Shane Schleger

Before becoming a pro poker player, Shane Schleger originally planned on a career in the fickle world of writing. He managed to get a few pieces of work published in a weekly New York newspaper known as the NYPress, but this was not enough to go full time as a writer. Shane worked in a number of jobs including catering and customer service before becoming interested in poker. At this time the poker scene was set to explode and Shane was in the perfect position to take advantage of the new found wealth and popularity that the poker world was about to experience.

» Play poker with Shane Schleger

Shane earned his first major cash in 2005 when he made the final table of one of poker’s biggest annual events, the World Series of Poker* (WSOP*) in Las Vegas. He achieved a 5th place finish in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event worth an impressive $132,110. Shane continued to perform well on the live circuit and has several more final table wins to his record. This includes another WSOP* cash in a 2007 $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $111,455, plus the highlight of his career so far, a 4th place finish in the 2007 Bellagio Cup Main Event worth $232,490.

Shane is also an active online player and focuses on the big buy-in tournaments on PokerStars. He has won the $109 rebuy tournament a number of times and has some good finishes in the $215 rebuy tournaments and the Sunday Million. The highlight of his career so far however is a bracelet win in the 2011 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), where he took down a Triple Draw event for $21,771. This impressive record in both online and live play means Shane is one of the top pro poker players in the world and he is now a member of the elite Team PokerStars Online.

Away from the high pressure environment of the big poker events Shane enjoys outdoor sports and activities such as cycling, water-skiing and tennis. He is also still interested in writing and has his own blog. Joining Team PokerStars Online has been a big boost for Shane’s career and he hopes that this will give him the inspiration he needs to improve into the future and win his first big title. You can find Shane online under the User ID ‘shaniac’.

*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Caesars License Company, LLC ("Caesars"). Caesars does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with PokerStars or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.