An Afternoon with Michael Binger

By Aaron Angerman

It was now going on 1 p.m. I was on my way to the Panorama Towers for an interview with poker pro Michael Binger. I took my time getting there, as I was still waiting for Binger to return my phone call and confirm that he was ready for me. After a short drive up Flamingo Road and a pit stop to grab a Red Bull, I got the call. Binger apologized, claiming he got a little carried away with his daily work out and immediately invited me up.

Some 30-odd floors later and I'm at the door. Binger quickly invites me in, carefully navigating me through a number of boxes occupying the entry way. If it wasn't for the boxes needing be unpacked, you wouldn't think this was the home of a poker player.

Physics books pepper the condominium. The host is quick to disclose his infatuation of fine wines and cooking. An AeroGarden sits atop the kitchen counter, a gift from his brother Nick.

"It's a garden that just sits on your kitchen countertop," Binger exclaimed. "Once I finally get settled in, I'll be able to grow all of my own herbs at home. I can't wait."

While most players find themselves consumed with poker, other gambling pursuits and Las Vegas nightlife, Binger would rather spend his free time with a home cooked meal, fresh herbs, a bottle of wine and a book about quantum physics.

Four large windows provide a view of the Bellagio and the early stages of the new structure, City Center. Three of the four windows are guarded by cacti. The living room walls were lined with large pieces of original artwork; one a gift from a yoga instructor, the other from his high school physics teacher. I scanned the remaining walls, eager to find out what kind of flat screen the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event final tabler owned. I was shocked to find out that this luxury condo was TV-less.

"I've never owned a TV," said Binger. "I'm not that much of a TV person. I like watching movies, but I spend a lot of my free time reading, physics books mostly."

I can see already that Michael Binger didn't take the typical path on his way to becoming an atypical poker player.

Michael claims that he "always knew he was going to have a lot of money." He just didn't know how it was going to happen. He may have had more of an idea than he thought. Brothers Rick and Nick would watch young Michael as he sat in the family's Del Ray Beach, Fla. home, collecting his winnings from a homemade slot machine and counting his bankroll, which he stored in his piggy bank.

The family would make the move from Florida to Raleigh, N.C. when Michael was the age of 12. It was in Raleigh where Michael would become absorbed with the idea of exploration. He was infatuated with Star Trek. After sitting through a couple of lessons from a high school physics teacher, he was hooked.

Michael had a gift for math and excelled in high school. After graduation he applied to Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Duke. He was not accepted by any of the four schools. A panicked Binger was able to pull some strings with the admissions office at North Carolina State. The deadline for admission was long gone, but Binger was persistent, eventually becoming a part of the Wolfpack at N.C. State, where he would pursue his physics degree.

It wasn't until Michael's senior year at NC St. that he was introduced to gambling. "I had never gambled a day in my life. A friend of mine came back from a Vegas trip, telling me he had to go back and I was going with him. We were going to play blackjack, win lots of money and take Las Vegas by storm."

Michael soon found himself sitting at the blackjack tables in the Luxor. By the time he was back in the hotel room, he had an extra $1,000 in his wallet. Not bad for a first time bettor. It wasn't long before his bankroll hit five figures. Binger was elated.

Michael returned to Raleigh, convinced that he could consistently beat the Vegas blackjack games. Card counting was the answer, and he needed training. His training facility of choice; the back of noisy, North Carolina bars. In order to simulate the loud, constant distractions of the Las Vegas gambling experience, Binger would first teach himself to overcome the general noise, music and drunken partiers that typify local watering holes. A few more mildly successful Vegas trips would follow, before it was time for Michael to move again. He had graduated.

"I always wanted to live in California," said Binger. "Stanford was my first choice for grad school. They accepted me right away and I was heading west."

After settling down at Stanford, Michael found himself sneaking off to Reno for blackjack trips. Pit bosses in Reno began to take notice of Binger, eventually punishing him for card counting. All of a sudden, Michael found himself flat-bet at a number of casinos and a couple more kindly asked to leave and never return. He traveled to Las Vegas, but it was more of the same. He had been labeled a card counter and was struggling to find a place to play at all. Just about that time, his old blackjack buddy started bringing him to Lucky Chances Casino in San Francisco.

