Samuel Stein  

Samuel “Sam” Stein is a professional poker player who made his first live-event cash in 2009. In the first 3 years, Sam cashed 31 times, made 18 final tables, won 3 events, won a gold bracelet, and earned over $3.2 million. During that time he was also a successful online poker player, earning over $1.2 million.

Sam was born on January 11, 1988 in Hidden Hills, California. He started playing poker in 2003, and by 2006, had taken the knowledge he garnered from television and the internet to the online poker tables. Playing online as “KingKobeMVP,” Sam ran a small deposit into a sizeable bankroll by moving up slowly but steadily from low-limit to higher limit cash games. He also had several nice tournament scores, including winning a Sunday 500 for $91,250, and final tabling a SCOOP Event for $66,000 in 2009 on PokerStars. On Full Tilt Poker, he won a 2011 FTOPS event to earn $182,447, and finished runner-up in a Sunday Mulligan for $32,500.

When Sam turned 21 years old, he started playing in live events close to home in Los Angeles. He made his first live cash at the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic, when he made the money twice, finishing 14th for $4,267 in the $1,500 NLHE, and finishing runner-up for $44,232 in the $1,000 NLHE.

After cashing at the Wynn Classic and the America\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’s Poker Classic, Sam attended his first WSOP, where he made the money in the $1,500 NLHE 6-Max event. The next month, he finished 9th for $61,980 in the 2009 WPT Bellagio Championship Event. Next, he won $3,200 for taking down the $300 NLHE at the Hard Rock Mega Stack Poker Showdown, and finished 5th in the Championship Event at the Legends of Poker Los Angeles to earn $116,225.

To start 2010, Sam made 5 final tables in a row. At the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), he finished runner-up in $5,000 NLHE for $168,390. He also had a runner-up finish at the NAPT in Los Angeles to take home $522,306 in the $5,000 NLHE. At the NAPT Mohegan Sun, he took 3rd for $28,169 in the $2,000 NLHE, and finished runner-up in the $25,000 NLHE Bounty Shootout to earn $75,000. A few days later, he was at the Deep Stack Extravaganza, where he finished 8th $2,500 NLHE for $16,678.

At the 2010 WSOP, Sam cashed 3 times which included a 10th place finish in the PLO Championship event for $44,010. To finish the year, he cashed at the River Guaranteed Poker Series, the WSOP Europe, the Caesars Palace Classic, and the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

In 2011, Sam cashed 11 times and achieved wide fame in the poker world. He started the year at the PCA where he collected his first $1 million paycheck for finishing 4th in the EPT Main Event. After cashing in the WPT Main Event at the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown, he was runner-up in the $1,000 NLHE at the Five Star World Poker Classic to earn $29,236.

At the 2011 WSOP, Sam cashed 4 times, which included finishing 3rd for $264,651 in the PLHE Championship event, and winning the $3,000 PLO event by defeating his friend Ben Lamb for $420,802 and his first gold bracelet. In September, Sam played in the Epic Poker League’s $1,900 NLHE Turbo event where he finished 3rd for $5,320.

Sam wrapped up the year by finishing 7th for £13,600 in the £2,000 NLHE at the EPT/UKIPT London, finishing 4th for €29,232 in the €5,000 NLHE 6-Max Turbo at the WSOP Europe in Cannes, and winning the €10,000 NLHE 8-Max at the EPT San Remo to earn €223,000.

Now making his home just outside Las Vegas, in Henderson, Nevada, Sam likes being close to the poker action in Las Vegas. Despite getting his start online, he has said he hasn’t felt much of an effect since Black Friday, because he is having so much fun playing live. He gets an extra charge from his mother and sister attending events to cheer him on, as they did when he collected his first gold bracelet.

When he takes a break from poker, Sam enjoys watching basketball, especially the L.A. Lakers and his favorite player, Kobe Bryant. In late 2011, he and Ben Lamb purchased a racehorse.