Poker pro Tony Korfman was a man of many words and talents. His eccentric behavior on and off the felt is perhaps his most memorable trait, and one that will be sorely missed. At 71 years of age, the husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, poker pro and author of numerous gambling strategy guides has passed away.
Korfman was a genuine character whose rapier wit was generally appreciated by all around him. His unconventional humor seemed to grow with age, as is evident in his books and on his website, pokergas.com, where he promoted his poker strategy guide, Texas Hold’em: Tournaments, Cash Games, & Embarrassing Social Gas, which he claimed to be “endorsed by ninjas!” In his self-scribed ‘About the Author’ section, Korfman wrote:
“Hi, I’m Tony Korfman, I was born in New York and raised in San Francisco by a family of seagulls. I’m a diabetic and my wife read that if I eat a lot of bran it will help my diabetes. So she feeds me bran for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m starting to shit hardwood. Now she wants to redo the floors in the house. Please email me if you have any questions.”
While reviewing that same book last year, Nolan Dalla described him as “70, going on 17”, “funny as hell”, and “one of those no-nonsense old pricks who both irritates and gets irritated by anyone who’s younger than him”. Dalla labeled Korfman a poker legend, not based on his merit on the felt, but on the fact that (at that time) he’d generated “62 pages of posts on TwoPlusTwo”, something only high-caliber professional poker players like Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth have managed to do.
Tony Korfman didn’t just play poker, or write about myriad gambling strategies – everything from Texas Hold’em and Seven Card Stud, to blackjack and baccarat, even slots and keno – he also had a day job in which he’s been described as a ‘workaholic’. Korfman served as the casino manager for various establishments throughout his life.
As a poker player, Korfman recorded more than two dozen major live tournament cashes since 2006. His biggest win came in the 2007 WSOP $1k Seniors World Championship event in which he finished 2nd place to Ernest Bennett, pocketing a lofty prize of $217,503. Korfman was much more famous for his cash game play, though, which earned him untold amounts of money throughout the years.
Tony Korfman’s life was summed up in a few words by an obituary post that appeared in the Las Vegas Review Journal yesterday.
“Anthony “Tony” Korfman, age 71, of Boulder City, passed away Aug. 18, 2014. He was born Nov. 13, 1942, in the Bronx, N.Y., to Arthur and Emilia Gallo Korfman. Tony graduated from the University of San Francisco and married his wife, Linda in Carson City in 1966. Tony moved from Lake Tahoe to Las Vegas in 1969. In 1979, he moved to Boulder City…”
“Celebration of life will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Boulder Creek Golf Club, 1501 Veterans Memorial Drive, Boulder City, NV 89005.”
Although no official reports have surfaced, a member of the TwoPlusTwo poker forums by the name of “r0llin_game” said that Korfman’s death was due to a recent injury in which he “fell and broke his hip about two weeks ago… he never recovered”. All who knew and appreciated his quirky, oft-times irrationally belligerent behavior toward the younger generation are welcome to leave their fond memories and condolences for Tony Korfman here.