WPT Career Stats
| Stat |
Value |
Rank |
| Career Earnings |
$35,452 |
1751 |
| Cashes |
2 |
597 |
| Final Tables |
1 |
134 |
| Titles |
0 |
147 |
| Tournaments Played |
26 |
269 |
|
Paul Magriel is well-known as a player of many games, a writer and a theorist. He was New York State's Junior Chess Champion when he was a student at New York University. Magriel was later a National Science Foundation fellow at Princeton University with an emphasis on probability. Magriel later became a mathematics professor at the Newark College of Engineering. Magriel won the World Backgammon Championship in 1978. He has become known as "X-22," one of the world's best backgammon players, teachers, and theorists. That nickname has followed him into the world of poker. Magriel has applied his mathematics and probabilities studies to the game of poker as well. He created the "M Principle," which has become known as the "M-Ratio." The theory uses chip stacks and antes to determine when there's expected value to making moves during poker tournaments. Dan Harrington explains Magriel's "M Principle" in his book, Harrington on Hold 'em Volume II. Magriel has cashed at the World Series of Poker three times, first in 1985. He made his first World Poker Tour final table during Season One. He placed fourth in the World Poker Challenge at the Reno Hilton and won more than $29,000. Magriel has won nearly $300,000 in live poker tournaments. He and his first wife have written two books together: Backgammon and An Introduction to Backgammon: A Step-by-Step Guide. Magriel continues to be one of the most interesting players on the poker circuit.