Jamaica - SOMUCHPOKER

Jamaica, a large island nation in the Caribbean Sea, is perhaps most associated with a vice other than gambling: marijuana consumption. That is despite the fact that “ganja”, as the local nomenclature calls it, is illegal in the country. Alas, gambling isn’t completely legal either.

The local venues are allowed to host slot machines on their premises. However, table casino games, such as roulette, deice, or craps are not allowed. Nor are card games, such as blackjack, and – the most pertinent one to our article – poker.

There’s also a state lottery, established in 2001. However, if you look up “Jamaica lottery” on the internet, you’re bound to find something more nefarious – the Jamaican lottery scams. It’s a scheme that’s been around since the 1990’s, in which the perps make the victim believe they won a lottery draw in Jamaica but they have to post an upfront fee to collect the winnings (or pay taxes on it). While it may seem like a very transparent scam to most, some who were caught running it had made hundreds of thousands of US dollars from gullible victims.

Famous Jamaican Poker Players

Currently, Emile John Schiff from Ocho Rios, Jamaica tops the country’s all time money list on Hendon with $425,765 in tournament earnings. In July 2017, he finished 2nd in the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP in Las Vegas. He won $264,692, which is by far the biggest single live tournament cash of his career to date. He lost the heads-up battle to the title to the American Chris Klodnicki.

Second on that list is Alexander Haber with $364,894 in live cashes. His biggest score to date is $71,280, which he got for finishing 3rd in the $1,700 Main Event at the Latin America Poker Tour in Panama in July 2014. In 2016, he managed to make it into the money in the WSOP Main Event.

As for online poker, a player who plays under the screen name “GrzegorzT3” on PokerStars and 888Poker from Kingston, Jamaica, has cashed for $229,753 in online MTT’s during his career.