Michael quickly gravitated towards the poker room, sitting at the low stakes limit hold'em tables. Binger chose not to read any poker books, instead cutting his teeth in the ring games. After just two months, the card counter turned poker junkie was already sitting at the $9-$18 limit tables. Pretty soon, the $10-$20 game had extracted the contents of his entire bankroll. Binger dipped into the reserves, sitting at the $40-$80 tables in an attempt to chase his recent losses. After just one week, his bank account was another $10,000 lighter. Still reeling from his poker losses, Binger again found himself in Reno at the blackjack tables. In the midst of another bad run of cards, Binger happened upon a copy of "Theory of Poker," by David Sklansky. He purchased the book, which was his first poker book. After reading it, he began noticing leaks in his game. Michael decided then and there that he was going to beat the games a Lucky Chances.

He returned to the tables, sitting $20-$40, slowly seeing results. His original goal at the tables was to erase his credit card debt. The card companies got their money.

"I became a fixture at those tables," said Binger. "That was one of the bigger games in the country at the time. Gabe Thayer, Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak all played at Lucky's. I was holding my own."

Things were going great for Binger. Then 2002 hit.

Tough times hit Michael in 2002. His father became very ill, eventually passing away after a battle with cancer. A heartbroken Binger had a hard time studying. "I was completely disenchanted with school. I had to take the year off. I was going to play cards."

So it was back to the tables. Just months shy of defending his PhD in physics a heavy hearted Binger would again become a table fixture. He also began to venture into the world of online poker. In search of answers to regain his happiness, Michael used some of his college experience to find the answer.

"I remember seeing people on campus exercising and they always looked happy. I started to take it upon myself to exercise every day, whether it was running, swimming or whatever."

Michael preaches the importance of maintaining a healthy poker lifestyle, a mindset he picked up in college. That explains why he squeezed in a workout before our interview.

"One day I decided to work out before a big Sunday tournament on Ultimate Bet and played better than I ever had. I ended up winning that tournament. To this day, I am working out before I hit the tables. Only thing is, I've kind of made it a habit of having my work outs run long. I always seem to find myself scrambling to make the start of tournaments and appointments."

His routine was paying off and Binger began to play the bigger games online. He was winning consistently on the $10-$25 tables, playing well on the $25-$50, taking shots at $50-$100 now and then. He was also holding his own at the $10-$10-$20 tables at Lucky's. The 2005 WSOP was just around the corner and Binger couldn't feel any better about his game. However, his personal life still needed a wake-up call.

Some say a person's future path is often decided during a period of realization, an epiphany. Binger achieved this sense of clarity during a 2004 trip to Europe with his mother and younger brother, Nick. The trio spent countless hours in the breathtaking areas of Tuscany and Spain. "For the first time in my life, I was able to put things into perspective. I needed to restructure my life. It was time to be more serious about things."

"What I was really looking for was a balance between two worlds, my love for physics and my poker career."

A very refreshed Michael Binger soon found himself at the 2005 World Series. His months of high hopes soon faded as he entered five events, leaving each tournament before the payouts began. Losing close to $50,000 in side games over the course of the WSOP didn't help the cause either. Binger returned to California, relieved of half of his bankroll. It was a perfect time to shift his focus back towards physics.

"I knew that I would never be happy with myself if I didn't go back to school. I had devoted so much time and energy over the years. I had to do it for myself. It was my unfinished business."

In the search for balance in his life, Binger now found himself totally immersed in the world of physics. Poker would be moved to the back burner. "I wasn't playing any real poker," Binger explained. "I was in the lab all day. At night, I would spoil myself by studying over a nice meal and a bottle of wine at an expensive restaurant. In the evenings I would unwind with a little $2-$4 pot limit Omaha online. Finishing school was my priority at the time, not poker."

Binger claims to have completed more work in those last five months than he had in his previous five years at Stanford. The guy who was once a fixture at the bigger games in the country was now a fixture in the lab. He spent that New Years at home, in Raleigh. While his friends were out partying, he was at home, hitting the physics books. "At least I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," said Binger.

Michael defended his thesis in April of 2006. Just days later, he was playing the WPT event at the Bellagio. He knew that he wasn't ready for his postdoctoral. He could choose to use his PhD to obtain a well paying job as an analyst on Wall Street, as a researcher, or in the field of academia. Not one of those paths appealed to him. Instead, Binger struggled to get his game together, losing about $50,000 in just one month of playing online. He was in a slump, but the 2006 WSOP was now upon him.

"I started off really, really bad. I wasn't cashing at all, not doing so well in the side games. Then I final tabled a $1,500 tourney to pull me out of it."

