Michael Binger (born December 20, 1976) is an American professional poker player and physicist, who gained much publicity over his achievements in the 2006 World Series of Poker.
There is no shortage of poker players that possess analytical capabilities. Michael Binger, however, is one of the few to possess a Ph.D in chemistry, an exact science that isn’t known for producing many millionaires or professional poker players. A native of Delray Beach, Florida, Michael Binger has substantial higher education credentials. He graduated from North Carolina State University and the illustrious Stanford, and worked as a physicist at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
It was at Stanford that Michael Binger first encountered gambling. ”I had a cool professor,” he recalls; “He let me do my final project on writing a program to solve blackjack. I realized you could actually beat the game through card-counting strategies…” He ventured into Reno and Vegas playing rooms several times, did well, and honed his skills playing online poker tables. In 2003 he entered the Battle of the Bay tournament, and finished fifth out of a 159-strong field at the $200 No Limit Hold’em event. This drove him to try his luck at the 2005 WSOP. While Binger didn’t cash, he did make it to day two of the main event.
Undaunted, Michael Binger entered the 2006 event with confidence, setting his sights on a WSOP bracelet. He played two tournaments, coming in sixth at the $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em and winning a respectable $101,570. It was the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship Event, however, that really pushed Michael Binger forward. With 8,773 players entering the tournament, odds were slim; yet eight days in he had eliminated nearly all of them. Ultimately losing to Jamie Gold, Michael Binger was more than satisfied with his prize money – a sweet $4.1 million.
Since coming in third at the WSOP, Michael Binger has been seeing more playing rooms than laboratories. He featured prominently at the 2007 event, went across the pacific to play the Aussie Millions Poker Championship, and cashed at the 2007 WPT. Binger also won first place at the 2008 LA Poker Classic $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event, netting $125,731. Just two months later he made it first again, playing played $5,000 No Limit Hold’em at name Sixth Annual Five Star World Poker Classic. The name Michael Binger was now appearing in bold print on the annals of the professional circuit. This did not mean, however, that Michael Binger had changed his lifestyle: he continued to live in a rented room in Atherton, CA (although he did rent out another room following the 2006 WSOP) and placed most his $5.5 million winnings in the bank. Binger maintains a somewhat scruffy, carefree look, admitting, for instance, that he doesn’t use shampoo on a regular basis. There’s no need to worry about what’s inside his head, though: it secured him a Ph.D and two first-place finishes before he turned 32; imagine what it could do for him still.