Sure, he’s now part of UltimateBet’s team of elite tournament and online poker players, but the path that Cleveland, Ohio’s Dave Stann took getting there has more twists and turns than a snake who’s gotten into a bag of magic mushrooms. His childhood and adolescence was fairly typical. He was a bright kid who did well in school and was attracted to the theater at a young age and began performing in productions in his middle and high school days. The call of the stage was strong enough for him to seek out a BFA in theater from Kent State University, and he moved to LA to follow his dream.
So, what happened? How did the MENSA member and actor end up trading blackjack lessons for poker tips from Annie Duke and becoming one of the game’s most popular figures? “The original reason i started counting cards and making a living playing blackjack professionally is because i was sick of waiting tables and tending bar, but needed a flexible job that could pay my bills while i was paying my dues as a young actor,” Dave said in an interview. “I figured i was smart enough & had a natural affinity for games of skill (you don’t want to play me in chess or gin rummy), so I was gonna figure out this card counting thing.”
For several years, Dave was part of an elite group of blackjack players who counted cards and won big, even as he tried out for roles and took whatever gigs in LA he could find. His bigger-than-life personality and devil-may-care attitude made him a TV natural, and he became known as the go-to guy for televised blackjack coverage. He caught the attention of WSOP champ and poker icon Annie Duke, who traded him lessons at blackjack for poker training.
Since then, Dave has blazed a path with two of the most popular card games in the world. He’s appeared at the World Series of Blackjack and the World Series of Poker as well as innumerable programs devoted to both games and is working on multiple projects as well as his own “boygirl productions” company. He’s stated that while he loves the games that keep him bankrolled, his true love is on stage and screen. That’s probably not surprising, considering that his senior honors thesis in college was on “Directing Postmodern Ibsen.”
