Jew Poker
I’ve got a fun little speaking gig this weekend — visiting the Beth Torah men’s club to talk poker.
Last year’s appearance went well — in fact, click here if you’ve got 90 minutes to kill listening to some questionable audio — but while regaling the breakfast crowd with poker-boom lore, home-game theory, and tales from the WSOP, I did stumble on one question … “Are there any Jewish poker pros?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “A lot of them. Like, um … uh … um … oh! Barry Greenstein! He’s Jewish, right? Wait, is it GreenSTEEN or GreenSTINE? I never remember.”
Oy.
Actually, if you look back to the old days, you’ll find two types of people regularly making final tables — Jews and Texans. Huh, interesting. In fact, in one legendary WSOP showdown, that’s all there were.
Anyhow, this year I’m not gonna let the gentlemen of Beth Torah throw me. Here’s an interesting story about a different sort of Jewish poker. And below is a list of a few great Jewish players that come to mind. Any others I might be missing?
Barry Greenstein
Mike Matusow
David Grey
Jay Heimowitz
Stu Ungar
Gabe Kaplan
Eli Elezra
Scott Fischman
Annie Duke
Howard Lederer
David Sklansky
Wendeen Eolis
Mel Judah
Josh Arieh
Michael Mizrachi
Jack Strauss
Lyle Berman
Eric Seidel
Jamie Gold
David Levi
David Oppenheim
Barry Shulman
Michele Lewis
Austin Pete
Thum
Thum says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:44am
Thanks for the props Dan. Robert might be a little upset. Too bad.
Fresh Princess says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:54am
Mazel Tov!
Are there just the two of us that fall under the Jewish/Texan category?
And Allen Jaffey Shulman??
Fresh Princess says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:57am
Barney Boatman & Vicki Coren are both in the tribe.
Lavigne in Austin says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 12:04pm
At least there is one “sport” we can rock!
Been nappin says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:22pm
What are you talkin about? Jews Rock Baseball!!!!!!Even that kneepaded pecker puffer Brad Assmus is a heeb.
Fresh Princess says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 4:13pm
Been Nappin
You are obviously soooooo jealous of Brad Ausmus!
DanM says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 5:07am
Does that mean Ross Boatman is too?
Fresh Princess says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:09am
Man…you are sooo smart! 🙂
Fresh Princess says:
March 24th, 2007 at 7:06am
And Tony Bloom…
November Nine Tip: Bet on the Jews | Pokerati | Texas Hold'em and Las Vegas Poker Blog says:
October 30th, 2009 at 10:54pm
[…] Disclosure: I used to make an annual pilgrimage to a Dallas synagogue in an effort to bring people with money to the Lodge convert non-gentiles to the poker way. So yeah […]
Gene says:
November 18th, 2009 at 7:46pm
Phil Galfond and David Benyamine are also Jewish.
bennju says:
April 4th, 2010 at 12:59pm
wendeen is a great player? ha!
manuel says:
May 18th, 2010 at 10:38pm
and mike matusow he wears a HI
Tobe says:
July 15th, 2010 at 5:41pm
Andy Bloch.
hahahah funny shit says:
July 21st, 2010 at 10:56pm
how can you fucking not mention Phil Ivey? King of ALL jews, imo
Hah says:
September 10th, 2011 at 7:33am
dirty cunts
Mib001x says:
December 3rd, 2011 at 11:51am
ya aussi isai scheinber le PD de pokerstars