World Poker Tour

Charles Shoten “Scotty Warbucks“

Birthplace
New York, NY

Hometown
Glendale, CA

Birthday
April 10

Total Winnings
$235,000

Charles Shoten was born in The Bronx in 1937. He's been playing poker most of his life. In fact, he started playing in home games when he was only five years old. Shoten has a degree from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He is retired from a career as a life insurance executive. He owns wwpo.com, which is billed as an online information and resource portal.

After Shoten retired from the insurance industry in 1990, he moved to California. On the poker circuit, he went by the name "Scotty Warbucks," because he didn't want anyone to know he won a lot of money. That was until 2001, when he let his real name slip. That same year, Shoten started to learn how to play No-Limit Hold 'em. The game apparently came naturally for him. The first time he played a No-Limit satellite, he won it and a buy-in to the Main Event at the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles. Shoten's approach to poker and life are one in the same. He says there is no difference between becoming a better poker player and becoming a happier and better person.

Shoten decided to share his philosophy on life and poker in 2006. He wrote a book titled "No Limit Life." The book chronicles his career, but it also gives advice on how to make your poker game and your life better by letting go of negativity. That philosophical approach has apparently worked in Shoten's poker game. He made 19 final tables in 2003 alone, including a major World Poker Tour cash. Shoten placed second at the Borgata Poker Open that year, taking home $235,000. How does he do it? "I'm never hoping I win or lose," Shoten says. "I'm trying to be in the moment and make the best choices."