About Randy Jensen

Randy Jensen has been playing poker since he was five years old. He actually ran games in his junior high school. He says: "I'd push the seats together and we'd play." He also assisted his mother in real estate and now combines the two pursuits.

He attempted to get a formal education but mid-way through school found he was doing so well economically that he decided to stay in poker and real estate. Here he talks about his involvement with a private poker club in Fort Collins, Colorado. "That was my first experience with Pot-Limit Hold'em and Bill Duarte taught me how to play, although I play nothing like him. I play crazy, which makes a lot of players think I'm terrible."

In 1997, Randy went to Las Vegas and won $4,000 within three days. From there, he continued on to California where he upped his bankroll to $30,000 in a mere two days playing $10-$20 Pot-Limit Omaha. He relates what happened next: "I took all that money, hopped on a plane for the Four Queens in Vegas, and was broke within an hour of playing my first live game there. I was busted by O'Neil Longsen. I didn't even have enough money to get back to San Diego, where I'd left my truck. I borrowed $100 and was on my way."

Randy's greatest poker success to date was his second place finish at the 2004 Jack Binion World Poker Open in Tunica. And, indeed, it is quite the story. He went to Tunica and lost his entire bankroll after ten days. He went home where his wife gave him the moral support he needed, encouraging him to return to Tunica with $20,000. Upon returning to Tunica, he entered the WPT's $10,000 buy-in event and finished second to Barry Greenstein. The $656,460 he brought home confirmed that his wife had given him good advice. Randy says: "My nickname used to be 'the Minnow' because I got so little respect, but now it's 'the Dream Crusher' because of my habit of crushing the pipe dreams poker players have at tournaments."

Though Randy calls himself a semi-pro, his 2002 first place finish in Limit Hold'em at the World Poker Open is case-in-point: he definitely knows what he's doing atop the green felt.

Trivia

• Successful real estate broker
• Married with two children
• Won first place in the 2002 World Poker Open, Limit Hold'em