Eric Froehlich (born February 9, 1984 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

) is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player, professional Magic: The Gathering player, and member of the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame. He lives in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, with his wife, Magic: The Gathering streamer Athena Huey. As of 2023, Froehlich's total live poker tournament winnings exceed $2,682,733. His 48 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,930,090 of those winnings.

Early life

Froehlich attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Froehlich began playing poker in high school and got involved in

online poker Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a huge increase in the number of poker players worldwide. Christiansen Capital Advisors stated online poker revenues grew from $82.7 million in 2001 t ...

at the age of 18. He dropped out of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

around April 2005 to become a professional poker player.

World Series of Poker bracelets

In the first year, he was eligible to enter a

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...

(WSOP) tournament (

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

); Froehlich won a bracelet in the $1,500

limit Limit or Limits may refer to: Arts and media * ''Limit'' (manga), a manga by Keiko Suenobu * ''Limit'' (film), a South Korean film * Limit (music), a way to characterize harmony * "Limit" (song), a 2016 single by Luna Sea * "Limits", a 2019 ...

Texas hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fa ...

event, making $303,908. At the time, this made him the youngest player to ever win a bracelet. Froehlich won a second bracelet at the 2006 WSOP tournament in the $1,500

pot limit In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing. Different games are played using different types of bets, ...

Omaha w/rebuys event, making $299,675. In the final hand, his defeated Sherkhan Farnood's on a board of . Shortly after Froehlich's status as the youngest bracelet winner of all time, he was overtaken by Jeff Madsen during the

2006 World Series of Poker The 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) began on June 25, 2006 with satellite events, with regular play commencing on June 26 with the annual Casino Employee event, and the Tournament of Champions held on June 28 and 29. 40 more events in various ...

and

Steve Billirakis Steve Billirakis (born May 23, 1986 in Hampshire, Illinois) is an American professional poker player. Billirakis won the first tournament of the 2007 World Series of Poker winning the $5,000 World Championship Mixed Hold'em Limit/No-Limit ev ...

at the

2007 World Series of Poker The 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) began on June 1st, 2007. The $10,000 ( US) no-limit Texas hold 'em Main Event began on July 6th and was completed on the morning of July 18th. All events were held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino i ...

. In September 2007 at the inaugural

World Series of Poker Europe The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series ...

, Norwegian poker player

Annette Obrestad Annette Obrestad (born 18 September 1988) is a Norwegian YouTuber and poker player. She is the youngest person to ever win a World Series of Poker bracelet, which she accomplished at the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE). She also runs a ...

won the £10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em Championship at the age of 18 to become the youngest World Series of Poker bracelet winner.

Magic: The Gathering career

In addition to playing poker, Froehlich is also a prominent player of the Magic: The Gathering

trading card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with '' Magic: The Gathering'' in 1993. Genera ...

. Froehlich was a keen sports player when younger, involved in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and football, but suffered an injury and got involved in Magic: The Gathering, like his later friend David Williams. He has made the Top 8 of four Pro Tours and fourteen

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

events. Several of Froehlich's Grand Prix Top 8s have come in team events, in which he has teamed with such prominent professional players as Kamiel Cornelissen,

Jon Finkel Jon Finkel (born May 18, 1978)Jon Finkel 2006 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Time Spiral expansion) is an American '' Magic: The Gathering'' and poker player. Finkel is one of the most decorated players in the history of profess ...

Brian Kibler Brian McCormick Kibler (born September 7, 1980) is an American collectible card game player, game designer, and streamer. In 2016 Kibler helped design ''Drawing Dead''. Previously, he designed Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer with Justin G ...

and

Luis Scott-Vargas Luis Scott-Vargas (born February 17, 1983), commonly known as LSV, is a professional ''Magic: the Gathering'' player from Oakland, California, United States, USA, currently living in Denver, Colorado. His accomplishments include fifteen Magic: ...

. In 2015, Froehlich was voted into the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame.

Accomplishments

Other accomplishments * Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame class of 2015

References

External links

PokerSourceOnline article

PokerListings.com interview

Hendon Mob tournament results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Froehlich, Eric 1984 births American poker players World Series of Poker bracelet winners American Magic: The Gathering players People from Philadelphia People from Las Vegas Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology alumni Living people