Catching up with Steve Dannenmann 20 years after WSOP Main Event run

Several months after their infamous run-in at the poker table when Steve Dannenmann called Phil Hellmuth a “punk,” the two crossed paths at another tournament.

There was some brief small talk that included an attempted apology from Dannenmann before Hellmuth wanted his adversary to know he was still upset.

“He’s like, ‘I was hanging out with Michael Jordan last week, and he says, ‘What’s up with that Dannenmann guy?’ And I said, ‘You mean Michael Jordan knows who Steve Dannenmann is?’ And the whole table just busted out (laughing),” Dannenmann said in a recent interview.

“I go to Ocean City, Maryland, and Michael Jordan comes there for the White Marlin (Open) tournament every year and he has his big boat and all. And I always tell the guys, ‘We can just probably go on his boat because he knows who I am.’”

Twenty years ago, the affable Dannenmann lived the dream of every amateur poker player when he reached the final table of the $10,000 buy-in Main Event No-limit Hold’em World Championship. The accountant and financial adviser from Severn, Maryland, finished second for $4.25 million and remains one of the most enduring personalities from the height of the poker boom.

Dannenmann no longer plays tournament poker and has no plans to enter this year’s WSOP Main Event, which starts Wednesday at Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas.

But he still gets recognized in public thanks to the ESPN coverage of his deep run in 2005.

“I have 10-year-old twins, and people will come up and they’ll say stuff and my girls, they’ll be like, ‘Dad, do you know that person?’” Dannenmann said. “It used to be, ‘Well, how do they know you?’ And then one day, I think they were about 5 years old, and I said, ‘Let me show you something.’”

Remarkable run

Dannenmann entered the Main Event in 2005 with the goal of making the money and appearing on ESPN.

He did that and more, reaching the final nine from a then-record field of 5,619 entrants. Wearing a black visor and using a miniature globe as a card protector that became his trademark, Dannenmann laughed and joked throughout the action, earning his “guy next door” reputation.

He eventually reached heads-up play, losing out on the $7.5 million first prize to Joseph Hachem of Australia.

“One of the best things that ever happened was I never won the tournament,” Dannenmann said. “If I had won the tournament there would have been a lot of pressure on me to do a lot of traveling. … Because I didn’t win, I got to do so many other things. I still grew my business, something that I’m very proud of today.”

Dannenmann’s popularity after the 2005 Main Event led to invitations to celebrity poker tournaments. He played an event at the Playboy Mansion and rubbed elbows over the years with celebrities such as former Lakers owner Jerry Buss, actor Don Cheadle and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.

“I remember going to Germany for Oktoberfest and about five or six people came up to me,” Dannenmann said.

But he never pursued poker as a career. Dannenmann’s name popped up on the results sporadically from the WSOP or Borgata in Atlantic City over the years, but he hasn’t cashed in an event since 2019, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database.

“Nothing really changed after the World Series. My lifestyle hasn’t changed. I still drink Coronas or bloody marys. I still like a good steak,” Dannenmann said. “In the last 20 years I bought one car, and that was about 10 years ago.”

‘The bracelet didn’t matter’

Dannenmann, 58, has worked as a CPA and financial adviser for 35 years and said he also has flipped more than 150 houses. He said he spends most of his time nowadays with his twin daughters, Grace and Lily.

Dannenmann said he built a home on Chesapeake Bay six years ago and has hosted two poker games since then. He was the first player eliminated both times.

“I’m an accountant. I manage risk. And I knew that I was lucky, not good,” Dannenmann said. “And a lot of guys thought they were good, so they took their money and kept playing poker till they went broke.”

Dannenmann has a display case on the wall in his office with the visor he wore during the 2005 Main Event along with the globe card protector, the strategy notes he wrote to himself and other mementos from the tournament. It serves as a reminder of his place in WSOP Main Event history.

“I think the way it worked out was perfect,” Dannenmann said. “I don’t wear jewelry, so the bracelet didn’t matter.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.