Poker Role Models

A Partial Mirror

Poker players are often uncomfortable with the idea of role models. The game attracts a lot of independent thinkers, sceptics and a people who tend to bristle at anything that smells like hero- worship. Yet whether we admit it or not, most of us were pulled into poker by watching someone else do it first, and do it well. Sometimes that influence was technical but, often, it was emotional.

Role models in poker are rarely a paragon of how to live. More often they are a partial mirror, reflecting something that we recognise or to which we aspire. That might be excellence at the game or longevity in what can be a brutal profession. Poker pro Justin Arnwhine stopped by The Chip Race a couple of years ago and he spoke articulately about his own eclectic mix of poker influences.

I had expected him to rattle off a couple of poker’s biggest names but he came with a mental list which was both relatable and revealing. It was not a list designed to impress, but instead one which mapped his own journey into the game. That is what made his interview so interesting. Role models are not chosen in a vacuum. They often arrive at the moment when we need them, saying as much about us as they do about the people we admire. They are the giant shoulders upon which we try to hitch a ride.

Ungar and Ivey: Myth and Raw Talent

Justin began in a place familiar to me and many players of a certain generation. He talked about the mercurial talent that was Stu Unger and a story that is poker’s most enduring myth, equal parts genius and cautionary tale. He was drawn to the idea that a person could dominate in his prime, deal with struggles and personal demons for years, but then return to be a champion again sixteen years later. “You do not see that kind of arc anywhere else in competitive life”, he said.

Justin waxed lyrical on Ungar’s three WSOP Main Event titles and his dominance in the world of gin rummy. There is certainly something intoxicating about that level of raw ability. Unger represented poker with the purity of his talent, unmediated by study, discipline, or even self- preservation. For a young player, that idea is magnetic. The game becomes a place where brilliance can overwhelm circumstance.

Phil Ivey occupies a similar space for Justin but in a more modern register. He recalled watching him on television where he made poker look like a form of sorcery. He spoke about the audacious bluffs, moves of which he would never be capable. Listening to him, it was clear that the admiration was real, but so was the distance. Role models who feel unattainable can inspire awe but they rarely offer a blueprint. At some point, a player needs to find someone whose success feels emulatable rather than mythical.

Hachem and Obrestad: Emulatable Role-Models

For Justin, that person was Joe Hachem who won the 2005 WSOP Main Event, not by reinventing poker but by playing solid. The Australian was an Everyman, a grinder and, dare I say, a bit of a nit. That is not to take anything away from his achievement. Hachem demonstrated patience, small-balled deftly and executed a game-plan. He avoided disasters and let the tournament come to him. He also looked like he had a lot of fun while doing it.

For Justin, Hachem was a breath of fresh air. “I can do that”, he thought. That moment of identification is powerful and one that he also felt whilst watching Norwegian prodigy Annette ‘Annette_15’ Obrestad. She represented possibility, particularly for younger players and those coming from the online game. She was crushing before she was old enough to play live and Justin particularly loved the legend of her winning a 180-man SNG without looking at her cards.

The rise of Obrestad was destabilising to old assumptions about who could succeed. Strange as it is to say now, her almost immediate impact in the live arena also challenged the idea that online poker players would get found out in the real world. Watching her arrive to the WSOP Europe and take down the Main Event punctured a lot of lazy thinking. For many players, including Justin, it expanded the map of what poker could be.

Brunson: The Game-Changer

Doyle Brunson taking his hat off at poker table

Coming to poker later in life changes how you think about role models. When my podcast co- host Dara O’Kearney started playing seriously in his forties, he was looking for proof that the game could be sustainable, intellectually respectable and compatible with the life of a family man. Doyle Brunson was his north star, not just because he won for so long, but because he changed how poker saw itself.

After a knee injury sabotaged his chances of playing in the NBA, Brunson did a Masters in administrative education with the intention of becoming a school principal. A wily cardsmith, he had a particular penchant for poker, paying his way through college with money won at the tables. The allure of the game ultimately proved too much and, after a brief spell as a salesman after college, he spent the 1960s on the road, joining a fraternity of Texas road gamblers.

Brunson was a regular at the WSOP since its inception in 1970 and, in 1976 and 1977, he took down the winner-take-all main events. However, it was the writing of Super System that made

him the real game-changer. That act of generosity ran counter to the prevailing culture of secrecy and helped reframe poker as a strategy game rather than a backroom hustle and that shift laid the groundwork for everything that has followed.

Harrington and Seidel: Consistency and Longevity

Another WSOP Main Event champion who has also contributed substantially to poker’s written word is Dan Harrington. His books were not flashy and many of the specifics contained within are now a bit outdated. Nonetheless, his underlying approach still resonates. He treated poker as a business, emphasising risk management, structure, and consistency.

For O’Kearney, leaving a lucrative career to pursue poker had to be justifiable and Harrington offered a blueprint for how to build a winning game. The next thing he needed was the confidence that a career could be sustained. For this, his greatest inspiration was Eric Seidel, one of poker’s GOATs, still battling with the top pros of today, almost forty years after battling with Johnny Chan for the 1988 World Series Main Event bracelet.

Seidel’s longevity is remarkable because the ability to remain competitive across multiple eras, styles, and technological revolutions is so rare. He won his first WSOP bracelet in 1992 and his most recent in the $50,000 Super Highroller in 2023. The way he has adapted repeatedly without losing his edge is one of the most impressive feats in the history of the game.

Mike Sexton: The Consummate Poker Ambassador

There are other people who stand out for me personally as poker role-models - Vicky Coren for her all-round talent and grace, Barny Boatman for his compassion and wisdom, and Dara O’Kearney for his intellect and tirelessness. However, no article on this subject would be complete without talking about a former gymnast, paratrooper, little league coach and ballroom dancer who envisioned what poker could be and then made that vision a reality.

The late, great Mike Sexton was a WSOP bracelet winner, WPT champion and Poker Hall of Famer. He was also the consummate poker ambassador with an enthusiasm and positivity that seemed boundless. He was simultaneously self-effacing and bombastic. He believed that poker could capture people’s imaginations all over the globe and was bullish about the ways that the game could prosper. For 35 years, he used his voice to grow poker, both literally and figuratively, and that mantle is still being carried by his WPT colleagues today who have built tours which stretch all across the globe.

When we had the honour of interviewing Sexton on The Chip Race in 2019, he regaled us with tales from on and off the felt. He told us how he felt a responsibility to be the conduit between the old-school guys and modern players. He explained how he had an obligation to tell the

stories about players past, players like his dearly departed friend Stu Ungar, because if he didn’t tell them, who would? Sexton’s influence was truly transcendent and that may be the most important thing a role model can offer - not an image to imitate, but a reason to continue.

David is a professional poker player, writer and commentator. He has written over 750 blogs and articles on poker; including news, opinion and strategy. He is the producer and host of the 3-time GPI Global Poker Award winning podcast ‘The Chip Race.’ In 2025, he was nominated for the GPI Global Poker Award for journalism. David was a brand ambassador for Unibet Poker from 2017 until 2025. He is currently a brand ambassador for WPT Global.