Gambling Stars

Not all of us know that being a professional gambler can be very rewarding. If you are good at it, you can easily make $3,000-$4,000 a day without even leaving the comfort of your house. Ed Murray, a 27 years old professional gambler from London, is doing just that.

Ed Murray is known for his amazing betting and calculation skills. He is not just betting on random events; he planned his every move to the point where he can decrease his risks and increase his winnings in almost any condition. As a professional gambler, Murray loves to bet on almost anything from Tennis to Cricket. We are talking about a professional gambler here; he surely knows tricks of the trade and uses it effectively whenever he is gambling.

Ed Murray has a very interesting view about gambling. He stated in several occasions that gambling is about community and connections. You can enjoy a lot of benefits when you have contacts and you are a member of a certain gambling community. Why? Because gambling relies so much on information, and the only way you can make good decisions and be profitable as a professional gambler is to have more than enough streams of valid information.

Ed Murray is also known for his love to learn new things when it comes to gambling. He never hesitated to ask questions and learn new tricks whenever he can; this is the one trait many people think as the key to Murray’s success for all this year.

One of the most famous British professional poker players is David Ulliott, also known as the Devilfish. Believe me when I say that seeing Ulliott at world events will be like seeing real-life James Bond; he has a strong British accent, mostly come in wearing black tux, plus his slick black hair and his flamboyant style. He is known as Devilfish after defeating Men Ngyuen — also known as “The Master” — at a Las Vegas tournament in 1997.

Born April 1, 1954, in Hull, England, Ulliott started playing card games since he was very young. When he was 16, he found his way to a local casino. Only a few years after, he found poker and had fell in love to the game ever since. His life as a teenager was rough, especially when he started to get involved in serious crimes. Ulliott serves a 9-months sentence only to get involved in more crimes as soon as he got out. Ulliott continue making some side-money playing poker. He was so good to a point where local casino and underground gambling places just won’t let him in anymore. That is when he turned pro.

The 1997 battle with Ngyuen for the $500 Pot-Limit Omaha Four Queens Poker Classic in Las Vegas was his breakthrough. Ulliott began building his reputation as a professional poker player internationally, and he quickly got the recognition he deserves. World Poker Tour’s $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship in 2003 witnessed his superb playing style as he won his biggest cash prize money of $589,000.

Have you ever imagined playing poker against “The Unabomber”? Can you imagine how thin your chances are playing against “The Unabomber” unless you are extremely good? I’m not talking about the real Unabomber here; I’m simply talking about Phil “The Unabomber” Laak. Phil Laak got his nickname, “The Unabomber”, for his habit of wearing hooded sweater and sunglasses whenever he play, especially at world events. Laak is also nicknamed as “The Darth Maul” for his resemblance with the hooded Sith Lord.

Aside from his unusual clothing and his nickname, Phil Laak is actually a great poker player. He quickly began to spread fear among other professional players; facing him, with his hooded sweater and sunglasses, can be intimidating on its own, let alone if the stake is high. Laak is also known for his unusual behaviors at poker tables. He was reportedly running behind the dealer during showdowns to see what card will be dealt next. He often make gestures such as doing push-ups to celebrate winning hands or even acting as if he is ready to leave after he went all-in. Watching “The Unabomber” play at world events is always interesting because of these gestures; a lot of people enjoy watching him only to see what crazy stuff he would do next.

Laak is currently dating Jennifer Tilly, a WSOP bracelet winner. Due to Laak’s reputation as “The Unabomber”, Tilly is now known as “The Unabombshell”. Laak’s best achievement so far is winning the World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational in February 2004, but we will surely see more of him in the future.

When you are talking about professional poker player, you can never forget to mention Thomas Austin Preston Jr., also known as Amarillo Slim; he is definitely world’s most famous poker player till this day. Although he never was actually the best poker player in world events, he always managed to be the center of attention. This is exactly why Amarillo Slim is a big part of professional poker. His infamous quote, “Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn’t play poker.” is something any poker player — especially beginners thinking about going pro and making a living playing poker — should fully understand and agree to.

In his recently published autobiography titled “Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People”, the poker legend shares stories about various memorable moment of his journey. He was inducted into poker’s Hall of Fame in 1992, confirming his status as one of the biggest poker legend the world has ever seen.

Amarillo Slim won the 1972 World Series of Poker and had continued to play in the biggest world event since. He even became the center of attention at the 2005 World Series of Poker reminding all of us how much he loves the game.

Slim is also famous for his ability to hustle, luring a lot of famous people to his trap. Many people got hustled by Slim, including the famous Hustler publisher Larry Flint; Flint actually lost $2 million on the hustling. Slim is a unique character indeed and people will surely remember him for years to come.

One of the best professional poker players is most definitely Joseph Hachem. Originated from Lebanon, Joseph Hachem won the main event at the 2005 World Series of Poker earning $7.5 million in cash prize; what remarkable is the fact that he defeated 5618 players in order to win that particular main event.

He first took up poker as a time killer before he can decide what to do with his career. His previous career was halted due to his illness disabling him from performing his main job as a Chiropractor. He is often seen at The Crown Casino in Melbourne, although he spends most of his time playing online poker. He had won a total amount of $10,670,474 in total from WSOP events, placing him at number 5 of the top WSOP earner rankings.

When he’s not busy playing Texas Hold’em online or at his favorite casino in Melbourne, Joseph Hachem spends most of his time being with his family or playing golf. His closeness to his family and his attraction to golf is probably what brings him the cool and straightforward attitude at poker tables.

After his 2005 WSOP victory, Joseph continue to play professional poker and win $2,182,075 at WPT No Limit Hold’em Championship Doyle Brunson North American Classic, finishing 1st at the event. His first recorder professional debut was at Australasian Poker Championship in 2000, when he finished 4th at Pot Limit Omaha game; he took home $3,944 at the time, but some other players spotted his skills and complexions almost instantly.

If you are keeping up with the World Series of Poker, you are surely familiar with the Cinderella story of Jamie Gold, a professional poker player who made his giant leap to be a WSOP champion with the largest prize money recorded yet. On his short career as a professional poker player, he managed to put himself as the one with highest overall earnings, on top of countless other players with longer histories.

Many are amazed by the fact that Gold climbed the WSOP earnings rank all the way to the top within a single week, making him considered to be the Cinderella of WSOP in the first place. He is also known as an aggressive poker player, often seen placing enormous bets and making cool yet calculated bets at the same time. After he won No Limit Hold’em Championship WSOP FINAL at the 37th Annual World Series of Poker, media caught him picking up his phone and calling his dad to let him know that he just won $12 million.

Gold is also famous for his scandal after his first big win. He had promised Bruce Crispin Leyser half of what he win in WSOP; his promise later turns into a $6 million worth of law suit. It is probably the biggest scandal in professional poker so far. Recently, Gold agreed to an undisclosed off-court settlement. He will always be remembered as the one who managed to climb WSOP top earner ranking in one week with his $12,000,000 winnings, and we will surely see more of him in future professional poker events.