Poker Launch

Glossary: Poker Players

Brunson, Doyle

Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is an American professional poker player and author of poker books. The first player to win a $1 million poker tournament, Brunson has won nine World Series of Poker bracelets throughout his career. His achievements include two WSOP main event titles in 1976 and 1977. Other than his poker success, his greatest achievement is probably the book that was once considered to be the bible of poker: Super/System. Although Super/System is now somewhat outdated due to changes in the structure of the game, and has since been superseded by later work by writers like David Sklansky, Tom McEvoy and T. J. Cloutier, Super/System was the book that transformed poker by giving ordinary players an insight into the way that the professionals like Brunson played and won, so much so that Brunson believes that having written the book cost him a lot of money. Brunson continues to play in the biggest poker games in the world and at the World Series of Poker. He won his ninth gold bracelet in a mixed games event in 2003, and in 2004 he finished 53rd (in a field of 2567) in the No Limit Texas hold'em Championship event. He won the Legends of Poker World Poker Tour event in 2004, and finished fourth in the WPT's first championship event. Brunson's nickname, "Texas Dolly", came from the incorrect reading of his name by Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, and it stuck. Brunson has the honor of having a Texas hold'em hand named after him. The hand, a Ten and a Two of any suit, bears his name as he won the No Limit Hold 'Em event at the World Series of Poker two years in a row with them.

Chan, Johnny

Johnny "Orient(al) Express" Chan (born 1957?) is a professional poker player. Chan was born in Canton, China but moved with his family in 1962 to Hong Kong, then in 1968 to Phoenix, Arizona and later in 1973 to Houston, Texas where his family owned restaurants. He was going to continue in the family business, but when he was 16 he went on a junket to Las Vegas, Nevada. When he was 21 he dropped out of the University of Houston, where he was majoring in hotel and restaurant management, and moved to Las Vegas to become a professional gambler. Chan attributes some of his early success to the fact that many players had not previously played against Asian players before. He shot to fame in the late 1980s, winning the championship event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in two consecutive years (1987 and 1988). He almost won a third consecutive title, but finished in 2nd place in 1989 to Phil Hellmuth. Jerry Buss, owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, promised Chan a NBA championship ring if he could win three in a row. Buss is an avid poker player. As of 2004 Chan has won 9 World Series of Poker titles. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002. Chan is known for keeping a "lucky" orange in front of him on the table, and after the second consecutive WSOP title other players began bringing fruit to the table in hopes of increasing their luck. Chan says he only had an orange with him because of the pleasant scent, as smoking, which was allowed in many tournaments then, bothers him. Chan was once a smoker, but now he neither smokes nor drinks alcohol. In addition to playing poker, Chan owns a fast-food franchise in the Las Vegas Stratosphere Hotel and is a consultant for various casinos and game makers. He has aspirations of opening his own casino. Chan has also written for Card Player Magazine. A videotape of the 1988 WSOP final heads up match is featured in the movie Rounders, in which Johnny Chan makes a cameo appearance. Chan has six children.

Cloutier, T.J.

T.J. Cloutier (born October 13, 1939 in Albany, California) is a professional poker player. Cloutier attended the University of California at Berkeley on an athletic scholarship for football and baseball and played in the Rose Bowl in 1959. However, he later dropped out because of family financial hardship. He was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he learned to play poker. After the Army, he played football in the Canadian Football League, but an injury cut his career short. He then started a food company, but it was not successful, so he moved to Texas to work on oil rigs. On his off days he began to play poker, and quit his job in after realizing that he was winning more money playing poker than working. Despite winning dozens of tournaments, he has never won the main event of the World Series of Poker, although he has placed four times in the top 5, including two 2nd place finishes. Cloutier is the co-author of four books: Championship Tournament Practice Hands, Championship Holdem, Championship Omaha, and Championship No-Limit and Pot Limit Hold'em. He also writes for Card Player Magazine. The starting hand Jack-9 of clubs is named the "T.J. Cloutier" in his honor because of flopping three flushes in one year with the hand. Cloutier is married, has six children, and resides in Richardson, Texas.

