Robert Varkonyi (born 1961) is an American poker player, best known for winning the Main Event of the

2002 World Series of Poker The 2002 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was held at Binion's Horseshoe. The 2002 WSOP was historically notable for two reasons. The series was the first WSOP in which pocket cams were installed to allow broadcasters (on tape delay) to show the pla ...

Early life

Varkonyi was born in and raised in NYC. He first started playing poker as an undergraduate at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. After his graduation in 1983 (with degrees in EECS and from the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...

), he was an

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York for a number of years before beginning to play tournament poker.

Poker career

Varkonyi is most well known for winning the

Main Event, taking the $2 million prize. In the final hand, Varkonyi's defeated Julian Gardner's on a board of , resulting in Varkonyi's

full house ''Full House'' is an American television Situation comedy, sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best ...

defeating Gardner's

flush Flush may refer to: Places * Flush, Kansas, a community in the United States Architecture, construction and manufacturing * Flush cut, a type of cut made with a French flush-cut saw or diagonal pliers * Flush deck, in naval architecture * Fl ...

. In the WSOP Main Event the following year, Varkonyi was at the televised feature table, playing in defense of his championship. Two-time world champion

Doyle Brunson Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is a retired American poker player who played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several ...

was also featured at the table for a while. Later in the broadcast, 1998 world champion

Scotty Nguyen Thuận B. "Scotty" Nguyễn (born October 28, 1962) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player who is a five-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, most notably as the winner of the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event and ...

was also at the feature table and they played several hands together. In the

2003 World Series of Poker The 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was held at Binion's Horseshoe. Preliminary events Main Event There were 839 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter what was the largest poker tournament ever played in a brick and mortar ca ...

, Varkonyi's chance of a repeat championship was dashed when his met Nguyen's . He cashed in the main event in 2007, finishing in 177th place in a field of over six thousand players, winning $51,398. In the 2009 WSOP, Varkonyi competed with 19 other former WSOP main event world champions in the first ever Champions Invitational tournament. He finished the tournament in second place, being defeated in heads-up play by 1983 world champion

Tom McEvoy Thomas K. McEvoy (born November 14, 1944, in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a professional poker player, author and member of the Poker Hall of Fame, 2013 inductee. He is best known for winning the 1983 World Series of Poker Main Event. Early life ...

. At the 2011 WSOP, Varkonyi cashed in the Main Event for the third time in his poker career. He finished in 514th place in a field of 6,865 players, earning $23,876. As of 2011, Varkonyi's lifetime live tournament winnings exceed $2,200,000. His three cashes at the WSOP total $2,075,274.World Series of Poker Earnings
, worldseriesofpoker.com

World Series of Poker Bracelets

Personal life and family

Varkonyi currently resides in Long Island, New York, with his wife Olga, who also plays poker, and their daughters Victoria and Valerie. Victoria was born a few months after the WSOP victory. Olga made an appearance at the

2005 World Series of Poker The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2nd, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7th. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15th marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports an ...

main event, finishing in the money in 238th place.

References

External links

Interview

Hendon Mob tournament results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varkonyi, Robert 1961 births Living people World Series of Poker Main Event winners World Series of Poker bracelet winners American poker players American gambling writers American male non-fiction writers MIT Sloan School of Management alumni People from Great Neck, New York American people of Hungarian descent