Ever since television began to endorse
the game of poker big-time in 2002-2003, millions of new poker fans
were drawn to the Green Felt. But the best online poker table is a dangerous place.
More money has been lost at the table than won, mainly because most
poker players erroneously believe it’s a get-rich-quick route to success.
Playing a winning hand takes years of
practise and experience, guts ad grit and most of all skill. Contrary
to popular belief, Lady Luck has very little to do with it. One more
word of caution: poker is not the romantic game that television projects
of being filled with glitz, glam and macho moves. It can be painful,
with the game spelling ruination for those who are reckless.
But there are some who appear to hold
a golden hand no matter what. One of these legends is, as his name suggests,
a money-spinning machine. The world of poker will always remember him
for his winning wager which is now the title of a book: “How An Amateur
Player Turned $40 into $2.5 million at the World Series of Poker”.
It may not be the most imaginative title
but the book inspired awe apart from offering some valuable tips from
a man who every player in the game admires. He was catapulted to fame
when he won an online satellite tournament that he paid $40 for. The
tournament qualified Chris for the 2003 World Series of Poker tournament
and Chris stunned the world by actually going on to win it.
His feat encouraged millions to try their
hand at the game and was a living, walking advertisement for the game,
especially the online version that was slowly gathering momentum at
the time.
And if an accountant like Chris can become
a champ over night, why not others? Howard Lederer is another much-admired
and much-feared champ. Called “The Professor” after his table manners,
Lederer is the winner of two WOSP bracelets and two WPT titles.
Lederer has had the good fortune of learning
from some of poker’s greats like Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel. There’s
nothing like having a mentor for any game and poker is no exception.
Poker, it seems, sometimes runs in the
family as with the Lederers. In this case, Howard’s sister Annie Duke
is also a professional poker player of repute, known also as “The
Duchess of Poker”.
But unlike many legends whose scholastic
life fell to the temptation of poker, Annie is among the most academically
qualified players. She has studied at one of the most coveted American
universities – Columbia University – where she majored in English
and Psychology.
It was during her doctoral studies, which
she never finished, that Annie took to the game full-time. She shot
to fame as the tutor of Hollywood star Ben Affleck, when Ben won the
California State Poker Championship in 2004.
Ben’s win brought Annie the publicity
she needed to really launch her poker career, and Annie won her first
WSOP gold bracelet the same year.
When also she won the inaugural World
Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, a winner-take-all 10-player
event in 2004 and took home a cool $ 2 million. It was he largest-ever
single payout too a female player till Annette Obrestad broke it in
2007.