Dan Harrington

Dan Harrington (born December 6, 1945 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is a professional poker player.

Harrington is a former champion backgammon player, U.S. chess master (he won the 1971 Massachusetts State Chess Championship), and bankruptcy lawyer. During his time at Suffolk University, he was part of an MIT team that gained an advantage over casinos at roulette. Shortly after the MIT team disbanded he was part of a different one which specialized in blackjack. He also played poker against Bill Gates while Gates was at Harvard. Some of his earlier poker experience came from the Mayfair Club in the mid-80's where he played with Howard Lederer and Erik Seidel.

He won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event in 1995 for $1,000,000 and sat at three other final tables at the main event, placing 6th in 1987 for $43,750, 3rd in 2003 for $650,000, and 4th in 2004 for $1,500,000. The same year as his main event win, he also won a bracelet in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event for $249,000 and the Seven-card stud event at European Poker Open in London.

Sporting his iconic green Boston Red Sox cap, Dan Harrington is known as a crafty, tight-aggressive player, employing starting hand standards that are stricter than most professionals. When he reached the final table at the 1995 main event, he set the runner-up, Howard Goldfarb, to bluff for all his chips in the final hand. According to Barry Greenstein, When Dan made it to the final table of the 1995 World Series of Poker, he proposed a nine-way settlement to the other players. He explained how they would each get enough money that they could invest it and be rich. Chuck Thompson, one of the players[...], rejected the idea and told the other players that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a million dollars. One by one, as each player got knocked out, Dan tried to sell the idea, even offering investment counseling. There were no takers and eventually Dan came away with the full million.

His solid play allows him to make it to many final tables at large events, such as the 2003 WSOP (839 players) and the 2004 WSOP (2,576 players). He made his first final table at the World Poker Tour (WPT) in 2005, winning $620,730 for his 2nd place finish to Minh Ly in the Doyle Brunson North American Championship. In 2007, he won the Legends of Poker for a prize of $1,634,865.

In addition to being a successful professional poker player, Harrington also works in real estate and the stock market.

He has written (co-authored with Bill Robertie) three popular books on tournament poker, all published by Two Plus Two Publishing:


 * Harrington on Hold'em: Volume I: Strategic Play ISBN 1-880685-33-7 (2004)
 * Harrington on Hold'em: Volume II: The Endgame ISBN 1-880685-35-3 (2005)
 * Harrington on Hold'em: Volume III: The Workbook ISBN 1-880685-36-1 (2006)

Harrington is currently in the process of writing two more books with Bill Robertie, both of which will tackle no-limit hold'em cash games. They are currently scheduled for simultaneous release in February, 2008.

As of 2007, his live tournament winnings exceed $6,500,000.

Harrington chose his own nickname "Action Dan" even though he is known for being a tight conservative player.

Harrington is a cousin to both professional golfer Padraig Harrington and NFL quarterback Joey Harrington.

He currently resides in Santa Monica, California.

Harrington, Doyle Brunson, Carlos Mortensen, Scotty Nguyen and Joe Hachem are the only five people to have won the World Series of Poker Main Event and a World Poker Tour title.