Sportsgrid Staff
Host · Writer - Last Updated: 10/12/26
Growing up in Wisconsin, Robby’s father was a machinist at a factory and his mother was a server. Debby, his mom, describes him as “on the quiet side, and good with numbers” as a child. The second of three boys, he had a close relationship with his brother Dylan growing up, and says that his work ethic and mentality of “saying yes to everything” came from his mother’s determination to support the family while working multiple jobs after his parents’ divorce.
Despite tough circumstances growing up in a family who never had everything, thanks to his mom’s efforts, Robby enjoyed a childhood of dirtbiking, playing video games, and having a good time with his brothers and friends. Close friendships would always be a part of what made his journey possible, and the video shares warm interviews with his close friends describing how a kid from Wisconsin went on to found a major social site like SpinQuest.
The video covers how a childhood spent dirt biking and taking risks translated into the same mindset that rewards risk for successful gamblers. Robby notes that “it was always ingrained in me that risk was inherent to success,” and the fearlessness that he discovered as a dirt biker would drive his ability to follow his passions as he grew up.
Interestingly, video games also played a significant role in developing this mentality. Robby Mier says that “I think a lot of what you see of me today is like my playstyle back then; I was like, the strategy player.” The skills and strategies he honed in Halo 3 and Fortnite helped him develop the kind of cool-headed, strategic approach that every successful gambler needs.
Robby always saw bigger things in his future. He needed money to make that happen, and as someone who can “naturally separate his emotions from logic,” gambling seemed like a natural way to achieve this.
He describes poker as “his first love, almost out of necessity.” He committed to either succeeding as a poker player or trading it in for a day job. However, it was after being unable to play at a WSOP main event tournament in New York when he struck on unexpected success at a local Blackjack table, somehow turning $10,000 into $190,000 in the space of an evening. He describes driving back to San Diego with a backpack full of banknotes as being the night when “I’m like, I get gambling.”
The video explores Robby’s motivations, interests, and character through the eyes of those who have been with him the entire way, but also shows the birth of an incredibly tight-knit team. Any founder needs good people around him, and Robby Mier had his close friends Brettski, Sethy, Nick, Bluff, and Skater. Bluff, a car mechanic at the time, remembers how Robby showed him that the ceiling way far higher than what he could achieve at his day job, saying “I wouldn’t be Bluff without Robby for sure.”
Robby’s high risk tolerance made him a natural leader and point of advice for those around him. Bluff remembers that Robby has also always been a generous leader – while Robby encouraged him to shoot for the stars and grow his brand, he also supported Bluff financially and without obligations after he left his job to focus on his personal brand. Skater also remembers Robby offering to pay him for two months even before SpinQuest launched, based on how bullish he felt on his friends’ futures and ability to succeed. He told Brettski, who needed medical care but didn’t have insurance at the time, to “go to hospital and send me the bill.”
Generosity is rewarded by loyalty. Robby Mier built a loyal team of people who loved gambling and believed in their vision, and that’s where SpinQuest begins.
The SpinQuest founder recalls how he had a “Eureka moment” after getting injured scootering, meaning he couldn’t make money from sponsors while he was injured. He describes spending 84 hours per week playing poker and study poker, trying to make sure he had enough money to make ends meet. But then came the realization.
Robby Mier identified that “the people bringing traffic to the site were making way more than a poker player could.” The idea of SpinQuest was born. So what came next?
Robby decided to combine his background with affiliate marketing in the poker space, focusing on building a brand and then expanding beyond poker to slots and sport sites. It was when doing brand deals with influencers, aided by Brett who worked in media, that they realized things weren’t yet adding up. The influencers were paying them a fraction of what the money the friends were making for them.
So they decided to do that part themselves, and promote SpinQuest as the first social casino ever to not be a major VC-backed corporation.
It was a bumpy start.
Banks weren’t interested initially. The team couldn’t put $10m together, and personality only goes so far when you need capital backing. This part is the end of so many founders’ journeys, when dreams meet reality.
Just as Robby was determined to take care of his friends when he had resources, he took responsibility for the very real chance that he had encouraged his friends to risk it all in backing his vision. He and the others in the video recall the “SpinQuest dark days” and the worry of financial ruin with nothing to show for it. However, Robby kept his cards close to his chest, as always; Brett says in the interview that he was amazed at how he hadn’t truly realized just how worried Robby was during those times.
Robby Mier and the SpinQuest team were determined that they wouldn’t fail where so many others had. Their advantage? The strategic, logical approach and the readiness to accept risk as a part of reward that Robby had developed through a lifetime of playing video games, gambling with his friends, and dirt biking.
When SpinQuest finally launched, the team went into overdrive, investing every dollar earned back into growing the platform. They had poured everything into making SpinQuest succeed, and their efforts paid off – the platform quickly rose to the top of the social casino scene with unique games, merchandise, and branding that competitors weren’t offering.
Players bought into the enthusiasm and personal vibe of the platform. Robby and the team put themselves at the forefront of their marketing strategy, showing that they were real players who loved the game, and not just another faceless VC-backed platform.
They focused on building a loyal SpinQuest community, hosting events and running promotions – in one event, they turned an entire ski lodge into a mini-SpinQuest casino, inviting players to come and play live with the team. As mentioned earlier, generosity builds loyalty, and this early investment in attracting players to the brand paid off as players bought into the vision just as Robby’s friends had before SpinQuest launched.
Community continues to be a focus for SpinQuest’s founder. Robby and the team haven’t forgotten their small-town roots and philanthropy is a big part of turning SpinQuest’s success into positive stories. Nick recalls how Robby matched them all $5,000 to give back to their communities personally, which let him give 20 single moms from his hometown a day of free shopping. Bluff was able to put on a Winter Wonderland event for kids in his hometown, and recalls “Imagine a friend saying, ‘I’m going to give you $100,000 so you can give away free toys?’”
In Robby’s words, “Why not give back? Why not create these experiences?” The difference between what Robby Mier has been able to achieve as SpinQuest’s founder and what he could achieve as a poker player shows that the vision held true. The strategy, the risk tolerance, and the support of close friends and community is what keeps driving SpinQuest forwards today.
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