Poker success for former Warwick students

A recent trend shows that some of the best poker players in the world all have one thing in common: they attended the University of Warwick and were members of Warwick Poker society.

Alex Millar, named one of the ‘Best of the British Isles’ by Pokernews, started playing as a student at Warwick, while European Poker Tour champion Rupert Elder is still an active and vocal member of the society.

Well-known online player Andrew Hulme (better known by his username of ‘stato_1’) was also part of the society.

On the society’s online discussion forum, other names were also put forward of professional players who have emerged from Warwick; notably Nicolas Cardyn and Ashley Mason.

The reason behind this success, however, remained unclear; when pushed, many of the members of Warwick Poker Society were unsure of the explanation for their former members’ success.

There seemed, however, to be a general agreement that members of the society have benefited from the discussion that the society has generated.

Current president of Warwick Poker Society, James Jose, who is doing a Masters in Economics, stated that the “poker community teaching each other and giving each other a hand are probably the major factors in [starting the careers of] a lot of professional poker players”.

He believed the facebook page, which is “commonly used to discuss strategies”, helped both new and advanced players, as “alumni also take part in the discussion so [the society’s members] get tips from the pros”.

Social Secretary Joshua Wooldridge, a second-year History student, agreed, and told the Boar: “from personal experience… there was a class of ‘elite’ players from five or six years ago, and then there has been a gradual educating process where the freshers or new players learn from the better ones… gradually the standard of everyone gets better”.

Jose also attributed some of the society’s alumni’s success to the fact that Warwick is able to attract “the best talent from across the world”, as well as the emphasis within the society on playing both online and live, which gives players more experience.

Others, however, thought that a willingness to put your degree on the line in pursuit of success in the poker world was the telling feature of the most successful of Warwick Poker Society’s members.

The society, founded in 2002, runs weekly tournaments that can be tailored to any budget.

Drawing on its impressive pedigree, the society is also able to attract professional players to come and talk to current members, as well as offering tuition to beginners and running trips to casinos and other universities for tournaments.