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The Setup by Dan Bilzerian
The much-anticipated memoir of Dan Bilzerian is here! Dan takes readers on a wild ride, from his anything-but-normal childhood, to the insanity that has followed him on his journey to becoming one of the most famous people in the world. Read about his upbringing, military service, gambling, guns and other toys, and about girls. Lots of girls. And for the first time, Dan talks openly about how he was able to live unapologetically live his dreams using a simple method that he calls The Setup. The Setup is jam-packed with crazy stories and incredible photos that bring readers into the world of Dan Bilzerian.
495 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2021
209 people are currently reading
2301 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
June 7, 2022
It absolutely did not disappoint. After seeing Michael Sartain's podcast with Dan Bilzerian, I became even more excited to read the book.
"Inviting a girl to join us for something we were doing anyway made it a lot easier to talk to them, increased our success rate, and showed less interest than randomly approaching them. Then by doing something fun together, we could avoid the forced conversation and pressure that makes a regular date awkward."
This book is not a highlight reel, but an autobiography with many successes and failures, and snippets of golden advice along the way that make all the difference in social skills, attraction and dating. Haters will say Dan was a 'trust fund kid', but this man had a lot of struggles inside and out. He went through extremely tough times, and it really motivated me to get my shit together, get more organized, and take more action in all areas of my life. Now I am doing much better.
For more books similar to this, see:
The Game (2005)
The Message Game (2020)
The Setup takes on a title in the same pattern as the two above, and so the three are an amazing trilogy to look at.
"Inviting a girl to join us for something we were doing anyway made it a lot easier to talk to them, increased our success rate, and showed less interest than randomly approaching them. Then by doing something fun together, we could avoid the forced conversation and pressure that makes a regular date awkward."
This book is not a highlight reel, but an autobiography with many successes and failures, and snippets of golden advice along the way that make all the difference in social skills, attraction and dating. Haters will say Dan was a 'trust fund kid', but this man had a lot of struggles inside and out. He went through extremely tough times, and it really motivated me to get my shit together, get more organized, and take more action in all areas of my life. Now I am doing much better.
For more books similar to this, see:
The Game (2005)
The Message Game (2020)
The Setup takes on a title in the same pattern as the two above, and so the three are an amazing trilogy to look at.
November 25, 2021
I am not the target audience for this book. I'm not entirely sure who the target audience is, but I suspect it is actually high school or college boys. He even mentions not starting steroids until you're fully grown, clearly directed to teens. I didn't know much about Bilzerian before this book, but I read it hoping to get some poker content. There were certainly some poker stories and a depiction of the lifestyle of someone making the rounds of some high stakes private games and heads up matches. Most of the book was just endless bragging about everything. He even managed to somehow brag about failing college and the military. He lays bare his motivations: Toughness. Above all else he wants to be tough and to prove this toughness to literally everyone including random bloggers. To Bilzerian, being tough would mean he deserves everything and is really authentic and independent despite the obvious. If you don't value performative toughness it will be hard to see any redeeming qualities in the main character. Overall, I would recommend this book because it was an easy and entertaining read. However, it read very much like a self-published work. Not with lack of editing or proofreading, but, ironically, with the setup. I think he could actually be a very strong writer with a little more organization and a little less desperation for an authoritative voice that doesn't exist. I'd like to see him write some sort of Chicken Soup for the Degenerate Soul or something.
January 5, 2022
Biography? more like Fiction
October 26, 2021
Dan’s setup was and is brilliant. You can tell he put a lot of thought and effort into the book to take us on his unfiltered journey. I have followed Dan’s Instagram since high school and appreciate his Alpha mentality (probably an unpopular opinion for a woman on the outside). This was a fun read that stayed interesting at all times. Respect.
I will add to any offended feminist that states, “Dan objectifies women”… all those women made a choice! Which is as feminist and freeing as it gets!
I will add to any offended feminist that states, “Dan objectifies women”… all those women made a choice! Which is as feminist and freeing as it gets!
September 16, 2021
Everybody has at least one incredible story of some event in their life that whenever you tell others about it, you wonder if they think you were full of shit. Now imagine listening to over a hundred different, yet at times even more incredible, stories from the same person. Well, that is exactly what Tampa Dan, Bilzt, Mr. Bilzerian, a.k.a. King of Instagram, has given us in his unbelievable tales of adventure, failure, gambling, SEAL training, drugs, guns and girls (in the thousands) leaving most readers wondering WTF!
Needless to say, all the details in the world don’t make the stories true but he does something in this disturbingly honest autobiography that others could learn from by including testimonials, or as he calls them, vignettes from the famous people who were witnesses to the craziness. At times these vignettes make the stories that Dan tells seem understated, if that is even possible!
Yet it is what lies beneath the surface, hidden in the corners of these tales that make for a surprisingly interesting read. A counter-intuitive wisdom where Dan is often telling you stories where he shares his own surprises about shit that he thought he understood. Somewhat like the “Be careful what you wish for because you may just get it” tale when getting it all is not enough. His Pleasure vs. Happiness chapter near the end says it all as this man, who has definitely had his share of failures and successes, shares insights that could save millions of people from going blindly down a similar path…
In the end, he clearly states that his book is not a self-help guide, because you probably couldn’t do half the shit he has gotten away with, but what looms over the entire story is why do shit that doesn’t make you happy? A great lesson from an unexpected source.
Needless to say, all the details in the world don’t make the stories true but he does something in this disturbingly honest autobiography that others could learn from by including testimonials, or as he calls them, vignettes from the famous people who were witnesses to the craziness. At times these vignettes make the stories that Dan tells seem understated, if that is even possible!
Yet it is what lies beneath the surface, hidden in the corners of these tales that make for a surprisingly interesting read. A counter-intuitive wisdom where Dan is often telling you stories where he shares his own surprises about shit that he thought he understood. Somewhat like the “Be careful what you wish for because you may just get it” tale when getting it all is not enough. His Pleasure vs. Happiness chapter near the end says it all as this man, who has definitely had his share of failures and successes, shares insights that could save millions of people from going blindly down a similar path…
In the end, he clearly states that his book is not a self-help guide, because you probably couldn’t do half the shit he has gotten away with, but what looms over the entire story is why do shit that doesn’t make you happy? A great lesson from an unexpected source.
July 5, 2022
I somehow ended up feeling sorry for Dan by the end of this book. He lives a crazy life and seems to have it all but never seems that happy. The more famous he gets the more crazy his lifestyle becomes and he can't keep up.
I did enjoy getting his side of the story on how he made his money. Although he says he grinded his way up from small stakes all the way to playing billionaires I still believe it was a front to launder his dad's dirty money from his trust fund.
Some crazy stories but pretty light on anything insightful and often pretty repetitive.
I did enjoy getting his side of the story on how he made his money. Although he says he grinded his way up from small stakes all the way to playing billionaires I still believe it was a front to launder his dad's dirty money from his trust fund.
Some crazy stories but pretty light on anything insightful and often pretty repetitive.
December 1, 2021
Transparent, but destructive tale of the perils of opulence, fame, and excess.
February 9, 2025
Epilogue
In all likelihood, Oprah will not have me on to cry about my inspirational story. My tale isn’t the usual feel-good transformation that makes for clearly defined self-help books. I am the guy who doesn’t conform to social norms, who doesn’t follow the rules—a sort of antihero at best.
But I did overcome, and I did it my way.
And you can too.
No, you can not...
As a Turkish proverb says, "You can't learn to swim from a book and expect to survive in the sea." Unfortunately, I read this book at the wrong time—when I had just met Dan. Over the past few months, I’ve liked his views on Palestine and his reflections on his own hedonism. In my opinion, he is an incredibly fascinating personality, even a game-changer in some ways, and time will tell how genuine he truly is.
I was mistaken in thinking this book would describe his transformation because it was actually published in 2021, something I only realized towards the end of the book. It’s filled with countless details about his private and sexual life, which are absolutely irrelevant to anyone else. I also don’t quite understand why he remembers so many unnecessary details.
At the beginning of the book, there are only self-centered comments and analyses, but once he gains fame, about 70% of the book shifts to fantasies that resemble cheap, third-rate novels. It’s definitely a bad book. He made some attempt to write about the events that shaped him, which is, at the very least, the point of writing a meaningful book. But overall, it fails to deliver.
The lesson: Never gamble when the game is rigged…unless you rigged it.
*****
“the grass is always greener”?
*****
“It will be interesting to watch Dan grow up,” the headmaster said. “He will either become president of the United States or a master criminal.”
*****
Approach, approach, approach. Volume is the key. The more you fail, the less you will care, and the less you care, the more you will succeed.
*****
My whole life Dad had taught me to always tell the truth. But he didn’t give me any lessons on dealing with the police, where the truth was not always on your side. Considering he was a convicted felon and I was in constant trouble, that was the kind of mentoring I could really have benefitted from.
*****
Piss-Poor Performance—was a long-winded military way of saying my mantra: Life is all in the setup.
*****
Your mouth will get tired of telling me what to do before my body gets tired doing it.
*****
It felt good to tell my professor to fuck off.
*****
“It’s better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way.”
Alan Watts
*****
It wasn’t really that I was fearless; I was worried the plane could explode, being that it was on fire. I was just so irritated and embarrassed by the situation that my pride trumped my self-preservation. I figured, like the captain who goes down with his ship, I would stay on, and if God wanted to shit on my head, then so be it.
*****
Leonardo DiCaprio told a mutual friend that he wanted to meet me, and I was thrilled. But between the impossibly loud music and the Quaaludes I had eaten, I couldn’t communicate for shit. I felt like a slurring retard. Not knowing what to say, I offered him one of my few precious Quaaludes. He politely declined after telling me he’d never tried them before. We yelled, smiled, and raised our eyebrows like we were communicating for about thirty seconds. I gave him a fist bump and headed back to my table. I couldn’t help but find it ironic that the guy who informed the younger generation about Ludes had never even eaten one.
I wish I had a better DiCaprio story, but a woman did tell me that a few months prior, she was in a club with him when he was growing out his beard for The Revenant. She told me he jumped on the table and shouted, “I have this beard and all these women! I’m like Dan Bilzerian!” I didn’t believe her at the time, but he knew who I was, and it’d be a strange thing to make up.
*****
Dan was like the Eiffel Tower to hedonism.
*****
One of the problems with being a celebrity is that the media can just print lies, and you have no real recourse. Denzel Washington once told a reporter, “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed; if you do read it, you’re misinformed. We live in a society where it’s just first. Who cares? Get it out there. We don’t care who it hurts, we don’t care who we destroy, we don’t care if it’s true. Just say it, sell it. Anything you practice, you’ll get good at—including BS.”
*****
International Incident
Three months after moving into the Ignite house, my father insisted I become an Armenian citizen.
Disillusioned by the way he’d been treated by the United States judicial system, my father had moved to St. Kitts and gotten my brother and I citizenship down there. He’d renounced his US citizenship and acquired Armenian citizenship as well and wanted my brother Adam and me to become Armenian citizens. He held meetings with high-ranking government officials, and they agreed, but first Adam and I would need to actually travel to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
I grabbed a couple girls, fired up the jet, took an Ambien, had sex, and passed out for pretty much the rest of the ride. A ton of paparazzi were camped out at the airport, but the last thing I wanted to do after a long flight was be photographed, so we hurried through the airport and went to the hotel. There are only three million Armenians in the country, and it felt like every single one of them knew me. We were mobbed everywhere.
