World Poker Tour

Al Stonum “Stones“

Birthplace
San Francisco, CA

Hometown
San Mateo, CA

Birthday
July 21

Total Winnings
$134,390

Al Stonum spent most of his competitive career playing a sport that required he hold something much, much heavier than a stack of chips. Between 1978-1983, Al was a professional bowler. In the old days of bowling, the sport was akin to grinding it out in the poker cash games. Al would bowl up to 100 games a week. The pressure was intense. He knew that if his game was off, he wouldn't get paid for the week. Perhaps ironically, when Al had downtime, he would play poker. For him, it was a way to relax on his way to sports retirement and the eventual ownership of a Lake Tahoe sports bar.

Even after his bowling career was over, Al kept playing poker. His face would become well-known around card rooms, where Al found a love for the no-limit version of the game he'd been playing for years. His cash game successes eventually led him into the tournament world.

While he spent years putting together hundreds of thousands of dollars in wins, he was largely unknown in the age of celebrity poker. While most poker players and tournament rounders knew him well, mot of the general public did not. That changed in 2006 when Al nursed his short stack all the way to the final table of the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship.