Poker Profiles: Joe Bartholdi

Joe Bartholdi had such a colorful childhood. He has learned gambling at an early age, even earning the tag "Gambles" while he was in grade school. He was expelled from school after numerous violations and decided to obtain a GED instead of going through the same plight. Aside from starting fights with his classmates, Joe also naughtily sold cigarettes to kids his age, who are obviously way too far from the legal smoking age.

At age 18, Joe decided to move to Las Vegas with his Poker dealer father. As expected, he became a Poker professional soon after he turned 21. His early wins are credited to his skills at Stud Poker. After a while, he moved on to learn Texas Hold'em. Once Joe gained confidence in his skill for both games, he decided to go for high stake games. Although he was able to cash in fair enough, his bad money management skills got him bankrupt almost all of the time. Joe has also lost a good stash of cash in playing Blackjack. To pay up for the Poker money needed for him to remain afloat, he took a job as a Poker dealer.

In 2002, Joe hooked up with Russ Boyt who invited him to join "The Crew". He did not made a real killing being part of the team so he decided to leave them afterwards but maintained that they remain friends. In 2004, Joe rose up again, winning here and there. Unfortunately, he lost all of it again to bad money management. 2005 proved to be a better year for Joe. It brought him his biggest win so far. At the World Poker Tour season 4, he managed to cash in close to $4 million in prize money after finishing in first place.

As of this moment, Joe has stacked up over $4 million of wealth from Poker. He is still young at 28 and people are expecting a more illustrious career from him in the years to come. After all, he has the talent and the heart to knock down opponents in the name of winning. It would not at all be surprising if we see Joe right up there. For one, he never stops learning. He is continuously educating himself on how to become a better player. He knows that sure, there is no foolproof tactic to beat the odds but he maintains that can very well learn to get used to it through constant practice. That is what he is mostly busy about these days.