Eric Drache

Eric Drache
Born1943 (age 80–81)
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)None
Money finish(es)3
Highest ITM
Main Event finish		None

Eric Drache (born 1943) is a professional poker player, former cardroom manager and consultant for NBC. Drache is best known for his management contributions to the poker world, and he is also a notable seven-card stud player. He finished second in World Series of Poker stud events in 1973, 1981, and 2009.[1][2]

Drache was responsible for inventing tournament satellites while running the World Series of Poker in the 1970s as a way to get more entries per tournament.[3][4] Drache also managed and hosted notable cardrooms at the Golden Nugget and the Mirage.[5] Drache's innovations as poker manager include: ante structures, dealer training and the invention of the "must-move" table. Eric Drache trained both Donna Harris[6] and Doug Dalton, cardroom managers at the Mirage and Bellagio respectively.

In the mid 1990s, he was prosecuted on federal tax fraud charges and lost his Nevada gaming license as a result, which is required to work in casinos.[7]

Drache was named to the Poker Hall of Fame in 2012.[8]

As of 2009, Drache's total live poker tournament winnings exceed $325,000.[1]

  1. ^ a b "Eric Drache's profile on The Hendon Mob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  2. ^ Wise, Gary (June 5, 2009). "History in the making". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  3. ^ "Live Updates - 2009 World Series of Poker - Event 6 - $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship - PokerListings.com". PokerListings.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2009.
  4. ^ "Our guide to get you to Vegas". Total Gambler. June 2006. Archived from the original on June 14, 2006.
  5. ^ Morrison, Jane Ann (April 19, 2004). "Nugget's new room gives professional poker player reason to return". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on August 24, 2004.
  6. ^ "Casino Profiles - Mirage". PokerPages.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2009.
  7. ^ Holden, Anthony (2007). Bigger Deal: A Year on the New Poker Circuit. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 91–92. ISBN 978-0-7432-9482-9 – via Archive.org.
  8. ^ Feldman, Andrew (October 19, 2012). "Drache and Roberts to be inducted into Hall". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 15, 2024.