Noah Schwartz

Background

Schwartz was born and raised in South Florida. When he was 17 his father died suddenly of cancer and Schwartz began playing poker as a distraction.

Education

He finished school and received a bachelor’s degree in Finance.

Career

He has reached four WPT final tables, five WSOP final tables and his lifetime winnings as of February 2015 exceed $5.2 million. He played high school baseball and was a highly-recruited left-handed pitcher. During his freshman year at Florida International University he injured his elbow, prematurely ending his baseball career.

Poker At first he played a weekly game with friends and family but then moved to online poker.

He financed his PartyPoker account with a cr card and a student loan for $25,000. Early on his earnings and losses were volatile.

This time he used the money to pay off his debts. He grew more disciplined in his approach and began winning small amounts consistently.

He immediately began playing $5,000 and $10,000 events and had some success at the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, coming in 252nd place.

After winning a few small cashes on the World Poker Tour, Schwartz took fourth in the 2008 Borgata Winter Open for $331, 958, which was his largest payday up to that point. He managed four more final tables over the next year before finishing eighth in the 2009 WSOP $40,000 buy-in event for $246,834. He took third in the 2010 WPT Festa First Rate (at Lloyd's) Lago main event for $344,968 and in 2011 he made the final table for both WSOP Europe and Epic Poker League, earning $149,740 and $89,680 respectively.

That summer he also took sixth in the EPT Grand Final high roller event for $219,535.

In 2012 Schwartz gained attention by funding his one-million-dollar entry fee for The Big One for One Drop tournament through investor capital. He registered a company called One Drop Investments Limited Liability Company and received commitments from about a dozen investors.

The Wall Street Journal cited it as an example of the growing trend of successful players drumming up interest from hedge fund managers, real estate moguls and wealthy businessmen. In December 2014 Schwartz made the final table in the WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas, finishing fourth and winning $539,550.

As of February 2015, Schwartz is a top-50 globally-ranked player and his total live earnings are greater than $5.2 million.

Personal Schwartz resides in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. He is an avid Miami Heat fan and often attends games, seated courtside. He is involved with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the South Florida After-School All-Stars organization.

Achievements

• He has won a World Series of Poker bracelet and a World Poker Tour title. He won a couple of tournaments and was capable of winning tens of thousands of dollars a day but he would often lose it quickly, playing long hours with little sleep. In 2006, with the last of the money in his account, Schwartz entered a PartyPoker tournament and won $93,000. In 2007 he won PokerStars Sunday Second Chance for $47,000, followed by PokerStars Sunday Million for $291,473. That same year Schwartz began playing live with the money he had won online. Schwartz started 2012 with a win in a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Preliminary event and then made another WPT final table, finishing fourth in the Los Angeles Poker Classic for $355,750. In November of 2012 Schwartz won his first World Poker Tour title at the Jacksonville bestbet Fall Poker Scramble, beating a field of 477 entrants and earning $402,970. In 2013 Schwartz earned his first World Series of Poker bracelet, beating Ludovic Lacay to win the €3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Mixed Max Event at the 2013 WSOP Europe in Cannes, France. In January 2015 Schwartz won the World Poker Tour’s Alpha8 Florida tournament at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino. He won $585,000 and became the first player in poker history to win both an Alpha8 title and a regular WPT title.