Poker Stories

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 dream.  In the years since, Kuo has earned more than $2.3 million in live tournaments, improving her game along the way with the help of poker superstars such as four-time WPT champion Darren Elias and high roller crusher Steffen Sontheimer. Kuo won the Macau Poker Cup, and has final tabled the Aussie Millions main event, the Hollywood Poker Open, WPT Malta, and the Legends of Poker main event. She also finished runner-up in the WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic and most recently took second in a $5,000 side event at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic.Kuo has also made frequent appearances on live streamed games such as Live

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's good enough for no. 80 on the all-time money list, along side players such as Andrew Lichtenberger, Gus Hansen, and David "The Dragon" Pham.Shak's biggest score came in the 2010 Aussie Millions High Roller, when he pocketed $1.2 million for beating Phil Ivey heads-up. He nearly matched that cash four years later with the second of two runner-up finishes at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure high roller. Shak also won the 2013 PartyPoker Premier League. Shak doesn't yet have a World Series of Poker bracelet, but he has notched two wins at the series. In 2007, he stunned the poker world by donating all $243,893 of h

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. Martini also has a win at the Poker Masters, and recently made the final table in the World Series of Poker Europe main event.  However, the greatest score of Martini's short career came in 2018 at the WSOP in Las Vegas. The former handball standout navigated his way through a field of 911 players in the $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better event, winning his first bracelet, and the $239,711 first-place prize. Although the payout wasn't a personal best, he also managed to land a date with his heads-up opponent, mixed-game specialist Kate Hoang. Martini and Hoang got married in September, in one of the best off-the-felt stories

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 poker.Gold jumped head first into some of the biggest cash games in Southern California, and eventually found success playing tournaments. Later that year he worked out a deal to play the World Series of Poker main event, and after navigating his way through a field of 8,773 players, earned the title and the $12 million payout. In the years since, Gold has been seen on numerous poker shows, including High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark, but has spent the majority of his time on the felt helping to raise more than $500 million for various causes and charities.  Highlights from this interview include missing Dean Cain's

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 of the Year award. In 1981, he even beat John McEnroe to win the Seiko World Super Tennis Tournament in Tokyo, reaching a peak of no. 26 in the world.  After his tennis career was over, Van Patten returned to Los Angeles to continue acting, as well play host to some of Hollywood's biggest home poker games. His experience with the game and his time in front of a camera made Van Patten a natural choice for the World Series of Poker in 1998, and when the World Poker Tour made its debut in 2002, he was hired alongside Mike Sexton as commentator. Van Patten is now sharing the duties with poker pro Tony Dunst, and is in t

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 to go along with another $6 million won online. Last December, Linde earned the biggest score of his career, banking $1.63 million for taking down the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio. He also owns a WSOP Circuit ring, haing won the Chicago main event in 2016 for another $350,000.When he's not playing, Linde provides content for training site Run It Once. He also recently wrote a poker book, available now from D&B Publishing, called Mastering Mixed Games: Winning Strategies For Draw, Stud, And Flop Games.Highlights from this interview include an amazing seat draw in his first WPT event, a rude gift

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, he won his first bracelet, taking down a $3,500 no-limit hold'em event.  Matusow has four bracelets in total, his other three coming in the 2002 $5,000 Omaha eight-or-better event, the 2008 $5,000 no-limit 2-7 lowball event, and the 2013 $5,000 stud eight-or-better event. He has also made the final table of the WSOP main event twice, and won the Tournament of Champions in 2009 for $1 million. In 2013, he took down the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship for another $750,000.The Poker Hall of Fame nominee has more than $9.3 million in career live tournament earnings, but has had as many downs as ups during his c

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 finished runner-up in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship. In 2016, he took third in the $3,000 pot-limit Omaha six-max event, and second in the $10,000 stud eight-or-better championship. Last year, he finished second once again, this time in the $10,000 triple draw championship.When you add those scores to the occasional no-limit hold'em cash, Ohel has accumulated more than $2.1 million in live tournament earnings. He has appeared on numerous poker live streams to offer commentary, and most recently, Ohel has started sharing his mixed-games expertise in a semi-regular column for Card Player.Players interested in poke

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, and most recently, the Triton Millions. The 41-year-old has also done his fair share of work outside of poker, having worked on Road Trip and UNite for ESPN, and The Daily Share for CNN. While attending UC Berkeley, he was tapped to host Total Request Live on MTV before tragedy changed the course of his career. Before stepping in front of poker cameras, the San Francisco native worked as a prop and dealer in local cardrooms, eventually working his way up the cash game ranks. These days you can find Nejad on PokerGo, including coverage of the upcoming British Poker Open and Super High Roller Bowl in London. Highlight

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 Series of Poker bracelet, pocketing $758,000 in the $5,000 six-max no-limit hold'em event. But poker is only the second "sport" that Vieira has gone pro in. The Winamax Team Pro spent much of his teens and early twenties playing professional basketball in Portugal, and as a junior, he competed on the national team and even had two 50-point games before he got burned out and transitioned to poker. Highlights from this interview include being bad at days off, growing up on an island, an early knack for basketball, turning pro at age 15, playing like he was 7 feet tall, Iverson vs. Stockton, being a late starter o

