05 Feb 12

Before Poker: The Top Ten Pre-Poker Career Paths: Part 2

Part 2 of our insight into what the best players in the world were doing before they discovered poker.

We have already brought you numbers 10-6 in our guide to the top pre-poker career paths, now let's take a look at the top five backgrounds that the best poker players come from.

5. Trader

One of the few industries that doesn't seem to mind a career gap left by poker is the world of financial trading. Players with a good tolerance of risk and understanding of variance inevitably do well in both spheres, and as a result we see a lot of traders trying their hand at poker, and vice-versa.

Bill Chen, Matt Hawrilenko, Brandon Adams, James Bord, and Dan Shak are all great examples of traders who found success in poker.

Traders use even more monitors than poker players

4. Video gaming

Some of the more recent success stories from the world of poker came from the unlikely world of video gaming. Some people actually make a career as a professional gamer, and as a direct result, look to poker as a chance to make even more money. Sitting in front of a monitor, quick decision making, and carpel tunnel all being big similarities between the two.

Lex Veldhuis and ElkY were both big StarCraft players, Chiren80 was a legend on World of Warcraft, and Randy 'nanonoko' Lew was playing on the 'Marvel vs Capcom2' circuit, before they were seduced by poker.

ElkY is a sick poker and Starcraft grinder

3. Magic the Gathering

Often getting labelled in the same arena as the gamers, Magic the Gathering is a fantasy card game which has created a lot of poker professionals. When you take away dungeons & dragons-eque lingo, what you are left with is a game very similar to poker. It is played with cards, you have made hands and draws, and there are elements of both skill and luck.

Bryan Devonshire, Noah Boekkan, Justin Bonomo, Brock Parker, and David Williams are all former MTG players who turned their hand to poker.

Noah Boeken playing Magic the Gathering

2. Sports

Poker players wish poker was officially classed as a sport, even though most of us are far from athletes. Whether it is or not, poker is a very natural place for sports stars to go when they retire. Just like those from the world of showbiz, a lot of them are awful, but some very good ones come through too.

It is probably the competitive element that keeps them coming to poker when they can longer compete in their chosen sport. Boxer Audley Harrison, footballers Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cascarino, and hockey player Greg Mueller are all former sports stars who found success in poker. While even more of the top pros were aspiring sports stars before injury forced them to play poker instead, including Patrik Antonius (Tennis) and Sam Trickett (Football).

Greg 'FBT' Mueller was a hockey pro, but now has 2 WSOP bracelets

1. College/University

When it comes to poker, the biggest single stepping stone to a successful career is clearly higher education. Look around any card room and you can bet your bottom dollar that a great deal of the pros in the room are also college dropouts (Or at least, never had a real job since college). There could be a number of reasons why this is, most likely that students have a great combination of intelligence, time on their hands, and nothing to lose.

Tom Dwan, Jonathan Duhamel, Joe Cada, Pius Heinz, Peter Eastgate, Phil Hellmuth....the list is endless.

Both Pius Heinz and Jonathan Duhamel went straight from college to poker