Ex-Felon Learns Poker in Prison

(Photo: Cardplayer.com)

A lot of today's poker players found their way to the tables as a result of the Poker Boom spurred on by Chris Moneymaker's 2003 WSOP Main Event victory, the proliferation of online poker sites, and the movie "Rounders."

Still more were taught the game by friends and relatives in the comfort of their homes or perhaps on a school playground. It is rare to find a man who learned the game of poker behind walls topped with coiled barbed wire and guards manning gun towers on the lookout for convicts attempting to escape.

Time is on My Side

Michael Haag is one such man who was serving time in a federal penitentiary, but escape was likely the furthest thing from his mind. Because it was behind those walls and the iron bars of his cell where Haag found his eventual escape.

An escape from the revolving door of the criminal justice system that gives convicted felons little chance of turning their life around. It pushes them toward becoming yet another statistic of the burgeoning recidivism rate in our country.

Poker was Haag's escape, allowing him to find his niche in Las Vegas casinos, rejoining society and avoiding the pitfalls that many other cons seemingly cannot.

Gargantuan Guns

"I love the fact that I get to play poker for a living," Haag told PokerTube ambassador Jeff 'Boski' Sluzinski, a fellow poker pro who readers of this page know is a MTT crusher in his own right.

Boski had an opportunity to interview Haag and the result is a 22-minute video that sheds new light on a path to poker as a full-time job that most would be wise to avoid - unless they are equipped with the massive biceps that Haag displays for viewers.

Pass Go and Collect

Michael did a 3-year bid on a drug charge and told YouTube viewers how he studied poker and became good at the game while serving his time. Monopoly money was used by the inmates as chips, with winners getting paid in commissary goods - ramen noodles and cigarettes instead of cold, hard cash.

Haag's diet has likely been void of ramen noodles since his release from the joint and his ensuing life as a grinder. His Hendon Mob profile lists cashes in excess of $319,000.

Pot Limit Omaha cash games at the Aria is where Haag spends most of his time now, preferring the PLO vibe and camaraderie over the cutthroat NLHE action. He also likely prefers his tablemates over the ones from his prison days, the latter being much more likely to be carrying shanks than cellphones and wearing stripes than hoodies.