Binger finished event #27 in 6th place, pocketing $100,000 in the process. "It was my biggest cash ever. I think my bankroll was down to $50,000 before that payday. Even if I didn't pick up that payday, I was going to play the Main Event, regardless if it was smart or not."

After the big cash, Binger was upset with his play at the final table. He recalls a conversation he had with his younger brother Nick.

"I was a little upset after busting out of the $1,500 event. Nick told me 'not to worry,' that I 'would make another final table before the WSOP was over.' I told him that I was done for a bit. I was going home and not playing until the Main Event. 'Well, then you'll final table the Main Event then,' he said."

Fast forward to August 10th, 2006 and Binger is collecting $4.1 million, his 3rd place share of the biggest tournament prize pool ever.

More than 25 of Michael's friends and family were in town to celebrate his amazing run. The kid who always dreamed of being rich was now a millionaire, four times over. Binger stayed up into the late hours, sipping champagne with his crew. The party didn't stop there. The next evening was spent sipping drinks at the Voodoo Lounge in the Rio, eventually moving to the MGM, where they checked out the new Cirque De Soleil show, Ka.

"I'd really like to go to the show again. After the Main Event I was mentally and physically exhausted, totally burnt out. I poured everything I had into winning that tourney. I was too tired to really enjoy the show. I couldn't tell you what happened in it."

Binger only regrets a couple plays at the final table. "I shouldn't have called an all-in by Paul Wasicka. I doubled up his ace queen holding just ace nine. I should have called Jamie Gold. He bluffed me out of a big pot. I'm sure you saw it on ESPN. I folded, mostly due to the fear of busting out of the Main Event."

Binger followed up his impressive Main Event run in very unimpressive fashion. He came very close to being banned from all Mirage properties by a blackjack pit boss at the Bellagio. "I was out drinking with my brother and forgot that I was flat-bet years ago. I was informed after varying a couple bets that I would have to leave the table. If I was seen at the blackjack tables again, I would be barred from the MGM, Mirage and Bellagio." Not wanting to risk his Bellagio poker room access, his card counting days came to an end.

The bad beats followed him to the poker tables. "I started off just running bad. Pretty soon, I was playing bad. It was to the point where I was just getting tired of losing all of my money back. I was seriously re-evaluating my poker career. Not that I was ever going to quit. Maybe I would step away for a bit. That all depended on how I performed during the 2007 WSOP."

Binger didn't find himself at the final table of the Main Event, but he did cash a total of eight times during the series. Only two other players have accomplished that feat; Humberto Brenes and Phil Hellmuth.

"It was a total relief. People don't realize how bad I was running before the series. It had been 23 tournaments since my last cash. One of my goals for the 2007 WSOP was to be Player of the Year. That didn't happen, but I performed very well, and that was a much needed confidence boost."

Binger's 2006 final table mate Paul Wasicka was able to find repeated success, making the final table of the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic and capturing the 2007 National Heads-Up Championship title. Some people may feel that Binger's eight cashes last year validated him, while others may be looking for more. Binger acknowledges that validating his Main Event run is important to him, but he's not going to let it ruin his confidence.

"I want my first tournament win. I want to win a bracelet. There are a lot of things in poker that I want to accomplish for myself. I just have to make it happen."

Just mention the words 'World Series of Poker' to Binger and watch as the excitement surges through his body. "I'm already counting down the days. I feel really good about the '08 series. Las Vegas is my home now. I'll really be able to focus and get into a good rhythm. I will work out in the morning, play during the day and sleep in my own bed at night."

Binger is now trying to spend his spare time taking care of business away from the poker table. With the help of his older brother, Rick, a graphic designer, Michael is preparing for the launch of his own website within the next couple months. MichaelBinger.com will provide a much more personal touch than most poker player sites, offering original content from Binger's three greatest interests; poker, physics and good food and wine. While you're there you can read his personal blog, get a lesson in poker math, view his physics work and browse through his favorite recipes.

Binger also hopes to finish moving into his new place. "I'm going to break down and buy my first TV. I think I'll grab a flat screen after I get back from the Aussie Millions. I also need one more cactus."

As for that balance, at the moment, Binger believes he's found it. "I definitely don't ever see myself not playing poker. I really want to start playing online poker again. I miss the convenience of it. But I also want to continue work on my thesis, studying the foundations of quantum mechanics."

A typical answer from your run-of-the-mill, physics-studying, poker-playing, card-counting food and wine connoisseur.