Thomas Keller (born October 14, 1980 in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

) is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player, residing in Scottsdale,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. He is the brother of Shawn "Lightning" Keller. Keller graduated from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

with a degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

in 2002. He began playing poker while at Stanford, having been influenced by the movie

Rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a rounded end wooden, plastic, or metal bat. The players score by running aroun ...

. Like David Williams and

Noah Boeken Noah Boeken (; born 6 January 1981) is a Dutch professional poker and ''Magic: The Gathering'' player. ''Magic: The Gathering'' career At first, Boeken began playing ''Magic: The Gathering'' with some kids at his school but quickly discovered ...

, Keller credits his experience of playing

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

as a helpful factor in his poker career. In Phoenix, his jump from playing low limits to the biggest high-stakes games happened quickly. One local story is that Keller won so many $100 chips at Casino Arizona that the casino ran out, forcing high limit players to buy chips from him, which he sold from the trunk of his car. Keller has said the story is absurd, but the fact it persists attests to how well Keller did in high limit games during the era. In December 2003, Keller won the $281,525 first prize in the $2,500

no limit No Limit may refer to: Music Record labels *No Limit Records, a record label founded by Master P * No Limit Forever Records, a record label founded by Romeo Miller, son of Master P Albums * ''No Limit'' (Art Pepper album), 1977 * ''No Limit'' ...

hold'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fac ...

event of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, defeating

Allen Cunningham Allen Cunningham (born March 28, 1977) is an American professional poker player who has won five World Series of Poker bracelets. Career Cunningham studied civil engineering at UCLA before dropping out of school to play poker professionally. ...

in the final heads-up confrontation. He went on to defeat Martin de Knijff to win a

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

bracelet in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

in the $5,000 no limit hold'em event. Keller also appeared on the

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...

(WPT) Young Guns of Poker invitational, where he finished 4th. He is also a part of Robert Williamson III's Team America in the

Poker Nations Cup The Poker Nations Cup is an international poker tournament, televised on Channel 4 from March 2006 onwards. The series is commentated by Jesse May and Barny Boatman. Padraig Parkinson covered for Boatman in preliminary match 2. The series was film ...

. Keller has been a primary columnist for

Card Player Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position. Position Games of Anglo-American origin In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...

Magazine since 2004. He married his wife Andra on April 24, 2004. Andra gave birth to their first child, Kaylee Keller, in September 2006. They had their second child, Alexander, in late February 2009. Keller lost over 200 pounds after having

gastric bypass surgery Gastric bypass surgery refers to a technique in which the stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch and then the small intestine is rearranged to connect to both. Surgeons have developed several differ ...

. Keller cashed twice at the

2008 World Series of Poker The 2008 World Series of Poker was the 39th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). Held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, the series began on May 30th, 2008, and featured 55 poker championships in several variants. All ...

including finishing in 61st place out of 6,844 entries in the $10,000 buy-in Main Event, earning $115,800. As of 2011, his total live tournament winnings exceed $1,200,000. His 5 cashes as the WSOP account for $789,127 of those winnings.World Series of Poker Earnings
, worldseriesofpoker.com

References

External links

Card Player articles

World Poker Tour profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Thomas 1980 births American poker players Living people American Magic: The Gathering players World Series of Poker bracelet winners American gambling writers American male non-fiction writers Writers from Ann Arbor, Michigan Stanford University alumni