Poker Players

The world was big and empty, almost forlorn. Someone brought in a poker table…and chips and chairs. Someone else brought cards. The never ending procession began. When one game ended, they dealt another hand. The games ran on until the world ran out of time and the pages filled with people, the history of poker had begun.

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2010-02-21 12:15:31

Where Are They Now - Antonio Esfandiari

While poker has changed quite a bit since it first began its meteoric rise in the early part of the century, one face that has remained as popular as the game is Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari. The nickname, as you will see, was more than a clever way to describe his poker game. The magic carpet ride of a life Esfandiari has had in recent years wasn’t always a smooth ride. From humble beginnings, Esfandiari has emerged as one of the most recognizable and well known poker players in the world. Amir Esfandiari was born on December 8, 1978 in Tehran, Iran. Read more

2010-02-08 12:35:02

Where Are They Now - Patrik Antonius

From time to time during our “Where Are They Now” series, it’s surprising at how far along we’ve gotten when a name comes up that hasn’t been written about yet. Some are just honest mistakes. After all, when close to 150 biographies have been written, some names are bound to get through the cracks. However, occasionally there is a name that comes up that it’s downright shocking that they have not been profiled yet. Patrik Antonius definitely fits that mold. In short, he is both the best cash game player and tournament player (that has somehow not won a bracelet yet). Read more

2010-02-03 06:33:13

Where Are They Now – Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies

The first time I saw Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies was during the Game Show Networks “High Stakes Poker.” Shortly after that I also saw him on NBC’s “Poker After Dark.” Two things came to my mind when I first saw him. The first was that I had never heard of him, mainly because he’s known for being a cash game player, but still, I was a bit embarrassed, as he obviously already had a pretty devoted following once I did some research on him. The second thing I thought was that he looked like a monk. Read more

2010-02-01 11:13:53

Where Are They Now – Shaun Deeb

I have been particularly interested in writing the story of Shaun Deeb for quite a while. Watching him go from one of thousands of grinders online, to one of the most popular players of our era has been one of the highlights for me as I’ve covered poker. You can imagine my surprise when I read a few months ago that Deeb had announced his retirement from tournament poker. I was well aware that Deeb did very little outside of grind online poker tournaments, most likely playing more tournaments than anyone else who has ever played the game. Read more

2010-01-23 02:52:42

Where Are They Now – Joe Cada

One of my favorite things about writing the “Where Are They Now” series is seeing what World Series of Poker Main Event winners are able to accomplish after their huge win. In short, it varies. A select few go on to win the event multiple times. Some go on to win multiple bracelets. Some just fade away. It is of course way too early to write the book on 2009 WSOP Champion Joe Cada, but already he is showing signs that he is no one hit wonder. Read more

2010-01-16 12:26:23

Where Are They Now – Amir Vahedi

This is a particularly tough bio to do because just this week the poker world lost Amir Vahedi, who succumbed to what at present time is believed to be complications resulting from a nearly life long battle with diabetes. While his life was tragically cut short, his poker career was no less exciting. Starting over 15 years ago, it seemed Vahedi was always among the top chip stacks in a tournament, most of those in some of the highest buy-ins the game had to offer. In addition to being a top tournament player he was also a top poker tutor, teaching many Hollywood stars. Read more

2009-12-30 07:31:33

Where Are They Now – Jon Finkel

When you have written nearly 150 “Where Are They Now” profiles, expectedly some of them can start to run together. Don’t get me wrong, I still continue to enjoy writing about all the players that make up poker, and each individual still gives me a sense of wonderment about how their particular path took them to the top of the poker world. With Jon Finkel though, I can safely say that no profile that I have written before, nor do I believe one I will write in the future, will match the uniqueness of his story. For starters, not many people associate Jon Finkel with poker royalty. Read more

2009-12-28 08:27:29

Where Are They Now – Jason Lester

There are many players in the world of poker that come and go. Today’s big winner could become yesterday’s news. It doesn’t always have to be like that though. Sometimes yesterday’s news can once again become today’s news, and that certainly stands true for Jason Lester. There are many adjectives that can accurately define a poker player, and perseverance is definitely one of them, especially for players who had been so agonizingly close to winning a big tournament, only to find themselves second fiddle time and time again. Read more

2009-12-27 05:06:12

Where Are They Now – Jeff Madsen

When you reach the age of 13 or 14 most kids begin looking at their life as a series of age milestones. At 16 they can drive. At 18 they can vote. At 21 they can drink legally and go into clubs and other age restricted establishments. Then there is a whole other group of people online that wait for the ages of 18 and 21 for an entirely different reason. Each year a new group of online whiz kids storm online poker rooms and take over the game by storm. The newest batch always seems just a little bit wiser and more advanced than the group that preceded them. Read more

2009-12-25 21:00:41

Where Are They Now – Vitaly Lunkin

In late June and early July I had the opportunity to cover portions of the World Series of Poker live and in person for the first time. I was really excited to see all the big names of the poker world in their element, such as Negreanu, Brunson, and Hellmuth. As a boxing fan, I was also excited to see Mike Tyson, who participated in the “Ante Up For Africa” charity tournament. Read more