Law Student of the Day: Leo Wolpert
We usually wouldn’t recommend that law school students try to pay their tuition through gambling — but if you’re a former poker pro, it might not be such a bad idea.
Leo Wolpert, a rising 2L at the University of Virginia, just won “Event 29,” a $10,000 no-limit hold ‘em heads-up tournament in the World Series of Poker. From the Poker Pages:
Wolpert is a 26-year-old former professional poker player who is currently attending law school. He is enrolled at the University of Virginia. He just completed his first year. He graduated with an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. He spent two years as a poker pro, mostly playing online. Wolpert was so successful that he built up a huge bankroll playing mostly cash games. He decided to use his poker winnings to go back to school.
His total winnings in Event 29: $652,682 $625,682. With that in the bank and a law degree from UVA, we see a bright future in the cards for Wolpert.
Former pro Leo Wolpert wins Event 29 [ESPN]
World Series of Poker Leo Wolpert Wins Event 29 $10K HeadsUp [PokerPages News]
(78) 
Comments
SECOND!!
Leo. If you are reading, I'd love to play. I'd take you down, boy! (and/or easily give you a couple of hundred dollars before I slinked off into a corner a broken embarrassed man.) Tell me when you hit NYC or AC baby.
--Elie
Does he play a lot of those five-threes? If so, I'd like to play too.
Pretty much any hand is good heads up, especially if you're the chip leader. Congrats on the win Leo
This guy is a lot cooler than me
While I congratulate this student for his success in finding an alternate path to a destined failed legal career, I cannot respect him for utilizing sunglasses to hide his weaknesses. A real man plays poker sans sunglasses or masks. Without his sunglasses, Mr. Wolpert would break his bankroll in under an hour if he played me. Mr. Wolpert, if you are ever in AC and happen to be by the Borgata ask when "Jack Diamond" will be at the high roller room and meet me at the designated time.
*quotes Rounders to curry favor among ATL's hairy fellowship of predators*
is he single?????
gees #1... have a little confidence...
gambling > lawyering?
3, you are an idiot. 4, you are correct. this guy is impressive: he's cashed 12 times in major tournaments and, in this event, took out Michael Mizrachi in round 1 and freaking John Juanda in round 2.
http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/john-duthie-leo-wolpert-advance-to-wsop-heads-up-championship-2970/
Is he single? I can become single asap! xoxo
see also http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/news/story?id=4265974
what a badass
Hopefully he'll be studying tax law so he can shield winnings like that from the IRS.
Posts like these remind me how poor I am.
So jealous...so very, VERY jealous...
What I wouldn't do for an extra $150K to put my debt to bed...well, okay, there's LOTS of stuff I wouldn't do, but you get the point...
15--what about Phil Ivey winning 2 bracelets and probably $10M+ in prop bets as a result?
Smart man. Why keep playing expert tightwads when you can join a profession full of highly-paid overly confident poor playing addicts?
What a fucking P.I.M.P.
Wahoowa, baby. I definitely knew some guys at UVa who were good enough to cash at events. Nothing like this guy, but some damn good players.
17,
The list of the things I won't do has seemingly become shorter as the days progress. Apparently there is an article about a Stanford student I have to read.
MOAR BAREBACK
Going to lawschool is a suckers bet
BFD
24 is right. such bad judgment doesn't bode well. but then again, he's a gambling man.
Dude should give Sexy Lexus in Miami a call...
"We're out of money."
All in.
Obama = Chronic Liar.
Obama = Ignorant Marxist Thug.
Enough of this bullshit - I need a fucking job. When are the fucking jobs coming back
I look forward to hiring him.
-gross old man
shit i didn't know i was sitting in a LS room with a "millionaire".
Elie, what's the deal with the ATL online poker tournament. Even if it's for play money, you need to get on this. Or, if you want to get fancy, set something up in AC.
Hidden aces in the popped collar.
can we please call this blog Below the Law if we are going to keep talking about law "students"??
What a SuperfluousMan...
CravaTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTh
He's totally cute
I don't understand.... a post about a law student or young lawyer that doesn't attempt to destroy their life? What's happened to Above The Law???
Just happens to be a good picture.
He's hot if you are into the downs syndrome type:
http://media.cardplayer.com/image/t/TimWEst_WSOP_EV45_Day1.jpg
41 - be happy! Life is good!
Can we please stop the use of "rising 2L"? It was lame when times were good and is simply silly now.
Sadly, and with some hesitation, I put my chips in with PE. Wearing shades while playing cards is TTT. I bet Cuckolded in Canada wears shades when he plays cards.
Hey Kash, if he just won more than $652K playing poker, how is he a "former poker pro"? Sounds like an practicing poker pro.
My buddy (a 3L at UC) goes to the casino all the time to play cards. Instead of using his winnings to pay down debt he likes to spend his money on a stripper named Kitty.
Hey Kash, if he just won more than $652K playing poker, how is he a "former poker pro"? Sounds like an practicing poker pro.
