The world of poker has no shortage of devotees among the celebrity crowd, many of whom are accomplished players themselves who have impressive track records of winning major off-line poker tournaments. Among these are George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Matthew Perry, and Annie Duke. Exactly who may also be playing in one of the many online poker sites is somewhat open to speculation due to many devoted players’ use of multiple nicknames. Exactly who may be behind which nicknames has been a lively discussion topic on some online poker discussion forums. Famous professional poker players who are known to practice their skills at online poker on a regular basis include E.F. Hutton, Patrick Hocking, and Alan White. Some have even had their starts as social and self taught online poker players.
Interestingly enough, it is been reported that some professional athletes are also serious online poker players. Lebron James and many other basketball players spend their downtime in locker rooms and on airplanes in online poker playing sites such as the Full Tilt poker site. Playing poker online is reported to be popular with NFL athletes as well. Just as with regular players, some celebrities play to relax and socialize while others see it as more of an opportunity to win money. Several celebrity players often use their online poker winnings for charity contributions or other investments.
Perhaps the most famous of all is the World Series of Poker Tournament winner from 2003, Chris Moneymaker. This impressive winner was actually an accountant first and a poker player on the side, yet he took home millions and became famous overnight due to winnings online. Moneymaker’s success has been a large part of the surge in playing online poker for both fun and profit. Many other aspiring poker professionals have flocked online, hoping to repeat this type of success. Although poker has been traditionally a testosterone-heavy game, women are now holding their own in the pros; examples are the impressive track records of pros such as Beth Shak, Vanessa Rousso, and Jennifer Leigh.