Andy Black (poker player)

infobox poker player
firstname=Andy
lastname=Black
nickname=The Monk


caption=Andy Black at the 2006 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas
hometown=Dublin, Ireland
wsop bracelet count=0
wsop money finishes=12(+1)
wsop main event best finish rank=5th
wsop main event best finish year=2005
multi-year wsop winner
wpt titles= "None"
wpt final tables= "None"
wpt money finishes=2
ept titles= "None"
ept final tables=1
ept money finishes=5

Andrew Black (born 20 July 1965) is a poker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who presently resides in Dublin.

Black played cards with his mother when he was younger, and began playing more seriously in 1986, whilst he was studying for a law degree at Trinity College, Dublin. He was a member of a long running poker school in the Junior Common Room (The JCR), that previously had noted poker players Donnacha O'Dea and Padraig Parkinson as members. He also began playing in the Griffin Casino in Dublin, reportedly because of the free food and coffee.

He was knocked out of the 1997 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event by the eventual winner, Stu Ungar. There were rumors that Ungar got lucky and defeated Black's AK while holding AQ. This was dispelled by Black himself on Full Tilt Poker, 12/10/06 who candidly affirmed that Ungar "just outplayed me" and that the AK vs. AQ story was nothing more than journalistic spice.

The following year a documentary titled "Million Dollar Deal" (narrated by John Hurt) was made of his visit to the same tournament. When he lost that too, he discarded all his possessions, travelled to England and lived in a semi-monastic Buddhist environment for 5 years.

Black successfully returned to poker in 2004, dominating in Irish tournaments and placing fifth in the 2005 WSOP main event. He led the final table of the main event at one stage holding over 1/3rd of the chips in play, however he was unable to maintain this lead and finished 5th, winning $1.75m.

In 2005 he appeared on the chatshow Heads Up with Richard Herring to discuss his faith and his poker career.

Since the 2005 WSOP main event, he has made a money finish on both the European Poker Tour and the World Poker Tour. In 2006 Black made the final table of the Tournament of Champions where he once again held a huge chip lead only to cripple his stack when he overplayed AK and ran into Daniel Negreanu holding pocket Kings. Black once again was eliminated in 5th place earning $100,000. Black enjoyed a spectacular start to 2007 placing 2nd for $100,000 in the Pot Limit Omaha event and 3rd in the No Limit Main Event for $750,000 at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne, Australia. At the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, Black once again enjoyed a deep run in a major event reaching the final table before exiting in 7th for $320,000. In 2007, Black won the Pot Limit Omaha side event at the Irish Open. He got €54,589 for the win. He defeated Michael Greco heads-up.At the 2007 WSOP, Black finished in the money in two Pot Limit Omaha events, finishing 7th and 11th respectively.At the 2007 WSOP Main Event, Black played day 1A. He was one of the early chip leaders, building his stack from 20,000 to over 80,000. Despite this, Black did not make it past day 1. He was eliminated when his 45 ran into AA on a 433 flop.

Black is an official pro at Full Tilt Poker.

As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,900,000. [ [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=575 Hendon Mob tournament results] ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.pokerwithheart.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.andyblackpoker.com/ Black's Full Tilt website]
* [http://www.tricycle.com/issues/editors_pick/1334-1.html Tricycle (Buddhist) magazine article]