Allen Kessler “Chainsaw“

Birthplace
Philadelphia, PA

Hometown
Philadelphia, PA and Las Vegas, NV

Total Winnings
$503,822

Born and raised in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area " Huntington Valley to be exact " Allen Kessler was always a bit of an intellectual and went into a safe and financially secure career after he graduated from Temple University. He became an internet marketing executive and did polling for such media organizations as ABC News. It was during that time that he put his incredible knack for numbers to good use by looking at lists of phone numbers and deducing which would be the most profitable. Not only did he develop a unique ability to take a phone number and immediately tell you what word it spelled on a telephone keypad, but he could also pull facts and figures from his memory to tell you how Americans poll on a variety of subjects.

When Allen first decided to visit a casino, he took $200 with him, which was all he could afford to lose. But he soon found that his mathematical mind could be put to use at the poker tables and be parlayed into winnings in the cash games. He began to make regular treks to the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, where he began playing with the likes of Phil Ivey and Cyndy Violette. He soon moved up in limits to the $30-$60 mixed games where he found a lucrative alternative to office jobs by playing poker.

In 2001, Allen decided to try the tournament circuit by attending the World Series of Poker. He finished in 16th place in the $5,000 Omaha hi-lo eight-or-better event and fell in love with tournaments, though cash games would remain his main source of income. He captured his first tournament win in 2004 at the Winnin' o' the Green in Los Angeles in a seven-card stud event, and in only a few years, he has amassed numerous wins and cashes that amount to more than $1 million. He has two WSOP final tables to his credit, as well as two WPT final tables " one at the 2006 L.A. Poker Classic and another at the 2007 Foxwoods Poker Classic " but his efforts toward capturing a major tournament win continue to get stronger as he pushes for that big victory and proper recognition of his abilities in the poker world.