Dad had a full schedule for us. First, we completed the paperwork, met with some government officials, and then received our passports. The military set up a day of shooting, but evidently didn’t think it was important to disclose that it would take place in a disputed territory. Every gun in their military armory was laid out and ready. Pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, grenade launchers—you name it. All the way up to tanks. I shot everything, and my brother and the girls also got off some rounds. Finally, they gave me a rocket launcher and instructed me fire it into the side of a mountain.
*****
The following day, Azerbaijan issued an international warrant for my arrest. According to them, that mountain was attached to Azerbaijan, and they didn’t appreciate me firing a rocket into it.
I wasn’t far from Thailand, where my buddy Tarzan and Jay Rich were already shooting a music video for Ashanti. So I figured I’d hang with them and then just fly my plane the rest of the way around the world for the first time.
The next day, I arrived at Sri Panwa, a really high-end resort in Phuket owned by a rich Asian named Wan. He was friends with Jay and a gracious host, allowing me to stay in a $17 million villa for free. I wanted to give his resort a shout-out on social media, but I worried that Azerbaijanis would show up with ski masks and AK-47s and extradite me to their country to rot in prison. This wasn’t a totally sarcastic concern as the incident was getting international press, and I was now a pawn in their land dispute.
Meanwhile, all this high-profile activity, the good and the bad, had only served to help my brand awareness. The Ignite vape pen won the Best CBD Vape Pen category at the High Times Cannabis Cup. They sent the trophy to my villa in Phuket, and we set up a quick photo with a curvaceous model. In front of the infinity pool, she bent over at the waist, nude, while I perched the hardware right above her ass. It quickly became one of my most liked posts.
*****
“The devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.”
Tucker Max
In all likelihood, Oprah will not have me on to cry about my inspirational story. My tale isn’t the usual feel-good transformation that makes for clearly defined self-help books. I am the guy who doesn’t conform to social norms, who doesn’t follow the rules—a sort of antihero at best.
But I did overcome, and I did it my way.
And you can too.
No, you can not...
As a Turkish proverb says, "You can't learn to swim from a book and expect to survive in the sea." Unfortunately, I read this book at the wrong time—when I had just met Dan. Over the past few months, I’ve liked his views on Palestine and his reflections on his own hedonism. In my opinion, he is an incredibly fascinating personality, even a game-changer in some ways, and time will tell how genuine he truly is.
I was mistaken in thinking this book would describe his transformation because it was actually published in 2021, something I only realized towards the end of the book. It’s filled with countless details about his private and sexual life, which are absolutely irrelevant to anyone else. I also don’t quite understand why he remembers so many unnecessary details.
At the beginning of the book, there are only self-centered comments and analyses, but once he gains fame, about 70% of the book shifts to fantasies that resemble cheap, third-rate novels. It’s definitely a bad book. He made some attempt to write about the events that shaped him, which is, at the very least, the point of writing a meaningful book. But overall, it fails to deliver.
The lesson: Never gamble when the game is rigged…unless you rigged it.
*****
“the grass is always greener”?
*****
“It will be interesting to watch Dan grow up,” the headmaster said. “He will either become president of the United States or a master criminal.”
*****
Approach, approach, approach. Volume is the key. The more you fail, the less you will care, and the less you care, the more you will succeed.
*****
My whole life Dad had taught me to always tell the truth. But he didn’t give me any lessons on dealing with the police, where the truth was not always on your side. Considering he was a convicted felon and I was in constant trouble, that was the kind of mentoring I could really have benefitted from.
*****
Piss-Poor Performance—was a long-winded military way of saying my mantra: Life is all in the setup.
*****
Your mouth will get tired of telling me what to do before my body gets tired doing it.
*****
It felt good to tell my professor to fuck off.
*****
“It’s better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way.”
Alan Watts
*****
It wasn’t really that I was fearless; I was worried the plane could explode, being that it was on fire. I was just so irritated and embarrassed by the situation that my pride trumped my self-preservation. I figured, like the captain who goes down with his ship, I would stay on, and if God wanted to shit on my head, then so be it.
*****
Leonardo DiCaprio told a mutual friend that he wanted to meet me, and I was thrilled. But between the impossibly loud music and the Quaaludes I had eaten, I couldn’t communicate for shit. I felt like a slurring retard. Not knowing what to say, I offered him one of my few precious Quaaludes. He politely declined after telling me he’d never tried them before. We yelled, smiled, and raised our eyebrows like we were communicating for about thirty seconds. I gave him a fist bump and headed back to my table. I couldn’t help but find it ironic that the guy who informed the younger generation about Ludes had never even eaten one.
I wish I had a better DiCaprio story, but a woman did tell me that a few months prior, she was in a club with him when he was growing out his beard for The Revenant. She told me he jumped on the table and shouted, “I have this beard and all these women! I’m like Dan Bilzerian!” I didn’t believe her at the time, but he knew who I was, and it’d be a strange thing to make up.
*****
Dan was like the Eiffel Tower to hedonism.
*****
One of the problems with being a celebrity is that the media can just print lies, and you have no real recourse. Denzel Washington once told a reporter, “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed; if you do read it, you’re misinformed. We live in a society where it’s just first. Who cares? Get it out there. We don’t care who it hurts, we don’t care who we destroy, we don’t care if it’s true. Just say it, sell it. Anything you practice, you’ll get good at—including BS.”
*****
International Incident
Three months after moving into the Ignite house, my father insisted I become an Armenian citizen.
Disillusioned by the way he’d been treated by the United States judicial system, my father had moved to St. Kitts and gotten my brother and I citizenship down there. He’d renounced his US citizenship and acquired Armenian citizenship as well and wanted my brother Adam and me to become Armenian citizens. He held meetings with high-ranking government officials, and they agreed, but first Adam and I would need to actually travel to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
I grabbed a couple girls, fired up the jet, took an Ambien, had sex, and passed out for pretty much the rest of the ride. A ton of paparazzi were camped out at the airport, but the last thing I wanted to do after a long flight was be photographed, so we hurried through the airport and went to the hotel. There are only three million Armenians in the country, and it felt like every single one of them knew me. We were mobbed everywhere.
