John Morgan

“Most Players Start at $1/$2, I Started in Ivey's Room” – this revealing statement from 75-year old Morgan reveals the simple fact that he’s a self-made multi-millionaire rather than your everyday poker pro.

Morgan is the CEO of Winmark Corporation headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and he combines the drive of the business world with his long love of poker, with tournament cashes going as far back as 2006, when he was introduced to No Limit Hold’em, although he had learned other variants much earlier at high school.

Although a very rich man who occasionally puts in appearances at the biggest buy-in events, a quick scan of his Hendon Mob results reveals he’s happy to play at just about any stakes:

“I just love to play at any level,” he told Arthur Crowson of PokerListings at last year’s 2016 SHRB. “I’ll play small tournaments, big tournaments.”

His biggest score was a $168,000 victory at the Aria High Roller back in 2015, but he readily admits that he really doesn’t play for the money. As far back as the 2012 WSOP ‘Big One for One Drop’ tournament in Vegas, he said:

“There’s about $48 million in the pot. The winner will get $17 million and the top seven will get something. If I win anything, I'll give it to charity."

That’s a huge chunk of money to anyone, but Morgan’s business and investments have rid him of the need to ever worry financially. These riches are why he admits that when it comes to cash game play, stating:

“I started at the highest level right here in the Aria. Most guys start at $1/$2 or $5/10 and work their way up. I didn’t do that. I got right into $300/$600/$1200. When you make mistakes it’s very expensive though!”

Bringing business acumen to the poker table is something many figures from the wider world have found to be useful, Morgan explaining that:

“I think the strategic element in poker is very valuable. Being able to read people is a good trait to have in business as well as poker. The money management part is another way that poker equates to business.”

John Morgan was the recipient of perhaps the greatest – or worst – fold ever seen in the professional game. Back in that same 2012 One Drop event, his opponent Mikhail Smirnov open-folded quad 8’s on the river worried that Morgan had the straight flush.

The Russian explained his fold, convincing himself if not the rest of the poker world:

“A bluff is impossible because he likes to play in the tournament and he is not a professional. I think I have no chance to win, plus he was so excited on the turn, when he made what could be a straight flush.”

Morgan himself has never revealed whether he held the straight flush or not, “out of respect for my opponent”, a clear indication of how he conducts himself.

He describes poker “a great social game,” adding:

“I have a competitive nature so I like that part of it. The fellowship is also really good. I certainly don’t do it for the money.”