Biography

Russ Hamilton (born 1948 or 1949) is an American poker player. He was the 1994 World Series of Poker main event champion, defeating Hugh Vincent in heads-up play to win $1 million in first-prize money, as well as his body weight in silver. Following his World Series win, Hamilton served as a consultant for Ultimate Bet, an online poker server. In 2008, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission found Hamilton largely responsible for cheating players on Ultimate Bet out of $6.1 million through software that allowed access to opponents' hole cards. In 2009, Kahnawake increased the $6.1 million estimate to $22,100,000.Hamilton initially attended college in Michigan and pursued a degree in electrical engineering, before a conversation with a professor led him to decide that playing poker for a living would be more profitable. After playing in underground games in Detroit, he moved to Las Vegas at the age of 36. He joined a tournament blackjack team and enjoyed a successful run but, when tournaments started barring blackjack pros, he turned back to poker. In 1994, he won the World Series of Poker main event bracelet. He also invented Elimination Blackjack, a tournament Blackjack derivative that was used as the format for the televised Ultimate Blackjack Tour.Hamilton's last major cash came in the 2009 World Poker Tour PCA Main Event. As of 2014, his total live tournament winnings exceed $1,525,000. His eight cashes at the WSOP account for $1,261,940 of those winnings.