Dad had a full schedule for us. First, we completed the paperwork, met with some government officials, and then received our passports. The military set up a day of shooting, but evidently didn’t think it was important to disclose that it would take place in a disputed territory. Every gun in their military armory was laid out and ready. Pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, grenade launchers—you name it. All the way up to tanks. I shot everything, and my brother and the girls also got off some rounds. Finally, they gave me a rocket launcher and instructed me fire it into the side of a mountain.
*****
The following day, Azerbaijan issued an international warrant for my arrest. According to them, that mountain was attached to Azerbaijan, and they didn’t appreciate me firing a rocket into it.
I wasn’t far from Thailand, where my buddy Tarzan and Jay Rich were already shooting a music video for Ashanti. So I figured I’d hang with them and then just fly my plane the rest of the way around the world for the first time.
The next day, I arrived at Sri Panwa, a really high-end resort in Phuket owned by a rich Asian named Wan. He was friends with Jay and a gracious host, allowing me to stay in a $17 million villa for free. I wanted to give his resort a shout-out on social media, but I worried that Azerbaijanis would show up with ski masks and AK-47s and extradite me to their country to rot in prison. This wasn’t a totally sarcastic concern as the incident was getting international press, and I was now a pawn in their land dispute.
Meanwhile, all this high-profile activity, the good and the bad, had only served to help my brand awareness. The Ignite vape pen won the Best CBD Vape Pen category at the High Times Cannabis Cup. They sent the trophy to my villa in Phuket, and we set up a quick photo with a curvaceous model. In front of the infinity pool, she bent over at the waist, nude, while I perched the hardware right above her ass. It quickly became one of my most liked posts.
*****
“The devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.”
Tucker Max
January 11, 2022
This book was nothing else but crazy. Probably not going to win a prize in literature but an entertaining read nonetheless. Some recurrent themes got a bit tiring but was still fascinating. The story of the life of a poker, playboy millionaire. Not advised for the younger audience.
February 1, 2022
A good and simple read of Dan’s hedonistic lifestyle
Content 5/5 ⭐️
Style of writing 2/5 ⭐️
The Setup mantra 4/5 ⭐️
Content 5/5 ⭐️
Style of writing 2/5 ⭐️
The Setup mantra 4/5 ⭐️
October 26, 2021
Nice 'low brainer' book. I enjoyed it, and it gave me some answers that I've asked myself before like 'who is Dan really' and 'how is he handling all this stuff emotionally'. Only remark that I have is that the last part of the book is written 'quickly, to finish the book'. If he went somehow more in depth in the last part, just like he did in the first part of the book, it would have make the book 'more complete'.
April 26, 2022
A full autobiography by dan? Yes, please.
Dan tries to be as honest in his biography as lawyers and government prosecutors will allow him to be.
Further digging into the actual lawsuits and arrest warrants on his dad, and the complete absence of using ignite as a piggy bank, or a large unpaid hundred thousand dollar social-marketing agency bill reveal that Dan is skipping a few things here and there.
But generally, as men, we are reading this book to get a grasp of how someone can get god-mode success with women.
The setup is a bit light on this topic, other than, Dan getting famous when a girl was stroking his beard on live television, and posting a couple instagram pics of himself doing cool things with hot chicks (and having the money to do it helps).
Perhaps, that's really all there is to it? Get instagram/social-media famous, and then use that as a status symbol?
Paraphrasing: 'money can 2-times your success with women, while status will 100-times your success with women'.
Unfortunately, there is no direct, reproducible way to the level of god-like fame that Dan has.
You could perhaps do it with a large marketing budget, but even then, what is the 'tipping-point (Malcolm Gladwell), where it all starts to snow-ball?
This book is more of a fun story, with a couple field-reports of Dan's sexual experiences, and how things gradually fell into place, and snow-balled with social media.
Moral of the story? Get status. Cool :)
Dan tries to be as honest in his biography as lawyers and government prosecutors will allow him to be.
Further digging into the actual lawsuits and arrest warrants on his dad, and the complete absence of using ignite as a piggy bank, or a large unpaid hundred thousand dollar social-marketing agency bill reveal that Dan is skipping a few things here and there.
But generally, as men, we are reading this book to get a grasp of how someone can get god-mode success with women.
The setup is a bit light on this topic, other than, Dan getting famous when a girl was stroking his beard on live television, and posting a couple instagram pics of himself doing cool things with hot chicks (and having the money to do it helps).
Perhaps, that's really all there is to it? Get instagram/social-media famous, and then use that as a status symbol?
Paraphrasing: 'money can 2-times your success with women, while status will 100-times your success with women'.
Unfortunately, there is no direct, reproducible way to the level of god-like fame that Dan has.
You could perhaps do it with a large marketing budget, but even then, what is the 'tipping-point (Malcolm Gladwell), where it all starts to snow-ball?
This book is more of a fun story, with a couple field-reports of Dan's sexual experiences, and how things gradually fell into place, and snow-balled with social media.
Moral of the story? Get status. Cool :)
Read
December 15, 2024I gotta be honest! This is one of the most visual books I've ever read. Lol, I was enthralled. Make its because its a deep seated desire I always wanted to experience. Taking me out out of it was really beautifully put together. The chapters are short and seems like only the important details were put into it. Overall There's a lot to learn from this in the form of learning from others experience and seeing the depth. There's also lessons that aren't convert directly that shed light on lot of things. Really enjoyed !
