Kenna James, aka "Cowboy", was born on December 18th, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois. His birth name was Kenna Grob, and he was the 3rd of four children in his lower middle class family. Kenna James has an older brother, Steve, an older sister, Grace, and a younger sister, Kathy, who was born with a down syndrome. When he was 9 years old, his family moved to Albion, Michigan, a small town of about 13,000 residents, and young Kenna James was "forced" to move with them, as he says.
In his youth, while in high school, Kenna James displayed a great talent in Forensics (public speaking), and made it all the way to the state championships. This talent won him a scholarship to the Michigan School of Arts in Jackson, where Kenna James studied for a degree in the field of fine arts. During his studies he seemed determined to enter the field of showbiz, and as it was, Kenna James managed to perform in various theatrical productions, as well as in small roles in soap operas and films.
In 1996 Kenna James started working as a poker card dealer at the Hollywood Park casino in Los Angeles, California, and during that time he also started playing $1-2 Limit Hold'em games. Six months after he started working as a card dealer, Kenna James started working as a tournament director for HPC and started playing $3-6 Limit Hold'em.
In 1997 Kenna James had already moved into $20-100 buy-in tournaments in the area of South California, and by 1999 he began directing international tournaments. In this job he met Marsha Waggoner, whom he later married. Together, Marsha and Kenna James helped organizing and running the 1st ever major poker event at Cosmos Casino Hotel in Moscow, Russia.
After years of playing low-limit poker tournaments, Kenna James decided that of all the fields he had experienced in his past, poker is the one he is to set his mind on as a professional career. Once he made up his mind about "going pro", in 1999, Kenna James got a job as a proposition player at the Crystal Park casino in Los Angeles. He had some rough times there, as many times he had no earnings at all, but looking back at these times, Kenna James says he has made some great connections and new friendships that are a part of his life to this day. His first cash winning in a live professional tournament was in the No Limit Hold'em tournament of the American Poker Classic, on May 27th, 2000. He won the 4th place and took home $2,680.
During his career as a player and director of poker events and tournaments, Kenna James got to travel a lot. So far he's been to Austria, Australia, Germany, Russia, England, Holland, Spain and many other countries around the globe. His career as a professional poker player has earned him over two million dollars (and counting), making Kenna James one of the top players in the professional poker scene.
When he doesn't play poker, Kenna James likes to spend time with his wife and their two children, Jim and Spencer Christian. He also likes Golfing, traveling and watching movies. His favorite film is The Sting, his favorite music is Classic Rock. The place he likes most in the world is Venice and his favorite celebrity is John Lennon.
Kenna James Quick Facts
Cashes: 110
Total Winnings: $2,994,641
First place finishes: 14
WSOP bracelets: 0