Who Is Mikki Mase? Real Name, Prison Years, & Life (Part 1)

Mikki Mase is one of the most polarizing figures in modern gambling and internet culture. To some, he is the self-proclaimed King of Baccarat, a high-stakes operator who claims to have beaten casinos at their very own casino games and walked away with millions. To others, he is a master storyteller, blending truth, trauma, and spectacle into a persona built for the internet age.

What makes Mikki Mase compelling isn’t just the money or the controversy. It’s the psychology.

Before the private jets, seven-figure bets, and celebrity proximity, there was a young man shaped by instability, addiction, and a deep distrust of institutions. To understand how Mikki Mase became a global gambling figure, you first have to understand the environment that produced him.

This first part of our two-part series focuses on who Mikki Mase really was (@dirtygothboi) before the fame of his early life, trauma, addiction, and the mindset that would later define his relationship with risk.

Mikki Mase’s Real Name, Family Background, and Early Life

Mikki Mase’s real name is Michael David Meiterman. On October 27, 1991, in Marlboro, New Jersey, Mikki Mase describes his upbringing as outwardly comfortable but internally fractured. While the setting suggested stability, he has repeatedly said he never felt aligned with what he calls the “cookie-cutter life” expected of him.

From an early age, he viewed himself as an outsider, a natural contrarian who rejected structure rather than adapting to it. In later interviews, he framed this not as rebellion for attention, but as a fundamental incompatibility with routine, authority, and long-term conformity.

That sense of alienation would become a defining trait.

Family Collapse and the Birth of Distrust

A major inflection point in Mase’s childhood came when his father, a professional racer, was convicted in a federal racketeering case and sentenced to prison. According to Mase, the fallout was immediate and severe. The family’s financial security collapsed, and whatever trust he had in systems of authority eroded with it.

From his perspective, institutions that were supposed to protect families instead dismantled his.

This experience planted two long-lasting beliefs that would later resurface in his gambling philosophy:

• Systems exist to protect themselves, not individuals.
• Security can disappear overnight.

He has often credited this period with instilling his lifelong skepticism toward banks, governments, and corporations, including casinos.

Early Exposure to Risk

Mase claims his relationship with gambling began unusually early. He has said that as a child, he played cards for money at family gatherings, learning not only the mechanics of games but also the emotional dynamics of winning and losing.

One family story, often referred to as the “casino uncle” myth, became symbolic in hindsight. According to Mase, a great-uncle once won partial ownership of a casino in a card game, only to lose it back in the same session. Mase later clarified that he doesn’t see this as a legacy story, but as a metaphor for volatility.

You can win big.
You can lose it faster.
Nothing is permanent.

From Suburban New Jersey to Juvenile Prison – Addiction & Crime

According to his own statements in interviews, such as with a highly popular podcast with DJ Vlad, Mikki Mase began using drugs at an early age, around 11 or 12, while still in middle school. He has said that during this period, he sold marijuana and resold prescription pills, including Xanax and Percocet, primarily to older peers. Mase has described this activity as informal and opportunistic rather than organized.

At the time, Mase states that he grew up in a two-parent household and did not experience significant financial hardship. He has said that his parents strongly opposed drug use and that his behavior led to repeated conflicts at home as well as ongoing contact with law enforcement.

Throughout his early teenage years, Mase reports multiple arrests related to substance use and associated behavior. At age 15, he was sentenced to a juvenile detention facility, where he served approximately 364 days.

Rather than deterring future risk, Mase claims the experience had the opposite effect. The fear of incarceration, he says, disappeared.

In his own words, the logic became simple:
“What’s the worst that can happen? Send me somewhere I’ve already survived?”

This mindset, what psychologists might call consequence desensitization, would later become central to how he approached gambling at stakes that most people find unimaginable, and it has mainly helped Mikki Mase’s net worth reach unbelievably high.

Rock Bottom: Homelessness and Survival

Following years of addiction and instability, Mase says he eventually became homeless, spending time in camps in New York City. He has spoken openly about this period as one defined by survival rather than ambition.