Back for a 2nd review!! After readi g jt again what I've Taki g away is that everything you want in life in any domain is truly Ib the setup!!
Back for a 2nd review!! After readi g jt again what I've Taki g away is that everything you want in life in any domain is truly Ib the setup!!
March 24, 2022
I kept telling my husband how much Dan infuriated me while I read this book. I wanted so badly to find depth and less “she sucked my d*ck”. I never found the depth But this search kept me awake 3 nights in a row until I finished the book. And your stories and story-telling were pretty good. So Dan, you win again. Only giving you 3 stars because you don’t *spoiler alert* go down on your ladies. Ha ha
September 22, 2022
Recommended for those who wish to learn from arguably the biggest social media celebrity in history how to create an environment (in Dan's case, social, financial, and sexual) that does the work for you rather than having to work from scratch with every attempt at getting what you want.
November 16, 2021
this is my new favorite book of all time
August 21, 2024
'You can't trust someone you don't have dirt on' - Dan Bilzerian
The only low point of Dan's was when he went broke. And then he played poker to earn back his money - not a good strategy for anyone. Well, we don't have any dirt on Dan after reading his book - making it less relatable!
The entire book is one but adventure after another-which gets boring and repetitive after a point. There are small nuggets of wisdom at places but it is majorly entertaining with you really need to be patient to get any wisdom out of it and will find other books that are better off for that.
He did come across as fearless and humble due to what people say about him in the book, though, probably he had a lot of people say things about him and kept the ones that were more flattering.
It was interesting to know how he created his 'setup' with the aim of hot girls chasing his attention. His core setup philosophy is pretty smart - create an environment with a sexual overtone - with a lot of hot girls and less guys - demand and supply takes care of the rest. It helped he needed a lot of money and was born into it. On the other side, a person has to be really honest to admit to himself these hedonistic desires as their main goal in life for such an extended period especially to themselves.
All in all I believe luck had a big factor in his life, the story is all glamour not the complete picture and that while Dan may be smart and honest, he definitely is not the transparent type-atleast in his memoir.
Some of his thoughts around women and sex were interesting, some were controversial. But all of them made me ponder:
1. Jealousy and competition make you more attractive to women
2. Nothing can bring a mindset of abundance around women than a real abundance of women.
3. People who should be getting laid a lot, often don't because of a bad setup
4. If a woman says no even if you know she wants it, close the lights turn off the music and go to sleep and be respectful. Since she sees you don't care, it'll be attractive. Even if you never meet again, she'll respect you which is much better than begging for sex like most guys do and getting shot down.
5. If a woman loves you too much she will do anything and be anyone to be with you. It's a turn off if a person loses their individuality for you.
6. Inviting a girl to join you for an activity you are doing anyway makes it a lot easier to talk to them
7. If you stop using condoms going back to using them is hard. So better keep using.
8. Carbs and hydration are important to keep erect. Alcohol kills hard ons. Weed helps.
9. Making a woman feel that she had to earn your validation makes her that much more interested in you. It is always better to add a little chase
Other things I learnt:
1. Decide what you want. Create a setup to get it with minimal effort
2. Perspective is important. Happiness is a perspective
3. It is often good to bend the rules or create new ones
4. The desire for more breeds a desire for more and no satisfaction
5. Riches, girls, fame don't bring happiness the way we think they might
6. Never give up
The epilogue at the end was especially motivating and easily the best part of the book:
Setup is about deciding what you want and setting up your life that way. You pay now or pay later. So pay up your dues early so you don't have to later. In the long run it saves untold time and effort.
The only low point of Dan's was when he went broke. And then he played poker to earn back his money - not a good strategy for anyone. Well, we don't have any dirt on Dan after reading his book - making it less relatable!
The entire book is one but adventure after another-which gets boring and repetitive after a point. There are small nuggets of wisdom at places but it is majorly entertaining with you really need to be patient to get any wisdom out of it and will find other books that are better off for that.
He did come across as fearless and humble due to what people say about him in the book, though, probably he had a lot of people say things about him and kept the ones that were more flattering.
It was interesting to know how he created his 'setup' with the aim of hot girls chasing his attention. His core setup philosophy is pretty smart - create an environment with a sexual overtone - with a lot of hot girls and less guys - demand and supply takes care of the rest. It helped he needed a lot of money and was born into it. On the other side, a person has to be really honest to admit to himself these hedonistic desires as their main goal in life for such an extended period especially to themselves.
All in all I believe luck had a big factor in his life, the story is all glamour not the complete picture and that while Dan may be smart and honest, he definitely is not the transparent type-atleast in his memoir.
Some of his thoughts around women and sex were interesting, some were controversial. But all of them made me ponder:
1. Jealousy and competition make you more attractive to women
2. Nothing can bring a mindset of abundance around women than a real abundance of women.
3. People who should be getting laid a lot, often don't because of a bad setup
4. If a woman says no even if you know she wants it, close the lights turn off the music and go to sleep and be respectful. Since she sees you don't care, it'll be attractive. Even if you never meet again, she'll respect you which is much better than begging for sex like most guys do and getting shot down.
5. If a woman loves you too much she will do anything and be anyone to be with you. It's a turn off if a person loses their individuality for you.
6. Inviting a girl to join you for an activity you are doing anyway makes it a lot easier to talk to them
7. If you stop using condoms going back to using them is hard. So better keep using.
8. Carbs and hydration are important to keep erect. Alcohol kills hard ons. Weed helps.
9. Making a woman feel that she had to earn your validation makes her that much more interested in you. It is always better to add a little chase
Other things I learnt:
1. Decide what you want. Create a setup to get it with minimal effort
2. Perspective is important. Happiness is a perspective
3. It is often good to bend the rules or create new ones
4. The desire for more breeds a desire for more and no satisfaction
5. Riches, girls, fame don't bring happiness the way we think they might
6. Never give up
The epilogue at the end was especially motivating and easily the best part of the book:
Setup is about deciding what you want and setting up your life that way. You pay now or pay later. So pay up your dues early so you don't have to later. In the long run it saves untold time and effort.
