Dan Harrington is not only one of the best no-limit tournament players in the world, but he is an astute businessman as well. It’s no secret that he’s interested in only the money; not the fame that can come along with it. Harrington is not the high-roller type, and is always on the search for a discount or a freebie meal. Even after he became a wealthy man, he continued to rent a room from a friend to keep his living costs down.

Harrington has become a financial advisor to many players. At the 1995 WSOP Main Event, he proposed to the players at the final table that they should all chop the cash nine ways, and he would help them all invest it and get rich. He continued to try and share the cash with the remaining players after each player was knocked out, but no would take him up on his offer. He ended up winning the event and earned a million dollars all for himself. I don’t know about you, but if I’m at a table with Dan Harrington and he wants to chop, I would most likely take him up on it.

His keen business sense has taken him off the tables more than it did in the past. Harrington is surely making more dough with his loan company, Anchor Loan, which employs and services many poker players. He has issued over 2500 loans and claims that no investors have ever lost any money with him. Harrington knows the value of investing his money in the real estate market, which can be a safe haven as long as the appropriate opportunities are chosen.

It makes sense to me that he’s able to walk away from the action. His sarcastic nickname “Action” was given to him because of his lack of exactly that, and I doubt that he has ever been under the spell of the games he has mastered in his life. These games include poker, chess (a state championship), and backgammon (another championship).

Harrington has been part of MIT teams that have developed systems to beat Roulette and blackjack games that have gone down in gaming folklore. He has nothing left to do in a casino, so now he makes money like the rest of the wealthy world does: He lends it, with interest.

Play a little online poker and maybe make a few bucks!