Dan’s the Man!
We all have our favorite poker players. When you ask around, lot of names will get thrown. Surprisingly few people mention Dan Harrington. It is surprising because Dan is a true “gamer’s gamer”.
Dan is a former backgammon and chess champion. By profession a lawyer, he won the World Series of Poker in 1995 cashing in “only” a million. Incredibly, “Action” Dan (an ironic reference to his tight playing style) made the final table in the main even of the World Series three other times: finishing 6th in 1987, 3rd in 2003 (the memorable Moneymaker-Farha table), and 4th in 2004.
The story of his win in 1995 is just funny. Down to the final table, Harrington proposed a 9-way settlement. He explained to other players how everyone could get rich and even offered free investment counseling.
One of the players (now largely unknown) outrightly rejected the idea and influenced the others to do so as well. The rest is history. Dan rolled over the table to take the million.
Dan of course does not limit himself to poker. He is also a successful real estate and stock market investor.
Despite his accomplishments, Dan loves to keep a low profile. There is no “official” web site. When he plays, there are no flashy clothes or “status symbols”. It is not about glamour for Dan. It is about the game.
The cool thing is that Dan wrote three books about the game, the series “Harrington on Hold’em”. If you don’t have them, drop everything and run to your bookstore! They are worth their weight in gold.
The first volume deals with Strategic Play, the second volume with End Game, and the third volume is a nifty little Workbook. Learn no limit hold’em from a guy who made close to $5 million in his life playing live poker. Check out all of Dan’s books at Amazon.
Dan may be getting old, but he’s still the Man!