Pokemon card game competitive play has a world championship, a global tournament circuit, and kids making tens of thousands of dollars. Most adults still think it is a cartoon with some stuffies attached. Both of those things are true at the same time.

What is it like to grow up being the kid at the card store every Saturday morning and realize twenty years later that was the beginning of a career? Ciaran Farah has played tournaments on five continents. He coaches now. The kids he works with are earning real money in prize pools while playing a game that is, in the simplest possible terms, poker meets chess. Strategy and skill with just enough chance that every game feels different.

The million-dollar cards are just fancy versions of the one-dollar cards. Pikachu works the same either way. The people fighting over packs at Costco are collectors. The players are in a completely separate orbit and mostly grateful for it.

Topics: Pokemon card game competitive, Pokemon TCG tournaments, professional Pokemon player, Pokemon coaching, 1998 throwback Thursday

GUEST: Ciaran Farah

Originally aired on2026-04-16