Sitting in second place on the all-time money list for live tournament winnings, Justin Bonomo is a poker phenomenon. At one point and at his busiest, it looked like he couldn’t lose. But who is Bonomo and how did he become such an incredible poker player?

We look back at the life and times of a bona fide poker idol – Justin Bonomo.

The Fateful Game

Justin Bonomo was always playing games as a kid and similarly to Bryn Kenney, who we also profiled in our Poker Idols series, went from playing Magic the Gathering to poker. That transition happened when Bonomo cold an online character of his in Everquest for $500, depositing the fund on Paradise Poker. Once online, Bonomo quickly ran up a $10,000 bankroll and was inspired by television broadcasts of World Poker Tour shows.