Dan Harrington is a very talented poker player who owns two World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title. Despite the fact that the man adheres to a rather conservative approach to the game, he still managed to achieve great success over the years. Over the course of his career, Dan has managed to win a total of $ 6.6 million in live cash tournaments alone.
Biography
Dan Harrington was born on December 6, 1945 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Both of his parents were from Ireland. Mother was from Waterford, and father was from Cork. Very little is known about Dan’s childhood, except for the fact that he spent a lot of time honing his skills in playing chess and backgammon. His efforts paid off when he was able to take first place at the state chess championship in Massachusetts in 1971. He participated and won many backgammon games.
While studying at the University of Suffolk, he mastered the game of poker. Although he did not immediately participate in real tournaments, Dan traveled to other universities and played there against the same students. He often had to travel to Harvard, where once he got the opportunity to play against Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who today are better known as co-founders of Microsoft.
After Dan got a little more experience, he started going to New York for the weekend to play at Mayfair. The main group of players who often went there, besides Dan, was represented by Jay Heimovitz, Al Crookes, Eric Seidel and Steve Zolotov. Most of these people decided to devote their lives to a poker career.
Dan Harrington graduated from the University of Suffolk with a degree in State and History; Then he continued his education and received a doctorate in law. He spent the next ten years of his life working as a bankruptcy lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts. At first, the work worried him, but he quickly got tired of all the documents that he had to fill out, and felt completely exhausted. He realized that he needed something more, so he began to do what he always liked - to play poker.
Player career
Dan Harrington first made it to the World Series of Poker in 1986. Although this was his first appearance at such a significant event, he still managed to take the twenty-fourth place in the limit hold'em tournament (poker form) with a cash contribution of $ 1, 500. The following year, he again took part in the WSOP, but this time the player managed to take sixth place in the championship for unlimited hold'em. During this tournament, he had the opportunity to play against such outstanding players as Johnny Chan and Howard Lederer.
Over the next decade, Dan Harrington will continue to participate in these competitions and earn money. Only in 1995 did he win his first gold bracelet in a $ 2, 500 no-limit hold'em tournament. Dan used a cash prize of $ 250, 000, which he won to take part in the championship of the same year. He knew that the competition would be fierce, so he did not expect that he could go too far.
However, when Dan got to the final table, everything began to look promising. He was not the chip leader (the player with the most chips), but he had a good understanding of his competitors’playing style. He suggested that the rivals divide the win into nine parts, but they refused. Thus, the competition continued, and slowly, but surely, other players began to leave the table.
Finally, only he and Howard Goldfarb remained, who had twice as many chips as Dan. He was able to win the championship thanks to careful play and strategic planning. Ironically, he was given the nickname Action Dan, although he is actually a very tough player.
The victory in the main WSOP tournament gave him the confidence that was necessary to participate in other competitions for which he previously lacked the courage. A few months after the victory, he went to London to take part in the Poker Festival. After a successful performance, he took home a prize for first place in the amount of more than $ 100, 000. In the end, he will continue to compete in other tournaments, including the World Poker Tour and Carnivale of Poker.
New victories
Dan Harrington decided to take a break from playing poker for several years to delve into the business world. When he returned to the table, it looked as if he had never left. In 2003, Harrington made it to the finals of the World Series of Poker tournament, taking third place out of 839 participants and receiving $ 650, 000 in prize money. The following year, he again reached the final table, but this time he took fourth place out of 2576 participants, earning himself $ 1.5 million.
Dan not only excelled at the World Series of Poker after his return, but in fact he also won several prizes on the World Poker Tour. In 2007, he completed what only a few people did before him - he won the WPT unlimited hold'em tournament with a top prize of $ 1.6 million, which made him the lucky winner of the World Poker Tour title and World Series of Poker bracelet.
In 2010, Dan Harrington was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame along with Eric Seidel, eight-time WSOP gold bracelet winner. At the time of its introduction, there were only forty members, and each year only a few outstanding players were selected. This is a very exclusive group of poker fans, and membership in it means that this member is rightfully considered one of the best. After the entry ceremony, Dan received a signature trophy, which he treasures.
He regularly finds time to participate in some major tournaments. In particular, he played Irish Open PaddyPower in Ireland. Dan did not achieve any significant victory in the tournament, but he just likes to visit the area in which his parents grew up. Between poker sessions, he enjoys walking around Dublin.
Business
Dan didn't want to just put all his winnings back into poker, but instead he wanted to start making money. He started his own business under the name Anchor Loans, acting as an intermediary for both borrowers and lenders. On average, this company has more than 1, 000 active loans, the total amount of which exceeds $ 500 million.
Dan would use the profits from this business to invest in the stock market and buy real estate. He officially left the company in 2010, transferring his ownership of Jeffrey Lipton and Steve Pollack. He is still the majority shareholder.
