Poker Stories

Faraz Jaka is a former World Poker Tour Player of the Year, and has more than $6.8 million in career live tournament earnings, to go along with another $4.3 million won online. The 34-year-old from San Jose, California has several notable final-table finishes on his poker resume, including runner-up showings at the Bellagio Cup for $774,780 and Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown for $454,496. He fi...

David Tuchman has one of poker's most well-known voices, having been in the commentator's booth for some of the biggest tournaments and cash games ever filmed. The New York-native got his start with Live At The Bike!, and then later Full Tilt's Million Dollar Cash Game. While living in London and covering the NFL and NASCAR for Sky Sports, Tuchman worked with PokerStars for online and live events....

Steve Albini is regarded as one of the top recording engineers in the world, and has been creating music with his bands Big Black, Rapeman, and Shellac, since 1981. As the owner of Electrical Audio in Chicago, Albini has produced thousands of albums and has worked with numerous notable acts such as Nirvana, Bush, The Pixies, The Breeders, Chevelle, PJ Harvey, Joanna Newsom, Jawbreaker, Robert Plan...

Eric Rodawig is considered to be a semi-professional poker player, having regularly maintained a day job, but he has managed to put together the poker resume of a solid pro despite a limited schedule on the tournament circuit. The 34-year-old Nebraska resident, who recently appeared on PokerGo's Dolly's Game broadcast, has five final-table appearances at the World Series of Poker, including a gold...

Antonio Esfandiari stole the attention of the poker world with his breakthrough victory in the 2004 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic main event, and he kept it by showing off his skills as a high-stakes prop gambler while keeping everyone else at the table entertained with his gregarious personality. Originally known at the tables as "The Magician," Esfandiari excelled as a staple of televised...

Kitty Kuo has always had gambling in her blood, taking weekend trips to Las Vegas for long blackjack sessions while studying at the University of Southern California. Although she ultimately got her master's degree in electrical engineering, it was poker that she chose to pursue as a profession. Despite being cut off by her parents for the decision, Kuo made the bold move to Vegas to chase her dre...

Dan Shak is not a professional poker player, but his tournament resume and travel schedule would lead you to believe otherwise. The 60-year-old New Jersey-native has spent the majority of his working time working as a hedge fund manager and commodities trader, and although he's been successful in his day job, poker has also treated him well with more than $10.6 million in tournament earnings. That...

Julien Martini is just 27 and has only been grinding the tournament circuit for a few years, but during that stretch he has been red hot, winning more than $4.5 million. It's enough to already place him in France's all-time tournament earnings top 10. Nearly $3 million of those cashes came in January of this year when he finished runner-up in the $25,000 buy-in PokerStars Players Championship. Mar...

Jamie Gold was just a teenager when he got started in the entertainment business, and was the youngest talent agent in Hollywood when he broke in, landing clients such as James Gandolfini, Jimmy Fallon, Felicity Huffman, Jeffrey Wright, and Donnie Wahlberg. After getting burned out by being constantly on call, however, Gold decided to take some time off and focus on his new passion, which was poke...

Vince Van Patten is a man of many talents. The son of legendary actor Dick Van Patten got his start as a child, appearing in numerous commercials, as well as TV shows and movies such as Bonanza, Baywatch, The Six Million Dollar Man, Hell Night, and The Break. Despite being introduced to gambling at a young age by his father, Van Patten ultimately dedicated himself to tennis, and won the ATP Rookie...

Dylan Linde didn't find poker until he was 23, instead focusing on competitive video games and Magic: The Gathering during his youth. The Coeur D'Alene, Idaho native began taking poker more seriously after seeing the wins put up by his friend and fellow poker pro Kevin MacPhee. Linde has become a consistent force on the tournament circuit in the years since, having won more than $4.1 million live...

Mike Matusow was born in Los Angeles, but has spent the majority of his 51 years in Las Vegas. His autobiography, Check Raising The Devil, chronicles his time playing video poker before he was taught hold'em in the late '80s and shifted his focus to poker. In 1998, Matusow backed Scotty Nguyen to the World Series of Poker main event title, giving him a third of the $1 million prize. The next year,...

