Dan Harrington is one of the most consistent players in the world today. If he sits down at your table, beware! He is a former World Series of Poker Champion (1995) and in the last two years, he has made the final table at the World Series of Poker. He has three final table appearances in the last decade, which is a rare accomplishment in poker. He has proven over the years that he is one of the toughest competitors on the tournament circuit.
Dan Harrington - Source: Las Vegas & Poker
Dan Harrington grew up in Boston, Massachusetts where he was an excellent board game player. He specialized in chess and backgammon and won the Massachusetts State Chess Championship (1971) and the World Cup of Backgammon (1980). The Harvard graduate is a former bankruptcy attorney and practiced law for over eleven years. These days, he’s a part owner in a real estate business in Southern California called Anchor Loans.
In the 1980s, Dan Harrington was a regular at the infamous Mayfair Club in New York City where some of the best pros in the world used to play poker. He would often grind out long sessions with Erik Siedel and Howard Lederer. Afterwards, they young players would retire to a local pub to discuss their play and exchange ideas about poker and strategy.
Dan Harrington won the main event at the World Series of Poker in 1995. He also won another bracelet in the $2,500 No Limit event. You might say that 1995 was a good year for Harrington. Later that year he won the European Poker Championship in London, England. Harrington is 4th all-time on the career WSoP money list and has won nearly $4 million in tournament prize money. Besides winning the main event in 1995, one of his other greatest accomplishments was back-to-back final table appearances at the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker. In the two largest fields of all time, he finished in 3rd place (2003) and 4th place (2004).
Harrington recently wrote a book called Harrington on Hold'em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments. It is the first part of a two volume set. In Harrington on Hold'em, he concentrates on how to play at the beginning and in the middle of tournaments. He stresses the importance of pot odds and mixing up the style of your play. His book is one of the best I have ever read about No Limit tournaments. If you are going to seriously play tournaments, then his book should be added to your poker library.
Dan Harrington has been given the nickname "Action Dan," which is ironic because he plays solid poker. He has a reputation for being a ”rock” but often switches gears so you can't get a good read on him. His cousin, Padraig Harrington, is a professional golfer from Ireland. Dan Harrington currently resides in Santa Monica, California.
