Dan Harrington

Dan Harrington

Dan Harrington

122,058 global poker index

1 world poker tour index

$6,640,802 total poker live earnings

Dan Harrington poker player profile. Get latest information, winnings and gallery.

Profile

Nationality
United States
GPI Rank
122,058
WPT Wins
1
total poker live earnings
$6,640,802

Biography

Dan Harrington is an American poker player and author who won the 1995 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Over the course of his career, “Action Dan” won two WSOP bracelets, made four WSOP Main Event final tables, won a WPT title and over six million dollars in tournament winnings. In 2010 he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Biography

Harrington was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 6, 1945. Both of his parents were born in Ireland. A former chess State champion, Harrington also excelled at backgammon. He first learned to play poker while attending Suffolk University. He often travelled to Harvard, where he played poker against Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Harrington was part of a group of players who were regulars at the Mayfair Club in New York. They included Jay Heimowitz, Al Krux, Erik Seidel, and Steve Zolotow. However, Harrington remained at university and eventually graduated with a degree in government and history. Over the next ten years, Harrington worked as a bankruptcy lawyer before switching to poker. He first cashed in the WSOP in 1986 and made it to the final table of the Main Event in 1987, finishing sixth. He added another cash in 1988, but would have to wait until 1995 to win his first bracelet, winning a $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event for $249,000.

1995 WSOP Main Event

The 1995 World Series of Poker (WSOP) had a total of 23 preliminary events, with the Main Event attracting a field of 273 players. Off the back of his first bracelet, Harrington made it to the final table alongside 1992 Main Event champion Hamid Dastmalchi and Barbara Enright, whobecame the first and, to date, the only woman to make the WSOP Main Event final table. Enright would finish fifth and Dastmalchi fourth, as Harrington eventually defeated Howard Goldfarb heads-up to win $1,000,000.

Dan Harrington Poker Achievements

Harrington says that the game of poker “went dead” in the 90s, and it was only the advent of internet and television that saw its revival in 2003. “It exploded on TV,” Harrington told PokerListings in 2015. “I watched them playing No Limit Holdem and I thought, ‘hey, I remember how to play this game, and these guys know it, too,’ so I came back from retirement and managed to have a couple more successful years.” In 2003, Harrington made it to the WSOP Main Event final table for the third time, finishing third the year Chris Moneymaker topped a field of 839. The following year, Harrington returned to the final table, finishing fourth. However, by this time the field had ballooned to 2,576 players, with many calling it the greatest accomplishment in WSOP history. Three years later, Harringotn won the WPT Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino for $1,634,865. As of 2021, only five other players have won the WSOP Main Event and a WPT title: Doyle Brunson, Carlos Mortensen, Scotty Nguyen, Joe Hachem, Ryan Riess.

Dan Harrington Poker Books

In addition to his poker success, Harrington is best known for ‘Harrington on Hold’em’, a series of poker books published between 2004-06:

  • Harrington on Hold’em: Volume I: Strategic Play
  • Harrington on Hold’em: Volume II: The Endgame
  • Harrington on Hold’em: Volume III: The Workbook Harrington also published two volumes of ‘Harrington on Cash Games’, as well as ‘Harrington on Online Cash Games’ (2010) and ‘Harrington on Modern Tournament Poker’ (2014) Read More: The 10 Most Important Poker Strategy Books Ever Written and Why Theyre Special

Dan Harrington WSOP Bracelets

Year Event Payout (USD)
1995 Event #21: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em $249,000
1995 Event #25: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em $1,000,000

Dan Harrington Top Five Poker Cashes

Date Event Buy-in Place Payout (USD)
August 2007 WPT Legends of Poker $9,600 1st $1,635,365
May 2004 WSOP Main Event $10,000 4th $1,500,000
May 1995 WSOP Main Event $10,000 1st $1,000,000
May 2003 WSOP Main Event $10,000 3rd $650,000
October 2005 Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship $10,200 2nd $620,730

WSOP Main Event Winners 1986-95

YEAR ENTRIES CHAMPION COUNTRY PRIZE
1995 273 Dan Harrington United States $1,000,000
1994 268 Russ Hamilton United States $1,000,000
1993 220 Jim Bechtel United States $1,000,000
1992 201 Hamid Dastmalchi Iran $1,000,000
1991 215 Brad Daugherty United States $1,000,000
1990 194 Mansour Matloubi Iran $895,000
1989 178 Phil Hellmuth United States $755,000
1988 167 Johnny Chan United States $700,000
1987 152 Johnny Chan United States $625,000
1986 141 Berry Johnston United States $570,000

PokerNews Covered Events

Event Place Prize
2012 World Series of PokerEvent 35: $2,500 Mixed Hold’em 45th $4,229
2009 World Series of PokerEvent 57 - $10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold’em 252nd $32,963
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Biography Todd Brunson may be the son of poker legend Doyle Brunson, but since turning pro himself after dropping out of Texas Tech University, Todd had put his own stamp on the poker world. Among his accolades, Todd has amassed over $3.2 million in career tournament earnings and owns his own WSOP gold bracelet. Much like his father, most of Todds poker career has been spent playing cash games. Hes a regular in the highest limits around Las Vegas and has proven himself to be one of the best players in the world. Outside of the cash games where he has won millions, Todd has had significant success in tournaments. His tournament results date back to 1990. In 1992, Todd cashed at the WSOP for this first time in two events. The following year in 1993, he won $198,000 after taking down the Jim Brady Month Championship Event. In 1994, he won another six figures in a tournament after taking down the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem Hall of Fame Poker Classic. A few years went by without much stirring up the record books until 2000. This year, Brunson finished second to Ronnie Williams in the Jack Binion World Poker Open in Tunica for nearly $120,000. Two years later, five cashes at the WSOP rolled in. Immediately following the WSOP at the Festa al Lago II, Brunson won nearly $160,000 after taking down the $2,000 No-Limit Holdem event. At the 2005 WSOP, Todd would get his hands on World Series gold for the first time, a feeling that his father has come to know all too well over the years. Toss took down the $2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo event for over $255,000. The final table held Allen Kessler, Manny Minaya, and Allyn Jaffrey Shulman as some of Brunsons obstacles. His father Doyle also won a bracelet this year, making them the first father-son combo to both win bracelets in the same year. He also made two more WSOP final tables that year with an eighth- and a sixth-place finish for over $140,000 combined. The year had continued success for Todd after he finished runner up in the Poker Superstars Inivitational Grand Final for $140,000. He was able to earn $95,000 total from winning some of the events preliminary matches as well. To kick off 2006, Brunson won $500,000 at the Quarter Finalists Freeroll of the Poker Superstars Invitational. He also won the tournaments Grand Final for the second year in a row and earned himself another $400,000. In 2007, Brunson placed in the money in six WSOP events. His best finish that year was a seventh place for over $50,000. Off the felt, Todd has helped work with his father in the book Super/System 2. Todd wrote the seven-card stud hi-lo section of the book. Hes also contributed to Daniel Negreanus book and had some stories about him told in The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King.

12/07