Ylon Schwartz (; born 1970) is a chess master and professional poker player from

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, and a fourth-place finisher in the $10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em Main Event of 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. Al ...

(WSOP), played on November 9, 2008.Morgan, Wes
"World Series of Poker finalist Schwartz: 'You have to be hungry to win'"
''Michigan Casinos Magazine'', October 30, 2008. Accessed November 3, 2008. Prior to the Main Event, Schwartz had 11 career WSOP cashes. He is also a

World Series of Poker bracelet The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1 ...

winner.Ylon Schwartz profile

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 p ...

. Accessed November 3, 2008. He used to play poker professionally online under the screen name "TenthPlanet".

Biography

As a teenager, Schwartz saw streetside

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

games in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...

, and won two dollars playing his first game. He was soon a regular, hustling $100 per day playing chess against passersby. Schwartz reached a peak

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

of 2408

United States Chess Federation The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating ...

, and his ratings stood at 2304 from the USCF and 2259 from FIDE. He has attained the title of

FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

with a ranking above 2300. Schwartz grew up as an only child in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

of Manhattan. A self-described uninspired student, he left the

Borough of Manhattan Community College The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is a public community college in New York City. Founded in 1963 as part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, BMCC grants associate degrees in a wide variety of vocational, busines ...

, having failed out of the school after a year. He took a number of jobs after flunking out of college. It was as a public school special education assistant that he started playing chess for a few dollars on the side. He soon devoted full-time to gambling on backgammon, chess, darts and horses.McClain, Dylan Loeb
"A Chess Master From Brooklyn Seeks World Poker Immortality"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', November 2, 2008. Accessed November 3, 2008. An inveterate gambler, Schwartz made $340 from passersby on wagers that he would be able to throw a lemon across a street onto the top of a Burger King restaurant on the other side. Schwartz had practiced the throw the previous night and knew he could win the bets. Schwartz was introduced to

Texas 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 fa ...

by Fat Nick, a fellow

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

player. Schwartz entered a pair of poker tournaments at a club run by Fat Nick in 2000, winning both and walking away with $12,000 and a new passion. Schwartz has drawn comparisons between his tournament experience as a ranked chess master, noting that many of the skills he needed to succeed in chess are useful in poker and that the memory skills needed in chess transfer to retaining details on betting patterns of opponents needed to win in poker. He also pointed out that

chess strategy Chess strategy is the aspect of chess play concerned with evaluation of chess positions and setting of goals and long-term plans for future play. While evaluating a position strategically, a player must take into account such factors as the rela ...

provides excellent preparation for knowing when to time bets to prevent other players from folding when he has a good hand. Schwartz observed that the two games share the geometric relationships between the pieces on the chessboard and those connecting the cards and chip stacks of fellow poker players, while recognizing that chess is a game of complete information, in contrast to poker. Schwartz's mother was diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, and he spent much of his time in his twenties caring for her and taking her to

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

appointments until her death in 2003. Ylon Schwartz's father, Neil, had left the family when Ylon was two years old. Neil made a number of attempts to contact Ylon over the years but it never worked out. The last time Ylon heard from his father was in the making the 2008 WSOP final table and Ylon refused to speak to him. His father remarried and now lives in New Mexico. Prior to Schwartz making it to the main table at the 2008 World Series of Poker, his biggest WSOP win was three years earlier at the 2005 World Poker Finals in the No-Limit Hold'em $500 buy-in event, in which his third-place finish brought him a payout of $49,960. On November 10, 2008, Schwartz was eliminated after going all in against

Peter Eastgate Peter Nicolas Eastgate (born 13 December 1985) is a poker player from Denmark, best known as the winner of the Main Event at the 2008 World Series of Poker. At the time, he became the youngest player ever to win the event. He was subsequently ...

and finishing the tournament in fourth place, earning $3,774,974. On June 16, 2012 at the 43rd annual

Schwartz won his first

bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, suc ...

in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event for $267,081. , his total lifetime live poker tournament winnings exceed $5,100,000. His 24 cashes at the WSOP have netted him $4,431,689 in earnings.World Series of Poker Earnings
www.wsop.com Schwartz currently resides in

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 Vega ...

References

External links

*
Team PokerStars Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Ylon American poker players World Series of Poker bracelet winners American chess players Chess FIDE Masters People from Brooklyn People from Manhattan 1970s births Living people