World Poker Tour

James Van Alstyne

Birthplace
Columbus, GA

Hometown
Las Vegas, NV

Birthday
August 24

Total Winnings
$1,105,342

This 38 year-old poker pro grew up on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in Columbus, Georgia, and learned poker while attending Stanford University in California. His chosen field, optoelectronic engineering, deals with the interaction of electronic devices with light. His avocation, though, deals with the interaction of human beings with cards, and so far, this latter profession has eclipsed his earlier one, at least in terms of income.

Initially, James became a professional blackjack player, and was so successful at exploiting his edge through card-counting methods that he became persona-non-grata at many casinos. When rules changed at casinos, this effectively put an end to his edge, he switched to poker, and achieved quick success. Particularly in his favorite game of Omaha 8, finishing in the money at the WSOP three times between 1994 and 1999.

Finally bringing his card acumen to No Limit Hold 'Em just at the moment it exploded into a global phenomenon brought James more riches than he'd expected, and also something he never really wanted " notoriety. "I am a very geeky person," he admits. Career highlights include a 3rd place finish in the 2005 WSOP Circuit Championship event in Tahoe and winning the $2,000 No Limit event at the 2006 Mirage Poker Showdown. Oh yeah, and beating out 599 players to take the chip lead into the final table of the WPT Season IV Championship event. James has amassed nearly 2 million dollars in career tournament poker earnings.