World Poker Tour

Dan Harrington “Action Dan“

Birthplace
Cambridge, MA

Hometown
Santa Monica, CA

Birthday
December 6

Total Winnings
$2,444,081

Dan Harrington is kind of a Renaissance man. He has been a champion at chess, backgammon and poker, as well as a bankruptcy attorney, real estate investor, and author. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While he was a student at Suffolk University, he was part of a group that used math to calculate roulette odds with great success, and he soon became proficient at other games. He became a part of an MIT team that tackled the game of blackjack.

In the 1980’s, Harrington played poker at the Mayfair Club with competitors like Howard Lederer and Erik Seidel who would later become some of the best-known players in the world. Harrington gained a reputation for being such a conservative player that he gave himself the nickname "Action Dan" in order to throw his opponents off his game. He is known to be a quiet and dignified player at the poker table, always showing respect for the game and his opponents. Harrington entered his first World Series of Poker in 1987, and he finished in sixth place. Two years later, he moved to California.

Harrington won the World Series of Poker in 1995. Years later, he made the final table in back-to-back WSOP main events, placing third in 2003 and fourth in 2004. Despite his success and over $5 million in tournament earnings, he still does not consider himself a poker professional. He says the first season of the World Poker Tour inspired him to get back into the game and has since posted four money finishes in WPT tournaments, one in the Season Two Bellagio Championship, two in Season Three at the LA Poker Classic and the World Poker Challenge in Reno, and one in Season Four at the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship at the Bellagio. Finally, in 2007, he won the WPT Legends of Poker to add the coveted title to his resume. He has co-written three books on tournament poker: "Harrington on Hold'em: Volume I: Strategic Play," "Harrington on Hold'em: Volume II: The Endgame," and "Harrington on Hold'em: Volume III: The Workbook." The much-respected author is currently working on a cash game series of books.