Erica Schoenberg

Erica Schoenberg is definitely more than just a pretty face - you will find that she has a great mind too.

She was born in Akron, Ohio on March 25, 1978. Ever since she was young, she has always had an avid interest in all things logical especially when it concerns numbers. While growing up, she often joined her parents in playing their various card games.

At other times, her father would bring her to the race track where she learned the odds of horse race betting. It seems like her childhood was spent as an early preparation for her future career as a professional gambler.

She completed a college degree in theater and did some modeling for a while. She also worked as a personal trainer, kickboxing instructor, and joined volleyball tournaments whenever she could.

To earn some extra cash, she played blackjack on the sidelines. However, no one in her family was at all surprised when she decided she wanted to try her hand at professional gambling. She started studying and training in earnest, and was even coached by some members of the well known MIT Blackjack Team.

Her analytical mind quickly absorbed the concept of card counting which she mastered. Her efforts paid off and she began to earn more and more from her visits to the casino.

Eventually, blackjack paved the way for poker and she started focusing on it around 2005. Her interest shifted just when the sport started to gain unprecedented popularity. There were more prospects of appearing on TV and also more pot money to be won.

Just a year later, she placed 16th at the World Poker Tour bringing home $118,000. She also competed in the World Series of Poker and got the 69th place out of more than a thousand other competitors.

By 2007, she was often seen in tournaments that are shown on live television like the World Poker Tour in their ladies night event. She got in 3rd at the World Series of Poker No Limit Texas Hold 'em later that year.

Her first victory was in the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship where she won more than a hundred thousand dollars. Today, her total winnings from tournaments are $821,852. Erica still continues to play blackjack although she focuses mainly on poker these days.

She was one of the first of professionals to make a stand for online poker when she started playing as 'str8flushin' in Mansion Poker. Today, she can regularly be found playing as an online sponsored pro at Full Tilt Poker.