Randy Ohel spends most of his working time grinding high-stakes cash games at Bellagio in Las Vegas, but the 34-year-old mixed-games specialist from Coral Springs, Florida does concentrate on tournaments during the annual World Series of Poker. In the last seven years, Ohel has done quite well at the summer series. In 2012, he won a bracelet, taking down the $2,500 triple draw event. In 2014, he f...

Ali Nejad is one of poker's most experienced television personalities, having lent his talents to productions such as the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, The Poker Parlor, The Ultimate Poker Challenge, The Pro-Am Equalizer, and Poker After Dark. He has also done commentary for a majority of the major poker tours, including the World Poker Tour, European Poker Tour, World Series of Poker,...

Joao Vieira is only 29 years old and missed the entirety of the poker boom, but that hasn't stopped him from climbing to the top of Portugal's all-time money list both live and online. The Madeira-native is one of the top five online tournament winners ever, with more than $13 million in cashes. He also has $3.4 million in live tournament earnings, and most recently won his first career World Seri...

Jackie Glazier grew up playing cards with her grandparents, but didn't find poker until well after fellow Australian Joe Hachem had won the World Series of Poker main event. The Melbourne-native grew up with a passion for sports and earned her degree in education, but ultimately felt lost as to what she wanted to do for a career. While searching for the answer, she stumbled on poker, and found her...

Steffen Sontheimer recorded his first cash in the summer of 2015, and it wasn't until a year later that he started competing regularly in the high roller events. But despite his limited time on the felt, the 28-year-old already has more than $13.5 million in live tournament earnings, which is currently good enough for no. 44 on the all-time money list, and no. 6 in Germany. Sontheimer's run really...

Scott Blumstein had a magical run through the 2017 World Series of Poker main event, topping a field of 7,221 to earn his first gold bracelet and the $8.15 million first-place prize. The win, however, came just a year after the Morristown, New Jersey native considered quitting the game entirely. While the 2016 WSOP main event was playing out in Las Vegas, Blumstein was back home in New Jersey, con...

Adam Friedman got his start in poker with a deep run in the 2005 World Series of Poker main event. Just 23 at the time, he has since put together a remarkably consistent career playing both cash games and tournaments. In 2006, he won the Midwest Regional Poker Championships main event. Incredibly, after skipping the tournament in 2007, he won the very same event again in both 2008 and 2009. This w...

Darren Elias is just 32 years old, but he's already established himself as the end boss of the World Poker Tour. The New Jersey resident not only holds the tour record with four titles, but he's also the tour leader in cashes with 35, and final tables with 13. His first WPT title came at the 2014 Borgata Poker Open, where he won $843k. His second title came immediately after that at the WPT Carrib...

Jennifer Tilly is an Academy Award-nominated actress who has starred in films such as Bullets Over Broadway, Bound, Liar Liar, Monsters Inc., St. Ralph, The Fabulous Baker Boys, and the Chucky series. But she also happens to be an avid poker player, and a World Series of Poker bracelet winner. Tilly, who is in a relationship with poker pro Phil Laak, won the ladies event at the 2005 WSOP, picking...

Scott Clements has a unique poker origin story, having been so infatuated with the game that he overpaid for his buy-in into the World Poker Tour Canadian Poker Open event. Despite the bad bankroll management decision, he managed to lead the tournament wire-to-wire and emerge with a win. That tournament gave him an automatic entry fee into the WPT North American Poker Championship, which he also w...

Layne Flack is a six-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, which puts him in a tie for no. 9 all time with poker legends such as Daniel Negreanu, TJ Cloutier, Jay Heimowitz, Jeff Lisandro, and Ted Forrest. He also has numerous World Poker Tour final table appearances, and a title in the WPT Invitational. The 49-year-old poker pro has slightly more than $5 million in career live tournament ea...

Matt Waxman learned the game in high school, but really got his career going in 2009 when he final tabled a $5,000 no-limit hold'em event at the World Series of Poker. The Parkland, Florida native won a WSOP Circuit ring the next year in Atlantic City, and followed that up with his biggest score to date, taking down the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris for just over $720,000. Waxman nearly won...

Steve Sung trudged through college, always knowing in the back of his mind that he wanted to play poker for a living. Having always been a gambler, Sung immediately jumped on the tournament circuit when he turned 21 and quickly found success, making several World Poker Tour final tables and racking up large cashes around the world. In 2009, Sung won his first World Series of Poker bracelet, taking...