Joe Reddick wins $1.5 MILLION after learning how to play poker in prison

Publish date: 2024-05-12

Ex-crack dealer Joe Reddick has earned more than $1.5 million playing poker since he left prison in 2008 with just $500 in cash after serving 15 years in federal custody. 

The 47-year-old former criminal has just scored his greatest victory after winning  $217,792 at the the 2016 Borgata Winter Poker Open in Atlantic City.

While in prison, Reddick, who is known on the tables as Joe Black, learned how to play poker using Snickers bars as currency. 

Joe Reddick, pictured, learned how to play poker while serving a 15-year jail term for dealing crack cocaine

Joe Reddick, pictured, learned how to play poker while serving a 15-year jail term for dealing crack cocaine

Reddick, known on the poker tables as Joe Black, left jail in 2008 with $500 and went straight to a casino 

Reddick, known on the poker tables as Joe Black, left jail in 2008 with $500 and went straight to a casino 

Reddick, pictured with his winning cards, scooped $217,792 at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City

Reddick, pictured with his winning cards, scooped $217,792 at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City

According to urban legend, Reddick left prison in 2008 with just $500 in his pocket and went straight to the Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City where he won $2,500. 

In total, it is believed Reddick has won more than $1.5 million paying tournaments and cash games in casinos across the United States. 

The Hendon Mob database which details the career earnings of major poker players shows Reddick has won $590,282 playing tournaments since his release from jail. 

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However, last week's victory in Atlantic City was his biggest to date. 

He defeated 3,267 other players who paid $450 to take part in the tournament which had a prize fund of $1.3 million.

Reddick learned to play poker alongside some of the most feared criminals in the US federal prison system, including a Colombian cartel boss known as 'Pepe'.

Following his victory, Reddick told the New York Post: 'At first, it was a time-killer. Then it became a passion. I would play all day, all night, seven days a week. I became infamous. Any prison I arrived at, they knew there was going to be a big poker game going on.' 

Reddick said he was first introduced to poker in the county jail in Guilford, North Carolina where inmates were playing seven-card stud.  

'I asked a guy who was running the game if I could play. I said, "But I don’t know how to play." He was like, "Oh, um, we’ll teach you as we go along." 'I lost about $7,000 worth of Snickers bars. That’s how I learned.' 

He said in federal prison, inmates would use a variety of goods to cover their bets. 

He added: 'We gambled anything that had value, from cans of tuna fish to sweat suits and tennis shoes. People were losing more than they were losing in county jail; they were losing thousands and thousands of dollars.'

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