Posts tagged poker

by Chris Hanel

I opened up the recent edition of my hometown’s social scene magazine and what catches my eye—a poker tournament. Not just any poker tournament, but the Derby Poker Championship No Limit Texas Hold’Em poker room. For the last three years the Derby Poker Championship has brought celebrities and some of the biggest names in poker to Louisville, Kentucky. 2010 was no different. Poker legends Phil Helmuth and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson played alongside actors Jesse Spencer (a.k.a., Dr. Chase from “House”) and comedian Ron White.

 

This year’s tournament was sponsored by Jim Beam (a bourbon maker), Twin Spires (an online gambling site), and UB.net (an online poker room). Fitting for a Kentucky Derby Week event! The tournament had a buy-in of 0, and 51% of the buy-ins, add-ons and re-buys were donated to local charities. Starting out with 108 players, this year’s winner is one of Kentucky’s own, Rich Muny.

 

Muny reaped over ,000 at this year’s Derby Poker Championship. He is a methodic, calculated player. He frequently admitted to balancing the stakes he played with his level of success. “If I found myself on a bad run, I reduced the stakes I played to properly manage my bankroll,” he said. “Over time, I won significantly more than I lost.”

 

Ask a professional poker player about Rich Muny and they may say “Who?” But, if you say “What do you know about ‘The Engineer’?” They know exactly who he is. He is an interesting member of the poker community. He is an engineer by trade, and started playing poker at the height of the online boom in 2005. He acknowledged reading through several online poker room reviews before choosing Full Tilt online poker room. In several interviews, he has stated that Andy Bloch is one of his major influences as a player not to mention that Andy’s also an engineer!

 

“The Engineer” is also diehard advocate for Internet poker nationally and statewide in Kentucky. Kentucky is and has been a hostile ground for poker with the most recent issue being the forfeiture of 141 Internet gambling domain names. The state is also suing several online poker rooms recouping funds lost by Kentucky residents. Muny is a board member of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), a national lobbying group. On June 1, 2010, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) took affect aiming to stop online gambling by preventing credit card companies and banks from processing fund transfers for unlawful Internet gambling. Muny has been working with PPA and filing petitions to exempt online poker from the UIGEA.

 

He is a writer and blogger about everything from fiscal responsibility to poker rights. He is the moderator for the PocketFive, poker legislation discussion board. Muny is also a contributing columnist to BigGovernment.com.

 

Rich Muny is the embodiment of the poker community. He is smart and knowledgeable about his game, his foes and the rules of game. He stands up to big government. He is not afraid to got all in because he knows the risks. He has systematically built solid foundation and reputation in the world of poker, just like a good engineer.