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One of the more entertaining personalities in the Poker community has to be
Layne Flack. Despite his reputation as somewhat of a party animal, Layne also
has the ability to get it done at the table; witness his five World Series of
Poker bracelets. When Layne Flack is on his game, he is almost unstoppable.
Layne was born in South Dakota on May 18th 1969. He spent most of his
childhood in neighboring Montana. He finished high school in South Dakota, and
went on to collegiate studies in his home state. It was at this point that he
would develop a taste for gambling, as he worked as a dealer during the
summers off school.
In 1993, Layne and his girlfriend moved to Reno, where he began playing Poker
for a living. At first, he was earning around $10,000 a month, and made the
decision to play for bigger stakes in the bigger games.
Layne’s entrance into the world of big stakes Poker occurred in 1997, when he
went to Las Vegas. He entered the Hall-of-Fame tournament at the Horseshoe,
and promptly won over $60,000. Flack would bounce back and forth between
Montana and Las Vegas, until he finally moved to the Nevada city in 1998. How
talented was he? Johnny Chan was willing to stake his own money on Layne’s
success; Johnny Chan rarely misreads people.
While Layne may have served notice to the Poker community in 1998, he backed
it up with his first WSOP bracelet in 1999. His WSOP success would continue,
as he eventually earned the nickname “Back-to-Back Flack” for his back to back
bracelets in consecutive games in the 2002 event; He would repeat this feat in
2003.
For all of his success however, Layne has certainly encountered his share of
adversity. In the summer of 2004, Layne was drinking and using drugs
uncontrollably. His friends stepped in, and fellow Poker star Daniel Negreanu
paid $60,000 out of his own pocket to put Layne through rehabilitation.
Showing courage throughout the episode, Layne is set to return to the top of
the Poker totem pole.
Watching Layne play cards is an amazing experience; his intuition is second to
nobody in the world. He seems to have a 6th sense for which cards will come
down. Between his intuition and photographic memory, Layne is a considerably
difficult opponent.
With his addiction behind him, and a new lease on life, Layne is looking as
strong as ever. Watch for the magic of back-to-back Flack to surprise a few
more opponents before he’s done playing Poker
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