Poker Player - William "Bill" Chen
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Bill Chen is a top member of the Pokerstars Pro Team. He has won two WSOP in the 2006 series and his total earnings to date are around $1 million. In addition to this he has also published a book called The Mathematics of Poker.
Before becoming a poker player, Chen earned a PhD in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, where he discovered poker and used his poker winnings from Oaks Card Club in Emeryville, California, to help him pay his fees. After this, he began to work as a computer software designer. He now works for the Susquehanna International Group, a financial trading company in the Statistical Arbitrage department and has refused to become a professional poker player. However the company, which is known for its poker culture and believes the game is beneficial to its employee’s performance, does provide him with six weeks each year to compete in the WSOP. He has also previously worked as a quantitative analyst as well as a games theorist.
Despite his heavy reliance on mathematical analysis of the game his puts his own poker success down to this: “In the tournaments that I’ve played in, it’s been mostly a lot of luck at the right times.” He is also modest about how his statistical play has helped him. “I think that following the mathematical concepts we have, actually does work, somewhat,” he says.
The Mathematics of Poker was released in 2006 and advises players how to play using arithmetic and his own Bill Chen formula, which advises the player on the likelihood of their hand succeeding. The cards in the starting hand are ranked by their value, taking into account the likelihood of a flush, straight or matching card to appear. He also offers these words of advice to any amateur poker player: “Be prepared emotionally to win, but be prepared financially to lose.” The attitude Chan takes to the poker table he says is, “all players should be gracious winners, gracious losers, and treat everyone else like they themselves would like to be treated.”
He was born in 1970 and currently lives in Lafayette Hill, Pa. He first became involved in poker by playing online and became an active member of the online poker community. In his first WSOP in 2000, he came 11th and after that he competed and practised for the next five years. In 2005, he went back to the WSOP where he earned two cash finishes. In 2006 his hard work paid off and he reached two final tables and won two bracelets making his overall winnings from the 2006 WSOP $800,000. He also achieved in the WSOP 2007, where he cashed in four different events. His ability to perform well in many different variations of poker is also impressive, he has shown he can win in hold ‘em, stud, razz, Omaha and lowball.
Outside of Poker Chen practises Bikram yoga, which is a tough 90-minute long work-out session in a room heated to 108 degrees, which he says helps him to play well in poker tournaments. He is also known for his high visibility in poker forums, particularly the rec.gambling.poker news group. He also attends the Big August Rec.gambling Excursion in Las Vegas.
Danielle Almond.
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