Isaac "Ike Haxton" Haxton is an American poker professional that specializes in NLHE.
Born in New York City and raised in Syracuse, Isaac Haxton’s story is not the rages-to-riches one so many other successful poker player can boast. His father an English teacher, Haxton was brought up in an academic environment where he got acquainted early with skill-based games. He was only 4 when he learned to play chess and by the time he was 10, he was a good Magic The Gathering player. MTG proved to be the gateway into poker for him, like for so many other current poker professionals. He began playing poker at 18, in the Turning Stone Casino in New York. Soon it became obvious he had what it took to be a long term winner at this skill game.
An exceptionally bright young man, Haxton began studying poker seriously and the results would come too. While attending Brown University, he decided to attempt to forge a career in poker. He dropped out of school for a year, a decision supported by his parents, and began playing online at Ultimate Bet, having started off a $50 deposit. The $0.25/$0.50 tables were his primary target. Soon, he was up on the $3/$6 limit tables and then at $30/$60. After a couple of summers of successful play, he had a big enough bankroll to start thinking about the live circuit.
He made his debut in the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where he finished 2nd and earned a massive $861,789 for his efforts. Getting his hands on the money proved to be a little more problematic though. His PCA prize was transferred into his PokerStars account, from where he cashed out $800k. All this happened back in 2007 though, right around the time the Neteller scandal was in full swing. Because of the issues the online payment processor had, Haxton’s money got stuck. For a wile there, he became known as the guy who had $800k stuck at Neteller. The funds got released a few months later though so the whole escapade ended well eventually.
Haxton has made $3,3 million from playing live tournaments. Almost all of his winnings comes from different variations of Hold 'em.That really shouldn't surprise anyone, when I think of it. Learn more about this exceptional player in our 2012 interview with Isaac Haxton.
In October 2012 Haxton joined Team PokerStars Online.