“Hollywood” Dave Stann moved from the world of blackjack to become a top poker player, representing online poker room UltimateBet as part of its Star Players team. His origins, however, are a bit different than you’d expect! Born in 1974, Dave played card games from an early age, enjoying rummy with his grandfather and learning how to beat chess, pinball, and another other games he could get his hands on. Dave graduated from Kent State with a BFA degree in Theater and moved to Hollywood to try to make it big as an actor. That’s when his card gaming career truly took off.
To pay his bills between gigs in front of the camera, the MENSA member learned how to count cards when playing Blackjack. He became part of an elite group of international card counters, making a name for himself and cleaning up at both smaller table games and in larger tournaments with huge pots. Having mastered the game of 21 and coming in second at the inaugural World Series of Blackjack, Dave turned his sights towards poker and learned the game over a period of six months by trading lessons with Annie Duke, UltimateBet’s cardroom consultant.
In 2007, ‘Hollywood’ Dave Stann was recognized by a major online poker strategy website as a Top Ten player in the under $1k buy-in category. That same year he went on to win nearly a quarter of a million dollars playing poker. In 2008, Stann cashed at the World Series of Poker, finished strong in a Caesars Palace circuit event, and claimed back-to-back third place finishes at the Bicycle Casino. It was after these stunning victories when Dave was invited to join UltimateBet’s Star Players team, which boasts some of the biggest and best names in the world of online poker, including Cliff ‘JohnnyBax’ Josephy, James ‘P0KERPR033′ Campbell, Tiffany Michelle, Tracy Scala, and Adam Levy. When Dave was added to the team, Annie Duke enthused: “His poker skills are quickly becoming on par with his blackjack skills and it’s only a matter of time before ‘Hollywood’ Dave Stann becomes a household name in the poker world.”
Dave credits his work with blackjack for his success in poker. “People play ‘instinct’ and ‘feel’ all the time in poker, when in reality those are just mathematical approximations of a perfect play. Doesn’t mean I don’t factor in my reads of other players or use a psychological approach when it’s called for. I definitely do. But having the math to back it up only helps the equation,” Dave states in an interview on the UltimateBet website.
Don’t be surprised if you start hearing a lot more about Hollywood Dave soon! If you’re on UltimateBet, use the site’s UltimateBuddy software to search for HollywoodDave and you can find yourself playing with the up-and-comer in seconds!