Roland de Wolfe

Roland de Wolfe was born in London, England, on 30 November 1979- the date that is celebrated in his neighbouring country, Scotland, as St Andrew’s day. Andrew, after being Jesus’ first called apostle, went from being a mere fisherman to become the patron saint of fishermen. In a similar twist of fate, de Wolfe has gone from being a journalist writing about top poker players to become a top poker player who is now the star attraction in the gaming magazines he once wrote for.

Nicknamed “The Sheep”, although he has also been called “The Edge” and “Chopper”, de Wolfe grew up in the UK and studied journalism at university. He worked his way up this profession and most notably wrote for Inside Edge – a British gambling magazine – where he worked as poker editor. His duties included covering poker tournaments and, being so close to the action, he naturally learned a few tricks along the way. Although he says he enjoyed the writing aspect of his life, de Wolfe was never fully satisfied working with someone else as his boss and eventually left in 2004 to become a poker professional.

Gambling had always been a part of de Wolfe’s life. During his early teenage years he would often bet with his school friends both at the card table and on the pool table. As time went on, his gambling became more frequent and de Wolfe was often found in a bookies, at a casino or in a pub hustling at a pool table – often beating punters playing one-handed!

His professional career got off to a slow start; playing cash games at the Victoria Casino in London, de Wolfe failed to win any money. However, he kept practising and, with his game modelled on the former writer/player Andy Glazer, de Wolfe’s luck soon changed.

He visited Las Vegas and returned with a $30,000 bankroll. With the feeling of victory still strong inside him, he claimed his first major title, in July 2005, when he won the Grand Prix de Paris event of the World Poker Tour, beating the previous year’s champion Juha Helppi in the heads-up final.

During the 15 months following that victory, de Wolfe racked up over $1million in prize money before winning the European Poker Tour in Dublin. This victory meant de Wolfe became the first player in history to win both a WPT and an EPT event. His achievements didn’t go unnoticed and he was duly named UK Player of the Year and European Player of the Year for 2006. By the end of 2006, de Wolfe had amassed winnings of almost $3million from tournaments worldwide. As well as his WPT and EPT titles, de Wolfe won his third title in September 2006, coming out on top in the No Limit Hold ‘em at The Sportsman Meltdown in London.