Jennifer Tilly won a 2005 WSOP gold bracelet.
Time for my end of the year summations of the poker business, the players, the tournaments and the great moments, along with some personal milestones and waxing poetically. 2005 was a year of walking, waiting, watching, listening; but, mostly watching. Watching the thousands of poker players during the thousands of hours of play in poker tournaments offering the top finishers hundreds of millions of dollars in prize pools. I was there when poker created its latest millionaires and I was close, so close I could smell the cash piled on the table. Of course, I was seeing all of this through the viewfinder of the Nikon.
During the 45 days of the 2005 WSOP I pressed the shutter over twelve thousand times. I’ve taken photos of poker legends, poker chips, poker cards, poker fans, poker stars, stars playing poker and anything else remotely related to poker. many of the images are available in our Photo Gallery. 2005 was a good year for my photographs. I have done numerous cover shots for our print affiliate, Poker Player. I did the magazine cover shot of Cyndy Violette. More of my photos Woman Poker Playerwere used in Tricycle the Buddhist Review magazine. Others have been supplied to newspapers and organizations. Many are given to players and fans.
Needless to say, photographing people playing poker is my life. I’m very fortunate to do something I find so entertaining. What better life for a poker playing adrenalin junky?…but, it’s a tough job requiring the stamina of a stone statue and the eye of an eagle. The photos I’m offering today are some of my ’05 favorites of poker players and they are good examples of how tough the life of the poker photographer has become. Additional photos are in the continue reading section below.