Duke, Annie

Annie Duke (born September 13, 1965 in Concord, New Hampshire) is a professional poker player and sister of poker pro Howard Lederer. Duke began playing poker in local card rooms while living in Montana. In 1994, she and her husband moved to Las Vegas in support of her decision to start playing poker full time. Prior to 2004, her main claim to poker fame was her 10th place finish in the 2000 World Series of Poker main event (one position short of the final table) while nine months pregnant with her third child. In early 2004, Duke received considerable publicity because she tutored actor Ben Affleck in poker, who went on to win the 2004 California State Poker Championship. Most recently, in September 2004 Duke won $2 million in the inaugural World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, a 10-player, winner-take-all invitational event. Today Duke is regarded as one of the most famous female poker players, along with Kathy Liebert and Jennifer Harman. As of 2004, Duke has won one World Series of Poker bracelet and more than $2.8 million in tournament play. See also: Lederer, Howard

Hellmuth, Phil

Phillip J. Hellmuth, Jr. (born July 16, 1964 in Madison, Wisconsin) is a professional poker player. Hellmuth attended the University of Wisconsin for three years before dropping out to play poker full time. He is sometimes called the "poker brat" because of his perceived bad attitude and big ego. Despite what critics think of his attitude, his accomplishments are numerous. Hellmuth won the 1989 World Series of Poker main event, becoming the youngest World Champion of Poker at 24 years old. As of 2004 he has won 9 WSOP bracelets and over $4.7 million in tournament play. In addition to his poker playing, he is also the author of many articles for Card Player Magazine and poker books, including Play Poker like the Pros, Bad Beats and Lucky Draws, and The Greatest Poker Hands ever Played. He has made several instructional poker videos, including Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Poker Secrets. He's also a spokesperson for Ultimate Bet, an online poker room. Hellmuth currently resides in Palo Alto, California with his wife and two children.

Ivey, Phil

Phil Ivey (born in California) is a professional poker player. Ivey is sometimes called the Tiger Woods of poker because of his young age, relative success, and because he is African American. At the World Series of Poker in 2002 he won 3 titles, tying the record for most bracelets won in a year, held by Phil Hellmuth and Ted Forrest. In 2003 he finished 10th at the main event of the WSOP after a bad beat in which Chris Moneymaker (the eventual winner) knocked him out. As of 2004, he has won over $2.5 million in tournament poker and has four WSOP bracelets. Ivey is a Los Angeles Lakers fan and can often be seen wearing basketball jerseys. He's also an avid golfer. Ivey resides in Las Vegas with his wife.

Lederer, Howard

Howard Lederer (born in Concord, New Hampshire) is a professional poker player and brother of poker pro Annie Duke. Lederer came from an academic background. His father, Richard Lederer, was a writer and linguist who taught at Saint Paul's Prep School in New Hampshire. Lederer was a young chess talent and after high school he moved to New York City, where he attended Columbia University. New York City is known for its chess clubs and at one of these clubs he discovered poker and eventually began playing at the Mayfair Club with other soon-to-be-famous players such as Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington. In 1994 he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where he sought out higher stakes games. As of 2004, he has won 2 WSOP bracelets and 2 World Poker Tour titles. Lederer is known as the "professor of poker" because of his demeanor and long history of wins. Lederer has made an instructional poker video called Secrets of No Limit Hold'em and he runs the Howard Lederer Poker Fantasy Camp. He also cohosts a tournament poker show for Fox. His sister, Katy Lederer, wrote a book about the Lederer family, titled Poker Face: A Girlhood Among Gamblers. He has two children and currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. See also: Duke, Annie

Liebert, Kathy

Kathy Liebert (born October 1, 1967 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a professional poker player. Liebert grew up on Long Island in New York. She attended Marist College in Poughkeepsie where she earned a bachelors degree in business and finance. She was hired by Dun & Bradstreet, but left after she was unhappy with corporate life. Successful stock investments allowed her to quit her job and travel the country. Liebert's poker career started when she began working as a prop player in Colorado. She would later go on to enter tournaments and she won the first Party Poker Million event in 2002, the first limit poker tournament with a $1 million prize. Additionally she has made several final tables of the World Poker Tour. As of 2004, she has one World Series of Poker bracelet and over $1.8 million in tournament winnings. Although Liebert has made a career out of poker, she still uses her financial acumen to invest in the stock market. Liebert now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada and Downey, California.

Moneymaker, Chris

Christopher Bryan Moneymaker (born 1976 in Tennessee) is a professional poker player. Moneymaker attended the University of Tennessee and earned a masters degree in accounting. He first began playing poker in 2000 after seeing the movie Rounders. Moneymaker won his seat into the main event of the 2003 World Series of Poker by spending $39 to enter a satellite tournament at the PokerStars online poker card room. He went on to win the first prize of $2.5 million. It was his first live poker tournament. He has since played on the World Poker Tour, finishing second at the Shooting Stars event, earning $200,000. After winning the WSOP, he quit his job to serve as a celebrity spokesman for Series' owner Harrah's as well as PokerStars. He also began traveling to play in more large tournaments. His main goal is to provide for his family, so although he quit his job, he does envision going back to mainstream work eventually.