World Poker Tour

Jeff Garza “Action Jeff“

Hometown
Norfolk, Massachusetts

Birthday
November 27

Total Winnings
$197,611

Jeff Garza began playing poker during his high school years and began doing well in his senior year. He was doing quite well, after having honed his skills online and finding success as a Magic the Gathering player, and he decided to take a year off from educational pursuits after high school graduation to see if his poker experience could translate into more success. While college remains among his long-term goals, poker is something he felt he needed to try at a time in his life that he felt could be lucrative.

Initially, Jeff did well in online games, and much of that good fortune was attributed to studying the game. Besides simply playing often and moving up in limits quickly, he also sought the tutelage of some well-known players and made use of the online forums by asking questions and discussing game strategy with fellow enthusiasts. Soon his bankroll exceeded the $100,000 range and continued to rise. Noting that his swings often fluctuate by several hundred thousand dollars at a time, he did lay off some of the higher limit games to grind it out and make his game more solid.

Since casinos in Canada, the Bahamas, and Europe set the legal age to play at under 21, Jeff began traveling to those areas of the world. His first live-play win happened at the Johnny Chan Poker Classic in Canada in May of 2007, which netted him nearly $70,000 and his first title. Soon after, he came to the WPT North American Poker Championships in Ontario and ended up at the final table. Though he finished sixth, it was his first major tournament exposure and TV appearance. He went on to play in the Aussie Millions in January of 2008 in Australia, where he claimed his second career victory in the heads-up championship event. While his online successes continue to dominate, he has set out to conquer as much of the poker world as possible, and that includes the live tournament circuit. All he needs to do is hit the ripe old age of 21 before hitting the U.S. tournaments.