Champion of Poker

If you are familiar with poker, then you are more than likely already familiar with the name Barry Shulman. He is a well known American poker player, but that isn’t all that he is known for. He also happens to be the CEO of the CardPlayer Magazine. Shulman is from Seattle, Washington and he had worked in the real estate field prior to his relocating the Las Vegas, NV. He had learned how to play poker in the 1960’s while he was attending college. In 1999 he went ahead and used his own retirement fund in order to purchase CardPlayer Magazine.

Shulman’s first major tournament final table was in 1997 when he made the final table of the $3,000.00 pot limit Hold’em event at the World Series of Poker. In 2001, Shulman took his first WSOP bracelet when he won a stud hi-low event. Shulman also won the Main Event of the now defunct Four Queens Poker Classic in 2001, an event that he won after a strong challenge from Allen Cunningham heads-up. Shulman ended up at the final table in 2003 at the WPT, which took place in Aruba, he finished in a more than respectable fourth place. He also won a preliminary WPT event later that year. However, Shulman’s biggest win came at the 2009 WSOP Europe.

Shulman entered the Main Event of the WSOP Europe against a strong final table that included Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Matt Hawrilenko, and November Nine members Antoine Saout and James Akenhead. Eventually, it was Negreanu and Shulman heads-up for the title. After a long see-saw heads-up match, Shulman emerged as the victor. He won $1.3 Million and his 2nd WSOP bracelet.
Shulman has also made headlines in 2010. The first ever NAPT (North American Poker Tour) event was held at the PCA and Shulman made the final table of the event. The top four in the event would walk away Millionaires. Shulman finished 3rd in the event, and took home $1.35 Million. To date, Shulman has over $4.2 Million in tournament earnings.

Shulman is the father of two boys. One of his sons, Jeff Shulman, is the current president of his company, CardPlayer Media and also happened to be one of the 2009 November Nine. Shulman’s second marriage has him also being the stepfather to two stepchildren. He has stated in the past that his choice to play poker has to do with the fact that he isn’t well suited for working very hard. It appears as though poker playing may come naturally for Shulman, so he apparently made the right life choice for himself. He had always been fascinated by poker, as well as the business side of the magazine. This is what led him to take those directions in his life.

CardPlayer Magazine has grown quite a bit under Shulman’s guidance. The magazine now has over 120 pages per issue and it has a circulation of about 50,000. The magazine has become something that he has grown to be very proud of. The magazine is considered to be the number one print media in the poker industry. The magazine has undergone some great changes. One change that has made a big difference is the fact that all of the photos in the magazine are now printed in full color; this is one thing that Shulman is quite proud of. They have even turned to professional writers which help the overall feel and credibility of the magazine.