Background
Varkonyi was born in and raised in New New York
Varkonyi was born in and raised in New New York
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.
He first started playing poker as an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After his graduation in 1983 (with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management), he was an investment banker in Brooklyn, New York for a number of years before beginning to play tournament poker. Varkonyi is most well known for winning the 2002 World Series of Poker main event, taking the $2 million prize.
In the final hand, Varkonyi"s Q♦ 10♠ defeated Julian Gardner"s J♣ 8♣ on a board of Q♣ 4♣ 4♠ 10♦ 10♣, resulting in Varkonyi"s full house defeating Gardner"s flush.
In the WSOP main event the following year, Varkonyi was at the televised feature table, playing in defense of his championship. In the 2003 World Series of Poker, Varkonyi"s chance of a repeat championship was dashed when his K♥ K♦ met Nguyen"s A♦ A♠.
He cashed in the main event in 2007, finishing in 177th place in a field of over six thousand players, winning $51,398. In the 2009 WSOP, Varkonyi competed with 19 other former WSOP main event world champions in the first ever Champions Invitational tournament.
At the 2011 WSOP, Varkonyi cashed in the main event for the third time.
He finished in 514th place in a field of over 6,000 players, earning $23,876. As of 2011, Varkonyi"s lifetime live tournament winnings exceed $2,200,000. His three cashes at the WSOP total $2,075,274.
World Series of Poker Bracelets.