company. He simply wanted to encourage players to straddle.
After the Series wrapped up, his Day 1 printed another design: No Gamble No Future. Mostly because he got tired of explaining to tilted grinders why he was happy to rip draws and bust their aces.
Turns out people loved the shirts.
Unfortunately, the guys behind them had absolutely no business sense.
With boxes of shirts piling up in their apartment, they did the only logical thing…
They ordered more.
Soon there were Straddle. shirts as a subtle answer to the first, and plenty more ideas soon to be printed. One night over burgers and beers at The Blind Pig in Las Vegas, they decided this crazy (but growing) side project deserved a real name:
Poker Rags.
More than a clothing brand, it represents a mindset.
On the surface, it’s a nod to every hand you know you should fold pre, but VPIP anyway. It’s also a reminder that life doesn’t always deal pocket aces - far from it. Sometimes you have to play the hand you’re dealt, trust your instincts, and have the courage to bet on yourself.
Not long after Poker Rags got its name, life dealt DGAF a few rough hands of his own.
Poker Rags became his creative outlet and passion. He couldn’t stop building, redesigning, tearing it apart, and rebuilding it again. While other people saw a poker apparel company, he saw an opportunity to create something that poker players could genuinely connect with.
Over the years, the community grew. Loyal supporters found the brand, and what began as a handful of inside jokes turned into a home for players who know poker is about much more than cards.
It’s about taking chances.
It’s about embracing the variance of life.
It’s about having stories worth telling.
That’s what Poker Rags is all about.
The rest?
History…
…still in the making.
Thanks for being a part of our journey. Straddle.