Randy Holland Profile

Okay, so maybe Randy Holland never said the words I don’t like Texas Hold’em but he did say that limit Texas Hold’em was his least favorite form of poker. Does that count?

Randy is considered one of the best poker players in the world, by none other than other professional poker players. His skill extends to all of the games of poker, be it no limit or limit, hi/lo, stud or draw, and he started playing them all professionally in 1993. He was introduced to poker in Sin City itself, on a business trip in Las Vegas, and it was there that his new future began. He really enjoyed playing poker and, like many other people, his life changed because of a book. In Randy Holland’s case, it was Tony Holden's book, The Big Deal. By this time casinos had opened up in Mississippi, close enough to his home in Tallahassee to allow him to make the trip by car and play. The book gave him the inspiration to quit his real job and take a stab at the life of a professional poker player, and he hasn’t looked back since.

What is the skill that allows Randy to excel so much at poker, enough to make a living at it? Well, don’t ask him, because he’ll tell you he doesn’t have one. He says there isn’t any one skill he posses that gives him an edge. No photographic memory, no near-telepathic people reading ability. No, Randy credits his ability to plan old hard work and study. He approaches the game as a student learning his favorite subject, and it pays off in spades.

Randy has picked up two WSOP titles, and nothing will keep him from attempts at others, not even the need to spend time away from poker and with his wife. His wife, Lauren, is something of a poker star herself, having won the No Limit Hold’em event at the Four Queens in 2003 and runner up at the Ladies Limit Hold’em event at Tunica in 2004.