The biggest poker addicts ever
Meet the players who didn't let work, illness, pregnancy and even death get in the way of their favourite game.
Eskimo Clark
We sadly lost poker legend Paul 'Eskimo' Clark last year, but his love of the game will remain a part of poker history forever.
In 2007 at the final table of a World Series of Poker Razz event he suffered a series of 'mini strokes', which would be enough to halt any poker player in their tracks.
Not Eskimo. Despite Paramedics turning up with a gurney, he refused to leave because he was the chip leader. He eventually went to hospital only after finishing the event in 4th place and cashing out his winnings.
John McCain
Despite the fact that it is so hard to play poker in the US, many top politicians call themselves Card Sharks. Barack Obama famously admitted to his love of the game and Senator John McCain let the world know by accident.
During a crucial debate on whether to bomb Syria in 2013, the former Presidential hopeful was caught playing online poker on his iPhone:
Albert Riera
McCain kept his job despite his poker habit, but former Liverpool and Manchester City winger Albert Riera lost his job at Udinese when he favoured poker over football.
He chose to play in a tournament in Slovenia instead of show up for his club's match against Chievo
He won £3,000 for his second place finish in the E20livepoker - DSP Rewind, but lost his job in the Series A club as a result, although he claims the poker had nothing to do with it.
Peter and Katrina Sheary
.jpg)
One of the big stories of the year so far is that of pregnant Katrina Sheary who went deep into the money at the Aussie Millions when suddenly she went into premature labour.
Obviously this meant she was unable to continue playing poker, however in a surprise twist, the tournament organisers allowed her husband Peter Sheary to continue playing her chip stack. He ended up cashing for $6,495.
It is hard to decipher who is the biggest poker fanatic, Katrina for playing while heavily pregnant or Peter for playing on as his wife was rushed into hospital, so we'll call this one a tie.
Henry Rosario Martinez
Any other month the story of the Sheary family would be hard to top, but January 2016 has been a strange month for poker.
A growing trend in Puerto Rico is to hold wakes and funerals where the deceased is embalmed and placed into situations they enjoyed in their life. This has included reenactments in the boxing ring, playing dominoes, riding motorcycles and now, playing poker.
After his premature death of a heart attack at just 31-years-old, the family of Henry Rosario Martinez set him up to participate in one final game of poker with his friends:
Can you think of a bigger degen story? Let us know in the comments.