July 2, 2025
Had an 18-year-old me read this book, he would have died from jealousy over the lifestyle Dan so succinctly described in this autobiography of his. Unfortunately, I'm not a walking hormonal bomb anymore, ready to explode with this weird-smelling, unexpectedly sticky, pearl-coloured substance at the slightest touch of a woman.
I bet that the part of the book I found to be the most interesting one, everyone else would find to be the least engaging and captivating - of course I'm talking about the first half.
As soon as Dan Bilzerian becomes the Dan Bilzerian the world knows, the sequence of events becomes too repetitive: poker, partying, poker, girls, drugs, women, partying, females, and so on. Yeah, it's a collection of fun and crazy stories, which as well could be told on any of the countless podcasts he has gone on since then.
But the book accomplishes the goal of portraying Dan for who he really is, shattering the uncomplimentary image anyone could have formed about him thanks to his own IG page, and the ever-provocative and baiting news headlines... or you could just listen to any of his podcasts to get rid of all the unjust prejudices anyway.
That being said, the life Dan has lived through had to be eternalized on pages of a book so we, mere mortal peasants, could at least for 10 hours forget about our own shallow existences, and glimpse into what living life to its fullest really looks like. I'm not necessarily speaking about losing yourself in a seemingly endless cycle of hedonism (though if you're into that kind of thing - godspeed) - everyone should have their own idea of what living a fulfilling life is all about. This book proves that everything is possible - it's all a matter of the right setup.
I bet that the part of the book I found to be the most interesting one, everyone else would find to be the least engaging and captivating - of course I'm talking about the first half.
As soon as Dan Bilzerian becomes the Dan Bilzerian the world knows, the sequence of events becomes too repetitive: poker, partying, poker, girls, drugs, women, partying, females, and so on. Yeah, it's a collection of fun and crazy stories, which as well could be told on any of the countless podcasts he has gone on since then.
But the book accomplishes the goal of portraying Dan for who he really is, shattering the uncomplimentary image anyone could have formed about him thanks to his own IG page, and the ever-provocative and baiting news headlines... or you could just listen to any of his podcasts to get rid of all the unjust prejudices anyway.
That being said, the life Dan has lived through had to be eternalized on pages of a book so we, mere mortal peasants, could at least for 10 hours forget about our own shallow existences, and glimpse into what living life to its fullest really looks like. I'm not necessarily speaking about losing yourself in a seemingly endless cycle of hedonism (though if you're into that kind of thing - godspeed) - everyone should have their own idea of what living a fulfilling life is all about. This book proves that everything is possible - it's all a matter of the right setup.
November 12, 2024
did not work. was promised hot women in my area and went outside to find them and they did not talk to me. sigma society sold me a lie. my world is crumbling around me and i am developing psychologically incapacitiating trust issues and epistemological unrest. blue balls. dan i want to be like you and learn to Attract and Keep the Woman You Want, Without Needing Looks or Money. can we have one on one lessoins where you show me how to Attract and Keep the Woman You Want, Without Needing Looks or Money. i want to make her pursue you without needing Looks or Money. can u send me the 40+ HD Videos to teach me how to Attract and Keep the Woman You Want, Without Needing Looks or Money.
dan can u show me the 7 Chase Mechanisms, i am not very fast. do i need to get faster to do the 7 Chase Mechanisms or will i be able to catch the Woman You Want with my current speed. i read your book to discover the discover the "bold, unapologetic method he used to attract women in abundance, and live out his wildest dreams" (Dan, 2023) and it is not working two stars.
dan have you heard of YoungHoo Kim he is very smart iq of 199 and i think he has already Learn to Attract and Keep the Woman You Want, Without Needing Looks or Money do you think i can Learn to Attract and Keep the Woman You Want, Without Needing Looks or Money like YoungHoo Kim or do i need Scott Douglas Jacobsen to spread misinformation about my Seven Chase Methods so the women think i am already smart like YoungHoo and
dan be fucking fr 4 thousand dollars is crazy
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bilzarian, Dan, The Setup (Hardcover) (2023), Oxford University Press: Oxford.
dan can u show me the 7 Chase Mechanisms, i am not very fast. do i need to get faster to do the 7 Chase Mechanisms or will i be able to catch the Woman You Want with my current speed. i read your book to discover the discover the "bold, unapologetic method he used to attract women in abundance, and live out his wildest dreams" (Dan, 2023) and it is not working two stars.
dan have you heard of YoungHoo Kim he is very smart iq of 199 and i think he has already Learn to Attract and Keep the Woman You Want, Without Needing Looks or Money do you think i can Learn to Attract and Keep the Woman You Want, Without Needing Looks or Money like YoungHoo Kim or do i need Scott Douglas Jacobsen to spread misinformation about my Seven Chase Methods so the women think i am already smart like YoungHoo and
dan be fucking fr 4 thousand dollars is crazy
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bilzarian, Dan, The Setup (Hardcover) (2023), Oxford University Press: Oxford.
October 1, 2023
It seems Bret Easton Ellis took a gamble in trying to recapture the provocative magic of American Psycho in this lackluster spinoff, but the results are unfortunately tedious without any of the redeeming shock value.
Rather than offering scathing satire, the long-winded diatribes about designer brands and trendy restaurants come off as shallow name dropping without Patrick Bateman's violent derangement to anchor them. The antihero this time around feels like a rudderless rich kid seeking validation, not a searing indictment of toxic masculinity and capitalism.
