Barry Shulman vs. Jeff Shulman: Like Father, Like Son?
by Bodog Poker | Oct 6 2009
The first name in poker magazines is rapidly becoming one of the biggest names on the poker tables. CEO of Card Player magazine Barry Shulman and his son Jeff have both been making headlines for their play in this year's
World Series of Poker action. Both have been fixtures on the professional tour for years, and before this summer both had won a little over a million dollars playing
live tournament poker. But the Shulmans seem to be both peaking at the same time, first with Card Player Magazine editor Jeff making the November Nine in this year's WSOP Main Event, and then father Barry winning the Main Event of the WSOPE.
Jeff Shulman is guaranteed to win at least $1.2 million for his November Nine appearance, and is likely to go deep into the final table and win much more. He has the fourth largest chip stack going into the final table action and certainly has the skills to finish it and become the 2009 WSOP champion. His tournament earnings have jumped to over $2.5 million, and could potentially rise to nearly $10 million if he wins the Main Event. He'll have to beat a field that includes Phil Ivey, but Shulman is not likely to be intimidated by any player. This is a return trip for Jeff who made the final table in the 2000 WSOP Main Event. In that final table he was the chip leader and suffered two horrible beats to eventual winner Chris Ferguson.
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Meanwhile his father Barry has been having a pretty good summer himself on the poker tables. He made a final table, finishing fifth, in a $1500 Shootout event at the WSOP for a $43K payday. Then he flew over to London to play in the WSOPE and walked away as the Main Event champion, winning over $1.3 million in the process. It was Barry's second WSOP bracelet; he won one in 2001 in a $1500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split Eight or Better for $123K. The WSOPE championship brought his live tournament earnings to a couple of thousand shy of $3 million.
Both have seen their yearly average tournament winnings increase ten fold or more this year compared to the last few years. Jeff trails his father's accomplishments to a slight degree, but the deeper Jeff goes into the November Final Table the further he will surpass his father's totals. He has the potential to become one of the biggest earners and names in poker if he wins this year's biggest title. That would make the two 2009 WSOP champions a father and son duo, and it would be a very long time before we ever saw that again if Jeff manages to pull it off.
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