Sounds like he needs to take on Ms. Selbst to determine which law school produces the best poker players: the rarefied intellectual climes of YLS or the drunken softball filled buffoonery of UVA. Hmmmm.....
I want to be him. Or...anyone but me. and that guy from Canada. and his wife.
47, he was a pro before law school, hence "former" poker pro.
49--shouldn't that be Mr. Selbst?
45/47- I guess the distinction is whether he does it full-time as a career. Poker is a game for money, so unless he only ever plays for toy money, he is sort of always being a "pro" in some sense if he ever plays. (Sort of like a "non-pro" hooker)
I'd be much more impressed if $652k was his "net" winnings, not his "total winnings".
An LOL comment 45; best ever on ATL
* I never LOL
** how come no one uses the ";"
An LOL comment 45; best ever on ATL
* I never LOL
** how come no one uses the ";"
LOL 45
best ATL comment ever
-Not 45
Oh, I mean 49
Good comments; an ATL instant classic
Did he have "total winnings" of 652k or "net winnings of 652k?
Did he have "total winnings" of 652k or "net winnings of 652k?
The guy from Penn who cashed in the Main Event draw for $1.2M a couple years back and this guy should go head up. The battle for MVP supremacy with Penn and Mich/UVA represented respectively!
Okay, it was a couple of couple of years back since it was 2005 and $1.15M just to be more accurate.
He's now a corporate associate in SF/Silicon Valley per Google search. Thus if Elie wants to play him it will have to be on an excursion to Reno or Vegas.
Can I place a wager on the winner, my debt payments against yours, if I lose I am just bolting the country anyways under the large, mountainous burden!
-60
@53, 58, his winnings of $625K are just for one event, the $10,000 NL Holdem tourney he just won. This isn't lifetime poker earnings if that is what you are asking. Since he bought in for $10K, he netted $615K on that event. I'd still say that's impressive.
Before someone corrects me that it was $652K, not $625K, check the sources. There is a typo in the ESPN article which Kash unfortunately copied.
-62
More like 540k (since he cut a deal at the final table) minus whatever parts of his action he sold to others, minus taxes.... he is netting less than $300k, guaranteed.
Kind of puts all those stupid home ring games we play into perspective. Lets face it: most of us suck at poker, and couldn't read a pro if our life depended on it.
PE: I'm sure he'll consider your opinion when he's taking your money. Half the guys on the pro circuit wear shades at the table. If you want to play with the big boys, you'd better get used to it.
I always like when good things happen to good people. Wahoowa.
Ellie only losers play in AC. Get your fat ass to Vegas. I would own you.
I bet "we see a bright future in the cards for Wolpert" seemed funny when you first wrote it. But there is no reason you can't read it again before publishing.
I bet "we see a bright future in the cards for Wolpert" seemed funny when you first wrote it. But there is no reason you can't read it again before publishing.
okay, who's 41? putting tmay's pic down as leo's was lol.
This sounds like a Cinderella story until the going to law school part.
A guy that set next to me my 1L year (back in 2003) did nothing but play poker online during class and then up and quit right before first semester finals.
I thought it was a bad move at the time, but then he proceeded to make it to the final table at the WSOP that summer and win $750,000 I believe. I think he made the right move.
52- There is a difference between playing poker as a profession and as a hobby for tax purposes. Billy Baxter went all the to SCOTUS in the 80's to get a professional designation so that he could be taxed like it was his employment income instead of taxing like he won a lottery jackpot.
I don't know about Leo's legal/tax status, but he played poker as his sole means of income before he decided to go to law school and relegate poker to hobby status. I imagine his plans might be changing after earning half a million.
52- There is a difference between playing poker as a profession and as a hobby for tax purposes. Billy Baxter went all the to SCOTUS in the 80's to get a professional designation so that he could be taxed like it was his employment income instead of taxing like he won a lottery jackpot.
I don't know about Leo's legal/tax status, but he played poker as his sole means of income before he decided to go to law school and relegate poker to hobby status. I imagine his plans might be changing after earning half a million.
THIS GUY HAS NOTHING ON ME!
I have a J.D. from Western State University and an M.B.A. from Argosy University. I also had high grades from Western State, so I am statistically likely to pass the bar.
With my resume, I will make more money that this guy in no time! I can't wait to impress everyone I meet and make them feel inferior due to my great achievements (I already got a taste of this when everyone at Western knew how great my grades were)!
76,
You're an idiot. Even with all the "good" grades you have at WESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, you are an arrogant moron.
Sure, the grades and all that other stuff "may" guarantee you a job, but can you hold one down? I doubt that your arrogant, conceited ways will do you any good when you must deal with people (we all know how much people love such traits on an attorney).
Thinking that because you get good grades in law school translates into you doing well in life is fallacious (think "slippery slope"), too.
I hate cliches, but don't count your chickens before they hatch.
76,
What's an Argosy University?
Nonetheless, this gambling kid has more skills than you ever will. He can make $600,000 by just playing cards, while all you can do is go to school and study.
You're in your 20's (likely) bragging about grades. Think about how pathetic that is. What are you a little egghead, 3rd grader?