While the contemporary setting provides fertile ground for timely commentary on wealth and privilege, the execution lacks the biting wit that made the original so compelling. Ellis relies too heavily on the assumption that extended passages of mind-numbing minutiae will land with the same power as his earlier work. But without the uproarious spectacle of Bateman's heinous acts balancing out the banality, the vacuousness goes from deliberate to unbearable.
Some may argue the lack of outrageous violence makes the monotony more high-brow this time. But American Psycho worked so effectively because its provocative satire was paired with pulpy amusement. This feels like a hollow imitation of the style without the substance to sustain it. Perhaps there are layers I'm not picking up on, but as a spinoff to a sardonic and subversive classic, I was left disappointed.
Rather than offering scathing satire, the long-winded diatribes about designer brands and trendy restaurants come off as shallow name dropping without Patrick Bateman's violent derangement to anchor them. The antihero this time around feels like a rudderless rich kid seeking validation, not a searing indictment of toxic masculinity and capitalism.
While the contemporary setting provides fertile ground for timely commentary on wealth and privilege, the execution lacks the biting wit that made the original so compelling. Ellis relies too heavily on the assumption that extended passages of mind-numbing minutiae will land with the same power as his earlier work. But without the uproarious spectacle of Bateman's heinous acts balancing out the banality, the vacuousness goes from deliberate to unbearable.
Some may argue the lack of outrageous violence makes the monotony more high-brow this time. But American Psycho worked so effectively because its provocative satire was paired with pulpy amusement. This feels like a hollow imitation of the style without the substance to sustain it. Perhaps there are layers I'm not picking up on, but as a spinoff to a sardonic and subversive classic, I was left disappointed.
December 28, 2022
This book did a fair job on depicting Dan Bilzerian's early life and his time as a Navy Seal. It seems like he refrained from a ghost rider to write this book in his own words and perspective without sounding "too braggy" which I thought he did a good job with. However, over time, the book became redundant about his sex life, and I lost track of which female he was talking about. The situation became less shocking and just overdone toward the end of the book. The book was well written overall and had a surprisingly inspirational message toward the end of the book. I think some of the messages he gives to his main fanbase (usually young men) were fairly positive. I thought the ending of the book had some great advice about him as a role model, his views on money and power were insightful. He seems to have some insight on why he decided to go on the path to fame and the way he interacts with women and how it correlates to his younger insecurities of being rejected as a man which I was shocked to read the honesty. I have an appreciation for his authenticity overall and I expected the book to be about him bragging but it was more than that. He appears to be more than the modern-day Hugh Hefner and seems to be doing good things for our world with his charity work.
July 17, 2023
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to grow up a complete dweeb, get kicked out of Navy SEAL school on the last day, bet hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time at the Las Vegas poker tables, have sex with countless beautiful women on private planes or rockstars’ dressing rooms, and have two heart attacks? Dan Bilzerian doesn’t need to wonder, he found all this out before he turned 30 years old.
He has 33 million followers on Instagram and this self-written memoir explains how and why. His family history and gambling addiction explain his money. The steroid and narcotic use explain his size and coronary disease. The sex addiction explains the eye candy always hanging off his arms. As an author, “Tampa Dan” has no apparent shame in the person he has become, nor should he. “I wrote this book to tell my story, not to get people to like me.”
Readers of this book who have no idea who Bilzerian is will surely be disgusted with the words on the page. His social media followers, meanwhile, will probably find his written stories tame compared to his online posts. There are no life lessons here. No profound insights that are paradigm shifting. Just an endless supply of unbelievable tales, each more offensive and hilarious than the last.
He has 33 million followers on Instagram and this self-written memoir explains how and why. His family history and gambling addiction explain his money. The steroid and narcotic use explain his size and coronary disease. The sex addiction explains the eye candy always hanging off his arms. As an author, “Tampa Dan” has no apparent shame in the person he has become, nor should he. “I wrote this book to tell my story, not to get people to like me.”
Readers of this book who have no idea who Bilzerian is will surely be disgusted with the words on the page. His social media followers, meanwhile, will probably find his written stories tame compared to his online posts. There are no life lessons here. No profound insights that are paradigm shifting. Just an endless supply of unbelievable tales, each more offensive and hilarious than the last.
October 29, 2022
I try to rate a book based on how well I think the author did what they set out to do.
My best guess is that Dan wanted to tell his life story in an amusing way and elaborate a few lessons about the things he's figured out and learned along the way.
The book was highly entertaining, easy to read (binge-able), and has some wisdom sprinkled throughout, so he gets 5-stars from me.
The primary lesson is about positioning and environment design ("set up")... and how absurdly powerful they can become.
Put yourself in a position to win (however you choose to define winning) and winning becomes more probable. (Self-evident, but few people act on the knowledge despite how obvious it may seem). Dan's antics and wild stories show that this is true even at the very extreme.
The other big lesson is about accepting the world for how it is, then acting accordingly. Hence the quote at the beginning about the value of seeking the TRUTH. Successful people (defined by people who achieved what they set out to achieve) understand this better than most and consistently operate this way.
I'd recommend the book. It's vulgar, but that doesn't bother me.
My best guess is that Dan wanted to tell his life story in an amusing way and elaborate a few lessons about the things he's figured out and learned along the way.
The book was highly entertaining, easy to read (binge-able), and has some wisdom sprinkled throughout, so he gets 5-stars from me.
The primary lesson is about positioning and environment design ("set up")... and how absurdly powerful they can become.
Put yourself in a position to win (however you choose to define winning) and winning becomes more probable. (Self-evident, but few people act on the knowledge despite how obvious it may seem). Dan's antics and wild stories show that this is true even at the very extreme.
The other big lesson is about accepting the world for how it is, then acting accordingly. Hence the quote at the beginning about the value of seeking the TRUTH. Successful people (defined by people who achieved what they set out to achieve) understand this better than most and consistently operate this way.
I'd recommend the book. It's vulgar, but that doesn't bother me.
