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Andrew Black

 
/2008-02-08/

  • Nicknamed "The Monk"
  • A devout Buddhist, he stays focused at tournaments by meditating during breaks
  • Finished fifth at the 2005 WSOP Main Event



    Some bad beats hit you like a train. Others haunt you in the dead of night. Still others, like the ones that sidelined Andy Black after successive World Series of Poker appearances in the late 90s, will put you on a path to enlightenment.

    Raised during the height of "The Troubles" in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Black learned poker from his mother. She taught him the game in order to distract him from the sectarian violence inflaming the world outside their home. It also helped with his focus. As a young man, Black did so well in school that he went on to study law at Dublin's Trinity College. In the end, however, the draw of card rooms was a bigger pull than court rooms.


    Black's first major tournament was the 1997 WSOP Main Event. He was seated with poker legend Stu Ungar, and the two gregarious men struck up a fast, albeit short, friendship. To Black, it seemed like the future hall of famer was taking him under his wing. Ungar had other plans. He used every tool in his arsenal, including trust, to separate Black from his chips. Black was crushed. He was sucker punched and only had himself to blame. Little did he know that Ungar, who went on to win that Main Event, had actually given Black his first lesson in Buddhism. After all, Black wanted to win more than anything, but a Buddhist can only attain Nirvana through desirelessness.

    The following year, Black returned to the WSOP Main Event with a documentary team in tow. They were supposed to chronicle his triumphant return but instead they got a close-up of his agonizing defeat. Thus began Black's five-year sabbatical from poker. He gave away all his possessions, moved to England, and started living an austere life as a strict Buddhist.

    Thanks to his devotion to Buddhism, Black returned to poker in 2004 with a firmer grip on his emotions. With a keen single-mindedness, he racked up impressive wins at European tournaments, World Poker Tour events and, in 2005, he entered the WSOP, finishing fifth in the Main Event.

    Besides achieving Zen at the poker tables and by playing online at Full Tilt Poker, Black attains fulfillment by donating his time and effort to charitable organizations and causes.

    Meet him at Full Tilt Poker

    Play Online Poker

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