Allen Kessler: From College Poker to Big Wins – 'I Play for Fun'

Allen Kessler, known as "Chainsaw", was born and raised in Huntington Valley, a small town in Pennsylvania. He started playing poker in college, initially in low-stakes games like $1/$2 and $20/$40 Omaha-8. Kessler worked in telephone marketing while in college, earning $4 per hour and eventually becoming a supervisor. He left his college studies to work in a job that paid almost twice as much, allowing him to play poker more frequently.

Kessler played poker in Atlantic City, often staying from Friday evening to Monday morning, and lived in a cycle of work and poker. He won several hundred thousand dollars during an 11-day promotion at the Claridge casino, which involved tripled and quadrupled bonuses for jackpots. He worked with his sister in a phone company, where he manually reviewed databases of phone numbers, and later the process was automated.

Kessler won a Chevrolet Citation in a casino promotion by understanding the system of lucky tickets. He met Steve Norden, who became his mentor and taught him strategies for video poker, helping him win various bonuses and prizes. Kessler's tournament career began in Vegas, where he played in a $5k Omaha-8 tournament and finished in the top 10.