Thomas Keller

Thomas Keller (born October 14, 1980 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American professional poker player, residing in Scottsdale, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada. He is the brother of Shawn "Lightning" Keller. Keller graduated from Stanford University with a degree in economics in 2002. He began playing poker while at Stanford, having been influenced by the movie Rounders. Like David Williams and Noah Boeken, Keller credits his experience of playing Magic: The Gathering as a helpful factor in his poker career. In Phoenix, his jump from playing low limits to the biggest high-stakes games happened quickly. One local story is that Keller won so many $100 chips at Casino Arizona that the casino ran out, forcing high limit players to buy chips from him, which he sold from the trunk of his car. Keller has said the story is absurd, but the fact it persists attests to how well Keller did in high limit games during the era. In December 2003, Keller won the $281,525 first prize in the $2,500 no limit hold'em event of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, defeating Allen Cunningham in the final heads-up confrontation.