About Charles Shoten

Name	Charles Shoten
Current Residence	Glendale California
Birth Place	Bronx New York, US

Charlie Shoten started playing poker in home games when he was five years old. For most of his life, he played poker on the side and was known by the nickname "Scotty Warbucks," never revealing his true identity.

"I didn't want anyone to know that I won a lot of money so I used a nom de plume," he says. "I have no idea where the name came from, but I didn't want anyone chasing me home."

In 1990, he retired from his career in insurance and moved to California, eventually becoming a fixture on the tournament circuit. "The insurance business was good to me, but I'm making a lot more money on the poker tour. I feel like one of these pro basketball players, playing in a different city each month. The more visible I can get and the more constructive I can be, the happier I'll be," says Shoten.

In and around 2001, Scotty Warbucks began to let slip that his real name is Charlie Shoten. He also started to learn No-Limit Hold'em. "That's the big game, and it was a big question mark for me," he says. Unbelievable though it might seem, the first time he played a No-Limit Hold'em satellite was at the Hustler Casino in L.A., taking first place and its prize of a $3,000 buy-in for the main event. "All of a sudden I just sat at the table and knew how to play," he explains.

Shoten's approach to poker is rather philosophical. "It's a Zen kind of thing, because becoming a better poker player is a question of self-mastery. Being a better poker player has to do with being a better person.

"There is no difference between becoming a great poker player and becoming a more wholesome, happier person. The path that I've taken in life to liberate myself is to eliminate the things that keep me from enjoying life or fulfilling myself as a person," he says.

Shoten is the author of an article, "Play Winning No-Limit Hold'em and Life" and recommends it to anybody who is interested in playing better poker and living a better life. He advises that you follow its nine steps around the clock, every day, all year long.

Will it work for you? Well, this man did make nineteen final tables in major tournaments in 2003 alone. You do the math.

Trivia

• Graduate of University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa
• Former insurance man
• Internet business consultant
• Owns www.wwpo.com