Magic Players Are Taking the Poker World by Storm  [06.10.2005]
As many of you may know, I got into poker after playing Magic: the Gathering for many years. For those of you that don�t know, Magic is a collectible card game that requires strategies similar to those in chess and poker. Many people that are familiar with the game have no clue that there are major Magic tournaments. People all over the world compete in Pro Tours which feature prize pools of over $200,000.

The money in poker is much more plentiful; however, so many Magic players now play poker. Most of you are familiar with Dave Williams, but did you know he got his start in Magic? He was one of the best limited players in the world. He was probably more feared in the money draft circuit than he was on the pro tour. A money draft is where you basically play with a team vs another team, and put money on the match. Dave had Neil Reeves and Bob Maher by his side to make up the best money draft team in the world. I saw these guys at all the major tournaments I went to, and even money drafted against them a few times. I made a horrible play to end a match early in Chicago (a match we would have lost anyway for sure), but got a little revenge with a little luck in a few money drafts at US Nationals in San Diego. I was 16 at the time, but I loved playing with the best Magic players in the world.

Eric Froehlich�s name might not be recognizable to most of you now, but it will be soon. Efro (pronounced E-fro) recently became the youngest player ever to win a WSOP bracelet at the tender age of 21 years and 3 months. I�ve known Eric since I was 12 and he was 14. We used to play against each other at the Lucky Frog, a card shop in Annandale Virginia. For a while he was one of the best Magic players in the world, with tons of top 32 finishes in major tournaments. While that is a very impressive thing among Magic players, it doesn�t amount to nearly as much money as his recent $361,000 win at the WSOP. I talk to Eric just about every day, and I can tell you he�s a very intelligent guy as well as a strong poker player, so you can expect to see his name in the not-so-distant future.

Two other players I�ve known for a long time are Brock Parker and William �Huey� Jensen. These guys have one of the most impressive feats in magic history � they defeated the undefeatable Phoenix Foundation to win a team pro tour which featured $60,000 for first place. The Phoenix Foundation hadn�t lost a major team tournament in over two years until the �Brockefellers� defeated them. Brock has had a lot of poker success; mostly at high stakes limit games. He plays as high as �300/�600 online, and also finished 3rd place in a WSOP event last year. His best friend and long time teammate Huey doesn�t play quite as often, but certainly has everything it takes to be one of the best in the world, except for motivation of course. Through Pokerstars, he won SIX satellites for the WSOP main event, and is using those wins to pay for his entry into many of the events. Look out for these guys to win some bracelets.

The first Magic player to win a bracelet was Tom Keller. He and his brother Shawn Keller were both very well known in the Magic circuit, and both play in high stakes cash games online. Thomas is now widely recognize as a world class player, and he does very well playing shorthanded cash games against some of the best players in the world.

Holland�s very own Noah Boeken was also a top Magic player. Most of you probably don�t know who he is, but you should. He is very respected in the European circuit. Last year he final tabled two European Poker Tour events, and even won EPT Copenhagen. On top of his impressive poker skills, Noah really knows how to have a good time. Partying with him across Europe was a very fun experience. He really loves to party. In fact, walking through a poker room with him can be a pain in the ass because half the people you walk past have to stop Noah to talk to him. I don�t know how its possible, but he knows everyone.

There are tons of magic players that have had huge success in the poker world, but just haven�t wanted the fame that goes along with tournament play. Chris Pikula for example does very very well in high stakes limit cash games. Jon Finkel was undeniably the best Magic player in the world, and he has also made a pretty penny from poker. He has enough raw genius that he could take the poker world by storm if he ever had the motivation.

There are way too many names to mention, so instead of trying to make a list and mention everyone, I�m just going to say lookout. The Magic tournament scene is perfect practice for tournament poker, and if you have what it takes to win at Magic, you probably have what it takes to be a great poker player. Forget the Hendon Mob, forget the Crew, forget whatever other groups of players you�ve heard about. Magic players are better than all of them, and we have already started to take the poker word by storm.

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