Food, shelter, and safety took priority over legality or long-term planning.

He has referenced “hustling” during this time, a term he uses broadly and without detail. Many of these claims remain unverified, but the psychological throughline is consistent: by this stage, traditional deterrents no longer worked. Fear had been replaced by adaptation.

The Unexpected Comeback: From $100-a-Day Laborer to a Pharmacy Business Empire

The turning point came through an unexpected opportunity. According to Mase, he was offered a place to stay in Florida under one condition: get sober and work.

He accepted.

In interviews, he has described working as a day laborer in Miami, earning roughly $100 a day doing physically demanding jobs. He claims to have saved aggressively, operating with a level of discipline that contrasted sharply with his earlier years.

This period marked the first time Mase applied structure to his life, not because he embraced the system, but because it served his survival.

Selling the Business and Walking Away With Millions

Mase’s next transformation occurred inside the addiction recovery industry.

After finding work at a rehabilitation facility, he says he began to understand the economics behind treatment centers, clinics, and pharmacies. Over time, he claims to have launched his own operations, expanding into multiple facilities and related businesses.

By his account, these ventures grew rapidly.

In 2018, he exited the industry entirely, selling his interests and walking away with what he describes as his first true bankroll. That capital would later fund his transition into full-time gambling.

Notably, Mase has since criticized the rehab industry as “predatory,” describing it as a system that profits from relapse rather than recovery, a view shaped by both his personal history and business experience.

The Philosophy of Risk

In a rare, introspective interview on the Soft White Underbelly podcast, Mase presented a markedly different tone from his high-energy gambling appearances.

Rather than focusing on money, he spoke about survival.

He described gambling not as entertainment, but as an extension of the same risk-management instincts that kept him alive during addiction and homelessness. In this framing, gambling wasn’t about the thrill; it was about control.

One of his most revealing insights concerned addiction itself. Mase argued that many gambling addicts aren’t chasing wins, but the chemical release associated with loss, the emotional spike that keeps them at the table even when ahead.

To counter this, he claims to have adopted radical emotional detachment.

Money, in his system, becomes abstract.
“It’s only money when you buy in and cash out,” he explained.
“In between, it’s just chips.”

Freedom Over Luxury

When asked about the happiest time of his life, Mase did not reference a casino win.

Instead, he spoke about a nine-month period living in a remote house with his girlfriend and two close friends. They rode dirt bikes daily, avoided schedules, and lived without external pressure.

No VIP lounges.
No cameras.
No stakes.

The moment revealed a contradiction at the heart of his persona: despite being known for extreme risk-taking, he valued autonomy above all else.

The Mindset Before the Money

By the time Mikki Mase ever placed a serious bet, he wasn’t chasing excitement or escape.
Those impulses had already burned themselves out earlier in his life.

What remained was something colder and more controlled.

Years of instability had conditioned him to watch systems rather than trust people, to recognize pressure points, and to detach emotionally from outcomes he couldn’t control. Risk, to him, wasn’t a thrill; it was a variable. Loss wasn’t personal; it was data.

That mindset didn’t guarantee success. It didn’t make him special. And it certainly didn’t make gambling safe.

But it does explain why, when casinos finally entered his world, he approached them differently than most players ever would, not as entertainment, not as hope, but as an environment to be studied.

What happened next wasn’t an accident.
It was the collision of preparation, opportunity, and a system that doesn’t tolerate outsiders for long.

In Part 2, we examine what happened when this mindset met casinos, livestream poker games , crypto success, his net worth, public scrutiny, and internet fame.

If you want to follow Mikki Mase’s journey, his casino strategy, or see him playing online casino games, visit his YouTube Channel.

Editor’s Note

This two-part series examines Mikki Mase as a public figure, his background, and the claims he has made across interviews, podcasts, and livestream appearances.

Quotes, anecdotes, and explanations are presented for contextual and journalistic purposes only. Claims are clearly identified as such and should not be interpreted as verified facts, endorsements, or gambling advice.