Poker Player - Dan Harrington
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Dan Harrington was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and currently resides in Santa Monica, California. Dan started playing poker when he was at college often travelling to neighbouring Harvard University to play with Harvard students Paul Allen and Bill Gates. Dan attended both Suffolk University and Suffolk Law School while there he became part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology team that used mathematics to calculate the odds for roulette and managed to cheat at the game and win. After graduating from law school Dan practiced bankruptcy law for over ten years until he eventually decided that he just didn't enjoy practicing law anymore and left it behind to move to Philadelphia, Dan found that he would travel into New York by train in order to play poker when he later became a member of a group of poker players that played at the Mayfair Club in New York City, this group included players such as Erik Seidel, Steve Zolotow and Howard Lederer this was during the 1980's. It was in 1987 that Dan entered his first World Series of Poker championship No Limit Hold'em event and finished in 6th place, with his previous position in a 1986 World Series of Poker No Limit Hold'em event being 24th place.
Dan was always prepared for the pressure of being in a big tournament as he was a Massachusetts state Chess champion and a Backgammon World cup winner and this is illustrated in his poker playing which is loose and super aggressive. Dan has the nickname 'Dan Action Harrington' and he is known as one of the most solid and conservative players known today, he also has the ability to know exactly when to make his move as he is excellent at reading his opponents and this could be due to his Chess, Backgammon and Law background. In 1995 Dan's persistence for the game paid off when he came first in the WSOP $2,500 No Limit Hold'em event winning $249,000 and went on four days later to win the Championship $10,000 No Limit Hold'em main event winning his first World Series of Poker Championship title as well as a million dollar's, he left the competition with two WSOP bracelets that year. Dan has also made two WSOP final tables including the 2003 WSOP World Championship No Limit Hold'em event finishing in 3rd place earning $650,000 against 839 other players and the 2004 WSOP World Championship No Limit Hold'em event finishing in 4th place winning $1,500,000 against 2,576 other players.
The WSOP events are not the only place that Dan has left his mark on the poker world, Dan's next first place finish was in August 2000 at the Global Pot Limit, No Limit Open main event were he won $27,000. Dan has also had three final table finishes at the World Poker Tour including the 2003 Borgata Poker Open WPT Season 2, No Limit Hold'em finishing in 5th place winning $7,785, the L.A Poker Classic, WPT Season 3 No Limit Hold'em event with Dan finishing in 5th place winning $15,496 and the Festa al Lago IV WPT Event Season 4, No Limit Hold'em Doyle Brunson North American Championship were Dan finished in 2nd place winning $620,730. Dan has also achieved top finishes at the 2003 Four Queens Poker Classic, No Limit Hold'em main event finishing in 5th place winning $25,875 and at the PPT No Limit Hold'em $500,000 Freeroll were he finished in 4th place winning $45,000.
Dan has also had success off the poker tables with his books, Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Strategic Play (Vol. 1) and Harrington on Hold'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Endgame, 2. In these books Dan explains various different types of game play as well as strategy and tactics and the advantages and disadvantages of using all of these techniques he applies these techniques to all sizes of tournaments.
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