- Randy Blumer
Randy Blumer, born in
Edmonton Alberta on October 21, 1958 is widely acknowledged as having started the multibillion dollaronline poker industry with the launch ofPlanet Poker , the world's first real money online poker room on January 1, 1998. [ [http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/article/13937 The Tipping Point of Poker] ] [ [http://online-poker.flopturnriver.com/ Online Poker Industry Growth] ]Early Life
Randy Blumer was born in Edmonton, Alberta and was the younger of two boys. In 1970, the family moved to Europe when Randy’s father, Carl, got the opportunity to work as a school counselor on a 2 year exchange in Germany. Randy started playing poker in Germany in Grade 6 while traveling on road trips with the peewee all-star hockey team frequently returning from trips with additional pocket money gained from playing poker.
Randy made his first trip to Vegas when he turned 21 and was exposed to a “new” form of poker (limit
Texas Hold’em ) in both cash game and tournament format. Upon his return to Edmonton he introduced the game to his poker playing buddies. Throughout his time at university, Randy supplemented his student income by wagering in a variety of formats. Poker was his preferred pastime as it offered both an intellectual challenge and significant financial opportunity.Randy graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering (1983) and found employment as a Marine Systems Engineer in the Canadian Navy. After graduating and finding employment, marriage became the next priority. Randy married Bev in Victoria BC on July 26, 1985.
His engineering background was used for the majority of his naval career working in Canada’s largest ever warship construction program. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander before accepting an early retirement offer with the intent to make his fortune in online poker.
Poker career
Randy started
Planet Poker in the summer of 1997. It became the first online real money cardroom when it converted from a free play site to a real money site on 1 Jan 1998. [ [http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/article/13865 Hall of Fame (Roy Cooke)] ]Mike Caro and Roy Cooke both joined the Planet team in 1999 to provide their expertise in promotingPlanet Poker , the world’s first online real money cardroom. He subsequently acted as a poker consultant to several other Online Casinos and cardrooms. His second place finish in a field of over 6000 players in 2007 in thePokerStars million was his biggest poker payday to date. Despite all of his successes in the poker arena, Randy is strictly an amateur player. He has played poker at various venues in England, Ireland, France, Canada, the US and the Caribbean.Planet Poker has reverted to “play for fun” status in response to changes in the legal status regarding real money online poker introduced in 2006 by the United States. Randy also launched
Skillride.com in 2007, the internet’s first play for fun subscription based poker site to fully comply with theUnlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act .He remains married to Beverly and is the father to two boys (Matthew and Zachary).
Notes
External Links
[http://www.acekicker.com/ Acekicker.com]
[http://www.planetpoker.com/ Planet Poker official website]
[http://www.skillride.com Skillride.com official website][Category:Biography]
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