Robert Varkonyi

Robert Varkonyi was born on October 7, 1961 in New York, New York.

Robert Varkonyi is best known for winning the 2002 World Series of Poker main event and taking home the $2 million prize. Robert was a new to the poker world and Phil Hellmuth agreed to have his hair shaved off for charity if Varkonyi won. (SEE VIDEO BELOW) Hellmuth kept his promise, and even let Varkonyi shave some of his hair off.

Varkonyi resides in Great Neck, New York with his wife Olga and two daughters. Robert named his first daughter Victoria after his World Series win. Olga, who also plays poker, finished in 238th place in the 2005 World Series of Poker main event.

It was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when Varkonyi first started playing poker as an undergraduate. He graduated in 1983 with degrees in EECS and from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He worked as an investment banker in Brooklyn, New York for a few of years before deciding to play tournament poker. Varkonyi was coached by J.P. Massar, a.k.a. "Mr. M", founder of the MIT Blackjack Team.

Fun Facts:

• Columnist for Card Player Magazine.
• Made an instructional poker video, "Wise Guys on Texas Hold'em", featuring some of the cast of The Sopranos.
• Worked as a Vice President of Goldman-Sachs
• Used to build trading systems on Wall Street