October 26, 2024
The Setup is surprisingly well-written and does a good job displaying the spectacle that Dan Blizerian's turned his life into. However, I don't think it lives up to the pitch that he has made for it on some podcasts of helping regular men find relationships. His "setup" is essentially useless except maybe if you are a degenerate trust fund kid trying to turn yourself into a serial womanizer. Most well-adjusted people seeking a monogamous relationship aren't going to try to win one woman over by having sex with other women in front of them. And most decently well-adjusted women wouldn't respond to that favorably. It's also notable that the few times Blizerian does try to sustain relationships in his book, they quickly collapse due to jealousy. If you do read The Setup without trying to learn from it, it won't disappoint in terms of spectacle, but it may start to drag a little and feel repetitive by the end.
June 9, 2022
What an exciting life Dan Bilzerian is living. This is obviously someone that never gets bored of doing fun activities. Maybe some people dislike him or thinks of him as a stupid immature playboy, but why do people judge others for simply just having fun. Are we all just supposed to live life the same way? (Go to school, get a job, get married, raise kids and leave the world). Obviously Dan doesn’t wish that life and I respect that.
It can seem like he is bragging about his lifestyle in a lot of places in his book, but maybe he just tells his life story and for us that don’t bang top models everyday and drive Ferraris it can seem like bragging. Maybe it is just a normal day for him. And he is just telling his story.
Gotta be the most funny and entertaining book that i have read, and it has become my favourite book.
It can seem like he is bragging about his lifestyle in a lot of places in his book, but maybe he just tells his life story and for us that don’t bang top models everyday and drive Ferraris it can seem like bragging. Maybe it is just a normal day for him. And he is just telling his story.
Gotta be the most funny and entertaining book that i have read, and it has become my favourite book.
January 30, 2022
This book has me so torn. On the one hand, it was quite entertaining. On the other, many parts were likely fiction.
It was surprisingly well-written, which was my chief concern going into it. Either he’s actually more intelligent than he seems, or he has some pretty good editors. He claims it wasn’t ghost written.
Most of the book was much deeper than just money and women, though it did devolve into that for the latter quarter. I eventually found myself skimming, which I rarely do, on principle.
If most of the book is factual, then Dan’s lived a pretty intense and overall impressive life (misogyny aside). Or, it may be that he’s the ultimate con man, weaving elaborate tales about how he came to be who he is today.
It was surprisingly well-written, which was my chief concern going into it. Either he’s actually more intelligent than he seems, or he has some pretty good editors. He claims it wasn’t ghost written.
Most of the book was much deeper than just money and women, though it did devolve into that for the latter quarter. I eventually found myself skimming, which I rarely do, on principle.
If most of the book is factual, then Dan’s lived a pretty intense and overall impressive life (misogyny aside). Or, it may be that he’s the ultimate con man, weaving elaborate tales about how he came to be who he is today.
October 22, 2025
Dan said he will use any advantage he can get to get the setup in his favor. He admitted multiple times he used steroids as his cheat. He didn’t mention lying and manipulation explicitly but you can read between the lines in this book. I feel sorry for the kids that look up to this guy and his lifestyle because this is just not reality and will never happen to anyone else in the way it happened for him. It’s just going to ruin their lives chasing what they think they want by whatever means possible as Dan has told his readers to do. His life kind of seems empty even tho he seems to have it all. Even Dan admits it at the end of the book, he’s on an endless treadmill that will never stop. He needs to be constantly medicated on hard drugs to just live his life.
What a terrible book.
What a terrible book.
November 3, 2021
Not as much of a personal development book, but Dan has one of the most ludacris and unbelievable lives I’ve ever seen. His perseverance and dedication to what he wanted in life allowed him to achieve all of it. I mean Dan has an INSANE life. Sex, guns, gorgeous women, weed, it’s crazy to read most of the stories and imagine them, but they’re all true. He set everything in his life up by staying committed and continuously doing the things he knew would get him to where he wanted to be. He may not be everyone’s favorite, but he is a remarkable person and this is a must-read book. Couldn’t put it down.
November 14, 2023
While not even close to a Pulitzer candidate, it’s still an interesting autobiographical retell of Bilzerian’s literally insane lifestyle. His obscene, reprehensible, lewd and, frankly, illegal behavior is also mixed with acts of heroism, philanthropy and extremely respectable, commendable, and impressive life feats (see completing BUD/S, twice).
Worth the money? While almost every story in here has been told across the various interviews and podcast appearances Bilzerian has done over the last several years, one does not actually need to pay for this book to get the same story. But if your curiosity desires a one-stop-shop reference, this is it.
Worth the money? While almost every story in here has been told across the various interviews and podcast appearances Bilzerian has done over the last several years, one does not actually need to pay for this book to get the same story. But if your curiosity desires a one-stop-shop reference, this is it.
October 12, 2021
Where do we start?!
Dan is a Legendary Figure, but contrary to the popular belief he isn’t special just a guy who figured out how to use The Setup hard work and perseverance to his advantage to achieve his goals & ambitions.
This book is filled with stories and ideas that will definitely help you in your own journey and goals and expand your brain to new possibilities.
Of course a lot of people hate Dan and his lifestyle calling him all sorts of names but that doesn’t change the fact that Dan is living the life most people dream about!
Must Read Book for people who want to utilize The Setup and get more from their life.
10/10
Dan is a Legendary Figure, but contrary to the popular belief he isn’t special just a guy who figured out how to use The Setup hard work and perseverance to his advantage to achieve his goals & ambitions.
This book is filled with stories and ideas that will definitely help you in your own journey and goals and expand your brain to new possibilities.
Of course a lot of people hate Dan and his lifestyle calling him all sorts of names but that doesn’t change the fact that Dan is living the life most people dream about!
Must Read Book for people who want to utilize The Setup and get more from their life.
10/10
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