Dan Harrington – Pokerology Hall of Fame
Dan Harrington may have quieted off during the last few years now that he’s in his mid 60’s, but his contributions to the game of poker will be felt long after we’re all gone. But don’t be fooled; even though his tournament schedule has slowed down over the last few years, he still plays great poker, as evidenced by his World Poker Tour victory and $1,635,365 prize in April of 2007, making him only one of five people to win a WSOP bracelet (he has two, both in 1995) and a WPT title. As you will learn, though, Harrington has his name on more than just one elite list. His self-given nickname “Action Dan” comes off as a joke to some people because Harrington is known for being one of the tightest and most solid tournament poker players to ever sit at the felt. However, his series of “Harrington on Hold ’em” books will ensure players seek action at tournament poker tables for years to come and play at a higher level than they would have previously.
Harrington was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from Boston. At nearly every poker tournament Harrington enters, he is never far from Boston – the Boston Red Sox,. His lucky green Red Sox hat has become one of the tournament circuit’s most noticeable staples. Many poker players don’t even recognize Harrington without his hat.
As a youngster, Harrington was a bit of a “jack of all trades” regarding games. His first game of choice, years before poker, was chess. In high school, Harrington was one of the best players in the state, and as a young man, he won the Massachusetts State Championship, which brought along with it the title of chess master. Harrington also attended Harvard Law School, where he first started playing poker. Two of the regulars at his poker games were fellow poor college students Bill Gates and Paul Allen. I guess Harrington would love to have a crack at them at the poker table now that they are two of the richest men in the world.
A part of his life that Harrington prefers not to talk about is when he was a member of an M.I.T. team that found decided advantages in casino games, first in roulette and later in blackjack. This was decades before card counting was made famous by the movie “21”. Harrington has said it was not nearly as glamorous as it is made out to be in books and films. Harrington has said those were “wild and crazy” times and generally leaves it at that.
Dan Harrington first got into playing serious poker as one of the original members of the elite underground poker club, Mayfair, located in New York City. At the time, other members of the Mayfair included Howard Lederer and Erik Seidel. Eventually, Harrington, who had originally joined the club to play Backgammon, took his poker game west to Las Vegas, and the rest, as they say, is history.
In 1995, Harrington won the WSOP Main Event and a nice payday of one million dollars. However, most people in the poker world do not consider his greatest achievement in poker. Many think one of their biggest achievements was when he made the final table of back-to-back WSOP Main Events. For starters, it was the beginning of what is known as the “Poker Boom,” as entrees to the main event began to triple and quadruple from just a few years before. In 2003, Harrington finished 3rd out of 839 players; the following year, he finished 4th out of 2,576 players. There is debate on whether or not it is easier to win poker tournaments with a small group of elite players or an inflated field of players of all levels. Still, it cannot be debated that making back-to-back final tables in this poker age puts Harrington in a class of his own. On top of the feat, Harrington was in his late 50s when he achieved this accomplishment, showing the stamina of poker players half his age.
In addition to being one of the best ambassadors of poker, Harrington’s greatest contribution to this game is the books he has co-authored with Bill Robertie. Much like Doyle Brunson did with his “Super System,” Harrington gave away many of the secrets that have helped him win over six million dollars in tournament poker with the publication of “Harrington on Hold ’em: Volume 1: Strategic Play” and “Harrington on Hold ’em: Volume 2: The Endgame.” These poker books, published in 2004 and 2005, respectfully, are written in a way that almost anyone can understand. This was a nice change from the technical and analytical poker books making their way to the market. One of the most talked about things in the books was the position of starting hands. Harrington’s starting hand requirements are among the most quoted things on strategic poker websites and forums. Harrington has since published books on cash games, a must-have for wannabe players.
When you combine his genuinely nice personality and contributions to the game in book form, it’s a no-brainer that he will one day be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. But in the meantime, we are happy to place him in the Pokerology Hall of Fame for his efforts at and away from the poker table.
