Life Before Poker: #1 – Scott Fischman

We look at some of the world's best poker players and find out what they were doing before they hit the felt professionally

It may be hard to believe, but before attracting multi-million-dollar sponsorship deals, bagging two WSOP bracelets and racking up $1,432,684 in tournament winnings, poker hotshot Scott Fischman did nothing to suggest that he might become a professional player one day.

When he was 14 – the minimum age for a work permit in Nevada – his first point of call was the local doughnut shop. He stayed in the fast food industry for a while, cooking hotdogs at Wienerschnitzel and delivering pizza. After that, he moved onto handling luggage, working in an arcade and running after golf balls at the driving range.

He certainly wasn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty if it could earn him a wage. In his own words, he was a ‘total workaholic’. By the time he was 18, he was a valet parking attendant for Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas; the only difference between this and all his previous jobs was he was using the money to build his poker bankroll.

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