Champion of Poker

John Gale’s ascent to the heights of tournament poker is very reminincent of John Bonetti’s beginnings in poker. Gale had been a business consultant for many years and had even started his own business. He did play poker on the side but not seriously. It wasn’t until won a satellite on PokerStars.com for the 2005 WPT PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure that he even considered playing in live tournaments.

The Caribbean Adventure was the first tournament that Gale would play in. He was one among a field of 461 players trying to make their way to the final table to win the $890,600 top prize. Amazingly, this newbie to tournament poker made the final table with the likes of “Miami” John Cernuto and Nenad Medic. Gale then did what was deemed nearly impossible, winning a WPT title in his very first trip to a live tournament.

After his win, Gale decided that his life as a business consultant was a tad boring and decided to play poker professionally. He would then go on to have a very strong finish at the 2005 World Series of Poker. He finished in the money four times in the series and nearly won his first bracelet in the $5,000 Pot Limit Holdem event. Unfortunately he suffered a bad beat late in the tournament and was never able to recover. He wound up 2nd in the event and made $204,440.

Although he did not win a bracelet, Gale had won over $1.1 Million in tournament poker in 6 months and he has never looked back since.Gale would go on to make a serious of money finishes over the remainder of 2005 which included an WPT cash and a runner-up finish in an event at the World Poker Classic for $252,325.

Gale would have a strong 2006 as well. First he finished 3rd in the World Pro-Am challenge for $200,000. Next, he took down his first gold bracelet in the $2,500 Pot Limit Holdem Event at the 2006 World Series of Poker. This win netted him $374,849 and gave him his 2nd major title. Gale would also go on to cash in the Main Even of the WSOP that year.

Since 2006, Gale has had several really strong finishes. He finished 3rd in the 2006 WPT Borgata Poker Open, taking home over $440,000. He then took down a pair of preliminary events in 2008, one at the Bellagio Cup for $205,500 and one at the Borgata Poker Open for over $55,000. He also finished 11th in the WPT Main Event at the Bellagio Cup in 2008. In total for his career, Gale has over $3.18 Million in live tournament earnings.

John Gale started later in life than most in tournament poker, but he had proven that he still belongs in a game that is normally dominated by men half his age. In addition to his skills as a player, Gale is highly respected for the way he conducts himself at the table. He is a pleasure to play with and makes you feel like you are playing poker with a friend. In all, John Gale is a true gentleman of the game.