Before Poker: The Top Ten Pre-Poker Career Paths: Part 1

What backgrounds do the best poker players come from? We take a look at what some of the top players in the world were doing before they discovered cards.

The great thing about poker is that anyone can play against anyone, which means that poker players come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Despite this, there seem to be some quite clear trends of where the most successful players are coming from. So here is part 1 of our top ten pre-poker careers:

10. Pool

Proficiency at pool is often cited as a sign of misspent youth, and the same could be argued for poker. There is a lot of similarity between the baize used to play cue games like pool and the one we used in poker, so there is little wonder that many pool pros become poker players.

Daniel Negreanu, David 'Viffer' Peat, Ilari, Sahamies, James Akenhead, and John Hennigan, are all former pool hustlers, and Hendon Mobster Ram Vaswani was an aspiring snooker professional before turning his hand to cards.

David 'Viffer' Peat is as at home with a cue as a deck of cards

9. Chess

One of the things that has really helped poker establish itself as a game of skill, rather than a game of luck, is the popularity of the game with chess players. Chess is considered very much the ultimate tactical mind sport, so it is refreshing to see so many top chess players turning their attention to poker.

Chess wizard Jeff Sawyer, main event runner-up Martin Staszko, John Tabatabai, Howard Lederer, and Vladimir Schmelev are among the recognisable chess players who migrated over to poker.

Chess prodigy Jeff Sawyer is also a poker pro

8. Back Gammon

Another board game that primes a lot of players for poker, but unlike chess, back gammon involves a bit of gamble. Just like poker, back gammon has a clear skill element, and also a clear element of variance, which makes it a great game for anyone prior to starting a poker career.

Lots of big names are former back gammon players, including Chip Reese, Stu Unger, Phil Laak, Erik Seidel, and most notably Gus Hansen, who is regarded as a world-class player.

Gus Hansen is a world-class backgammon player

7. Sports betting

Going further into the realm of gambling; poker and sports betting seem to go hand in hand. Most poker players like to bet on sports, but only a handful of them have previously carved out successful careers in it prior to poker. Bankroll management and understanding odds being two of the clear skill links between the two.

Tony Bloom, Neil Channing, James Bord, and Haralabous Voulgaris are excellent examples of poker player who made a living as sports bettors or bookmakers prior to making it as poker players.

Tony Bloom is said to have made a fortune from sports betting

6. Showbiz

Being rich and famous for something other than poker brings with it lots of opportunities to play the biggest games and gain sponsorship. Poker seems like a place for celebrities to splash their cash around and pretend they are serious players, while the pros are licking their lips at the thought of playing against them.

Most of them are terrible, but a handful of actors and musicians have demonstrated a real knack for the game, including Gabe Kaplan, Patrick Bruel, James Woods, Shannon Elizabeth, Scott Ian, Michael Greco, and Jennifer Tilly.

Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth

Join us later on this week for the next 5 pre-poker careers in our countdown.