Author Biography - Dan Harrington
Dan Harrington began playing poker professionally in 1982. On the circuit he is known as "Action Dan" an ironic reference to his solid but effective style. He has won several major no-limit hold 'em tournaments including the European Poker Championships (1995), the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event at the 1995 World Series of Poker, and the Four Queens No-Limit Hold 'em Championship (1996).
Dan began his serious games-playing with chess, where he quickly became a master and one of the strongest players in the New England area. In 1972 he won the Massachusetts Chess Championship, ahead of most of the top players in the area. In 1976 he started playing backgammon, a game which he also quickly mastered. He was soon one of the top money players in the Boston area, and in 1981 he won the World Cup of Backgammon in Washington D.C., ahead of a field that included most of the world's top players.
He first played in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold 'em Championship Event of the World Series of Poker in 1987. He has played in the Championship a total of 16 times and has reached the final table in four of those tournaments, an amazing record. Besides winning the World Championship in 1995, he finished sixth in 1987, third in 2003, and fourth in 2004.