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 herself grinding small-stakes at the casino. One good month turned into three good months, and she decided to give poker a shot. The decision paid off quickly, with Glazier finishing second in the opening event of the Melbourne Championship Series in 2012, before winning the main event. She took her newfound bankroll and confidence to Las Vegas, where she finished runner up in a $3,000 no-limit hold'em event for $458,996. The next year, she was the last woman standing in the main event, cashing for $229,281 in 31st place. Glazier earned her WSOP bracelet in the WSOP Europe ladies event. Last year, she competed on Austra

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 started in 2017 when Fedor Holz went on Twitter on told that world that 'Go0se' was about to start crushing. Holz's prediction came true, and Sontheimer began making regular final table appearances. In September, he made four final tables and won two events at the Poker Masters to earn the purple jacket as overall champion. He also final tabled the six-figure buy-in High Roller For One Drop at the WSOP Europe. He finished the year with $6.8 million in cashes, 16 final tables, three titles, and a ninth-place finish in the Player of the Year race. Just last November, he won the $250,000 buy-in super high roller at the

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, considering his options. After a conversation with his dad, he ultimately decided to give it one last shot at the Borgata Summer Poker Open. Blumstein won the opening event for just shy of $200,000, and that score kept him in the game. By the time the next summer rolled around, Blumstein was ready for the $10,000 main event. After building up his stack during the bubble, Blumstein rode his chip lead to the final table, which included players such as Ben Lamb, Jack Sinclair, Bryan Piccioli, Antoine Saout, Benjamin Pollak, and the headline-grabbing Englishman John Hesp. Now 27, and two years removed from his life-changi

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 would not be the last time that Friedman was able to successfully defend a tournament title. The Gahanna, Ohio native scored his first WSOP bracelet back in 2012, topping a tough final table in the $5,000 stud eight-or-better event that included the likes of Todd Brunson, John Monnette, Bryn Kenney, and Phil Ivey. In 2013, he won the HPT main event in Indiana, and in 2014, he final tabled the L.A. Poker Classic. In 2018, he won his second career bracelet, earning $293,275 in the $10,000 dealer's choice event. Amazingly, he returned to Las Vegas this summer and won the very same event again, this time banking a $312,

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 Carribbean stop. Elias' third win came in Canada at the 2017 Fallsview Poker Classic, and his latest victory was at Aria in the 2018 Bobby Baldwin Classic. This year, Elias has already won a $25,000 high roller at the Gardens Poker Championship, and he nearly won his fifth WPT title, the LA Poker Classic, ultimately falling just short in third place for just under half a million dollars. In total, Elias has cashed for more than $7.1 million dollars during his live career, along with another $4 million won online. Highlights from this interview include off days in Vegas, living all over with a football coach dad, a love for

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 up the title and the $158,625 first-place prize. She also has a win a the 2010 Bellagio Cup, taking down a $5,000 no-limit hold'em event for $124,455. Poker fans will recognize Tilly from her many appearances on shows such as the Celebrity Poker Showdown, Poker Royale, Poker Night In America, The National Heads Up Poker Championship, The Poker Superstars Invitational, High Stakes Poker, and Poker After Dark. Highlights from this interview include the brilliant mumblings of Norm MacDonald, what Wikipedia got wrong, Lou Diamond Phillip's Monday night poker game, intruding on guy's night, playing the teamsters for th

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 won, this time banking $1.45 million. In addition to his two WPT titles, Clements also has two World Series of Poker bracelets. He earned the first in the 2006 $3,000 Omaha eight-or-better event, and the second in the 2007 $1,000 pot-limit Omaha event. The Washington-native has come incredibly close to more bracelets in the years since, with numerous final tables and six runner-up finishes. In total, the 37-year-old poker pro has nearly $7.8 million in lifetime live tournament earnings, along with another $4 million or so won online. Highlights from this interview includes a strict gym regimen, buying a house while st

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 earnings. Flack got his start both playing in, and running poker games near his childhood homes in Montana and South Dakota. After a nudge from 1996 WSOP main event winner Huck Seed, he made his way to Las Vegas and immediately found his way into the winner's circle. He earned the nickname "Back-to-Back Flack" after taking down consecutive events at the Legends of Poker series in 1999, and then further cemented that moniker by doing it again at the WSOP in both 2002 and 2003. Highlights from this interview include a passion for singing competitions, the stabbin' cabin, crushing games in Deadwood, why he didn'

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 the Festa al Lago Classic the next year, and in 2013, he won his first WSOP bracelet, banking $305,000 for topping a $1,000 no-limit hold'em event. Waxman had a deep run in the 2014 WSOP main event, and just last year, he picked up his second WPT title, pocketing $463,000 at the WPT Tournament of Champions. In total, the 34-year-old has more than $4.1 million in live tournament earnings to go along with millions more won online. Highlights from this interview include being a resident of the world, flipping noodles for profit, being on the middle school basketball team with Alex Jacob, poker on the boat, playing amon

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 down a $1,000 no-limit hold'em event for $771,106. He followed that up with a second WSOP title in 2013, earning $1,205,324 for topping a stacked field in the $25,000 buy-in six-max no-limit hold'em championship. Most recently, Sung finished third in the WPT Gardens Poker Championship, adding another $259,880 to his poker resume. In total, the 33-year-old has just shy of $6 million in career live tournament earnings, but those numbers pale in comparison to the amounts he won and lost during high-stakes cash game sessions, and even his time gambling in the casino pit. Highlights from this interview include growing up