Steven Dannenmann is a Certified Professsional Accountant and a Mortgage Banker. It’s good to be a bean counter and a banker when you’ve got a lot of beans to count - how about $4.5 million and a second-place finish at the main event of the 2005 WSOP? And all that accomplished during a first-time visit to the tournament.
Strange But Effective
Maryland-native Dannenmann is showing the world he knows how to play cards. He’s also showing the world he has a few peculiar (but seemingly effective) habits. For one, he never rides in a cab unless the number ends with “8.” He also doesn’t allow his wife to watch him play.
Wait – that’s not too unusual – who lets their wife watch them bet hundreds of thousands of dollars – or even millions - in one hand of cards? Steven Dannenmann, a professional in two career paths that usually avoid gambling - especially with the finances of corporate clients, is one heck of a gambler. And he’s a proven winner in the game of high-stakes poker.
‘I can’t wait to go fishing’
At 38, Steven played in his first WSOP this year. To finish anywhere near the top is extraordinary. To finish second is simply amazing. He had two mantras going in to the tournament: “Nothing to lose” and “Have fun.” Despite his staying power, Dannenmann said he became bored with the process of trying to outwit the other players at the table towards the end of the tournament.
“I can’t wait to go fishing,” he said to reporters.
To break his concentration, opponents had better spray paint all the cabs in Vegas with numbers ending in three and nine next time, and then usher Dannenmann’s wife into a comfortable chair near the playing table at the next WSOP. But regardless, Steven Dannenmann may be just too good of a poker player to have his concentration broken that easily.