Jesse May (born 1971) is an American

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

commentator and player. Jesse May was born in New York City in 1971 and raised in

Madison, New Jersey Madison is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 16,937, an increase of 1,092 (+6.9%) from the 2010 United ...

, where he first became hooked on poker playing with friends. In 1988, he started attending the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, but he found that classes were clashing with his poker games, and so dropped out. For six years, Jesse travelled the world playing poker. May found fame presenting the ''

Late Night Poker ''Late Night Poker'' is a British television series that helped popularize poker in the 2000s. It used "under the table" cameras that enabled the viewer to see each player's cards. The show originally ran for six series between 1999 and 2002. ...

'' television series. He also appeared in a season 1 episode under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Mickey Dane. This pseudonym is in fact the main character in his poker novel, ''Shut Up and Deal'' (). May has continued to be involved in poker commentary on other shows, including the William Hill Poker Grand Prix, PartyPoker.com Football & Poker Legends Cup, The Irish Poker Open,

Poker Nations Cup The Poker Nations Cup is an international poker tournament, televised on Channel 4 from March 2006 onwards. The series is commentated by Jesse May and Barny Boatman. Padraig Parkinson covered for Boatman in preliminary match 2. The series was ...

Poker Million The Poker Million has been a televised European poker tournament since its inception in November 2000. The final debuted to 30 million viewers and has since remained popular. It was created by UK gaming outfit Ladbrokes with the help of sports pr ...

Victor Chandler Poker Cup The Victor Chandler Poker Cup (often abbreviated to The Victor Poker Cup or The VC Poker Cup) was a poker tournament held in 2004 and 2005 in England for broadcast on Sky Sports. The £5,000 buy-in event commenced in 2004 and is played out in a n ...

Celebrity Poker Club ''Celebrity Poker Club'' is a British television series featuring celebrities playing poker. It aired on Challenge for three series from 2003 to 2005 as a spin-off from Channel 4's popular '' Late Night Poker'' series. Liam Flood was the casin ...

, and The Poker Show. He also co-presented the PartyGammon Million, a pro

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back at least 1,600 years. The earliest record of backgammo ...

tournament, on early-morning

five 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

TV. He often commentates alongside

Padraig Parkinson Padraig Parkinson (born 1957 in Galway) is an Irish poker player. He is chiefly recognised as the grand final winner of Late Night Poker series 5 (where he defeated Korosh Nejad) and as the third-place finisher of the 1999 World Series of Po ...

, who has said that it surprises him that May plays so little poker when he is such a good player. In 2006, May signed an exclusive contract for presenting televised poker with

Matchroom Sport Matchroom Sport is a UK-based sporting event promotions company founded by Barry Hearn and run by him and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool (cue sports), pool, bowl ...

. In January 2012, he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the European Poker Awards for his contribution to promoting the game as an author, commentator and personality. May is married and lives in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

References

External links

Industry profile of Jesse MayHendon Mob profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Jesse 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American poker players American gambling writers University of Chicago alumni Living people People from Iowa Poker commentators Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 1971 births