Jack Zwerner is a 60-year-old professional player originally from Miami Beach, Florida, but residing in Las Vegas for the last 40 years. Zwerner, the founder of the country’s biggest bingo operation, has been a top executive of some of the biggest hotels in Las Vegas, from The Dune and Caesar’s Palace to the Golden Nugget, and the Las Vegas Hilton. Zwerner’s favourite game is the Omaha Hi-Lo Split, and it is this game that brought him his maiden World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
Although Jack Zwerner has been playing cards for nearly three decades, he is primarily a cash player and enters few tournaments. After a couple of events in the mid and late 90s, Zwerner won his first tournament event at the Orleans Open in his hometown in July 2000. Competing in his favourite $100 Omaha Hi/Lo event, Zwerner finished first in a field of 259 entrants to take home a winner’s check of $9,000.
After disappearing from the tournament circuit for five years, Jack Zwerner entered his second ever World Series of Poker event in its 37th edition in July 2006 after being persuaded to return to live tournaments by his son and daughter. He competed in the $2,000 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event with 669 others and made a surprise appearance at the final table. Zwerner entered the final table as the chip leader, losing the lead briefly on two occasions before finally finishing in 1st place after a tense heads-up with Rusty Mandap. Zwerner’s impressive display helped him to a handsome $341,426 and his first World Series of Poker bracelet.
