Asher Derei began playing poker on the kibbutz in his native Israel, a time he remembers fondly.

"There were house games every Friday night. There were so many games," he says. "I came from a kibbutz and we didn't get a lot of money. Our parents would send us money, but it wasn't very much. So, I was helping my allowance from the kibbutz by playing poker."

In the Israeli army, Asher strengthened his game. "We used to play No-Limit and Five-Card Draw between attacks," he remembers. "The enemy would attack us every day at certain times, and when we weren't fighting, we were playing poker. You wait for hours between attacks. You have to do something, otherwise get bored to death. This is how I became experienced and learned how to play poker."

Then, poker had not yet achieved the prestige in Israel that it enjoys in other countries. Asher had a restaurant in Jerusalem but increasingly left it in others' hands while he traveled to Paris, Vienna and Amsterdam to find tournaments, winning titles in many of the events he entered. He soon added U.S. tournaments to his repertoire, and which have returned the favor by feeding his ever-expanding bank account.

He faces the game with a no-nonsense, businessman's attitude. "I enjoy playing poker," he says, "but that isn't my primary motivation for playing. This is a lucrative time to be a poker player, and it's a business for me. Just like any other business, its not always fun. In fact, sometimes it hurts really bad. If you don't have a lot of money, you need to win. It can be a painful process. There are good months and there are bad months."

A desire to always provide for his family makes him a prudent poker player. He explains: "Even when I play live cash games I never play big. I have a responsibility to my family. I am one who is conservative in lifestyle. I'm not a flashy player. I don't feel the need to impress anyone. In general, I am not investing so much that I could lose it all. That's the bottom line."

Asher has a way about him at the table and says of himself: "I act like I know everything. I like to give advice and tell others what they're doing wrong. That often intimidates people. Some are afraid to play against me because they're afraid they might make a mistake."