Isai Scheinberg

Isai Scheinberg is the founder of PokerStars, which is considered today to be the largest online poker site in the world.

Along with other members of his family, he holds a 75% share of PokerStars and is still involved with the company currently. He lives on the Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea, where the company headquarters are located.

Isai Scheinberg has surrendered to federal authorities in New York City after avoiding them for nine years. The founder of PokerStars denies charges of operating an illegal gambling business. Scheinberg, a 73-year-old Israeli-Canadian businessman, posted a massive $1 million bail fee and surrendered his passport. Isai Scheinberg is the last of the individuals that will have to face charges related to the unlawful gaming operations in a case in which 11 defendants in total were charged in the original indictments – 2 from PokerStars, CEO Scheinberg and Payments Director Paul Tate, 2 from Full Till, CEO Raymond Bitar and Director of Payments Processing.

Isai Scheinberg

Not a huge amount is known about Scheinberg as he is intensely private, and he doesn’t give interviews to the media.

His propensity for privacy is so intense that when PokerStars published an account of its history, to mark its 10th anniversary, he wasn’t mentioned once. Below we have provided a brief bio of Scheinberg based on the information that’s available now.

We have also provided a complete history of PokerStars.

About Isai Scheinberg

Scheinberg was born in 1946 or 1947 and was raised in Lithuania. He’s an Israeli-Canadian and is fluent in Hebrew. He graduated from Moscow State University with a master’s degree in mathematics and went on to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces.

After his service in the military, he worked for IBM in Israel before moving to the company’s Canadian office.

Isai Scheinberg Hendon

He settled in the Richmond Hill area where others believe he spent a portion of his free time playing poker.

It has also been said that he sometimes found himself up against Daniel Negreanu, a well-known poker professional and part of Team PokerStars. In 1996 Scheinberg achieved a cash-in at the World Series of Poker in one event. It’s possible that his love of playing poker was a small part of his inspiration for launching an online poker room.

In 2011, the United States Department of Justice seized the domains of the three top U.S.-facing poker sites, including Poker Stars.

This event, known in the online gambling world as Black Friday, changed the landscape forever. For Scheinberg, it also meant criminal charges of money laundering and bank fraud. He and the company had no choice but to stop taking U.S. players; however, this did not impact PokerStars as much as the other two sites, as Scheinberg had been investing heavily in global expansion for the company.

Ultimately, PokerStars reached an agreement to settle with the DoJ, agreeing to pay a whopping fine of $765 million.

Marc Sheinberg

As part of the agreement, Stars agreed to cover the balances of the players at their biggest competitor, Full Tilt Poker. During this time, it was determined that Full Tilt did not have any of the players’ money, meaning there were no means to pay them back. In essence, the U.S. Government was able to do what Scheinberg could not: kill off its biggest competitor.

As for Scheinberg, the personal charges remain. At some point it is likely they will be dropped and he will simply reach a settlement and pay a fine of his own.

However, the bigger issue was his day-to-day dealings with his site. Under the terms of the settlement reached with the US Department of Justice, he isn’t able to serve in a management or director role at PokerStars while he’s still facing charges.

This means that unless he were to manage the operation from afar, he would not be able to be involved in the company anytime soon.

While PokerStars went on to continue to grow and move past the speed bump that was Black Friday, Scheinberg’s future was still unclear…at least it was until a white knight came riding in.

In early 2014, rumors started to spread that there was an offer to buy the company. This seemed highly unlikely; the company was moving along great and was still incredibly profitable.

Sure enough, in June 2014, Isai and his son agreed to sell their prized possession to Amaya Gaming for the whopping sum of $4.9 Billion, in cash. It really was an offer too good to be true; they would walk away from the company they had built from scratch, and there would be plenty of cash in the bank for Scheinberg to pay whatever settlement he needed.

For now, there hasn’t been much in the way of public sightings of Scheinberg. He seems content in his retirement, having changed the online gambling landscape more than once over the last twenty years. One thing is for sure; even if we never hear from him again, the name Isai Scheinberg will be synonymous with online gambling until the end of time.

PokerStars Beginnings

Towards the end of the 1990s, Scheinberg began developing his idea for a poker site. It was around this time that internet-based gambling was starting to take off and Scheinberg thought he could create something better than all other early poker sites.

He began to assemble a team of programmers, some that he had worked with at IBM and tried to recruit people that were knowledgeable about poker.

At some point in 2000, he sent an email to Terrence Chan who was at the time a student. Scheinberg had found him through an online discussion group, rec.gambling.poker, of which he was a keen reader. Impressed with the poker knowledge Chan showed, Scheinberg asked him to serve as a consultant.

Chan got involved and helped the programmers to develop the poker software. According to Chan, Scheinberg was absolutely convinced that with world-class software and a high standard of customer service, he could be successful.

Scheinberg also recruited his son and put him in charge of the office he opened in Costa Rica. He had chosen this location due to its gambling friendly laws. A company, Rational Enterprises, was formed to operate the new poker site and in 2001 PokerStars was launched.

It soon made an impact and people were impressed with the reliability of the software and the fact it appeared to be geared towards more serious players.

Originally customer service was outsourced, but Scheinberg soon made the decision to bring it in-house.

He hired a number of people to answer questions from customers, and deal with complaints, but only one of them had any real knowledge of poker. It was down to Chan to train them. The in-house customer service gave PokerStars an edge over its competitors that were frequently slow to respond to customers.

PokerStars experienced significant growth over the following years and in 2005 Scheinberg relocated company headquarters to the Isle of Man. He began to split his time between there and Canada.

Isai Scheinberg

By 2006 PokerStars was the second largest poker site behind PartyPoker, and a flotation on the stock market was planned. Then the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in the United States. This made it illegal for banks to process transactions from US residents if they were related to online gambling.

Many gambling sites, including PartyPoker, pulled out of the US market following the UIGEA. However, Scheinburg’s legal advisers told him that they didn’t need to change anything. They argued that poker was a game of skill rather than chance, and therefore was not illegal under US law. Scheinberg, although described as a conservative person by former employees, decided not to go ahead with the planned flotation and to continue to operate in America.

PokerStars became the largest poker site as a result of this decision and grew even more over the following 5 years. Scheinburg implemented aggressive marketing and the company expanded in many markets throughout the world, earning him a fortune.

However, according to those that have worked with him, he kept a modest demeanor and still spent a lot of time working. He constantly browsed online poker forums to see what was being said about his company and often made decisions based on what he read.

At the current time, it’s believed that he consults for the company primarily on matters of technology and when he’s considering entering into new markets.

The final slate of candidates is now set for poker’s biggest honor. After two weeks of open nominations, 10 finalists for the Poker Hall of Fame were announced Thursday.

The list ranges from well-known players to commentators to tournament executives. One name also stands out among them – Isai Scheinberg.

The PokerStars founder recently settled a 2011 indictment following Black Friday. Scheinberg was sentenced to time served and a $30,000 fine on various gambling-related charges.

The Poker Hall of Fame recognizes important players and notable figures in the industry. WSOP and Hall of Fame organizers have made a change to this year’s induction. As was the case from 1980-2004, only one person will be inducted.

A look at the Hall of Fame finalists

The finalists will now be considered by the 31 living Hall of Fame members. Each will allocate a ballot of 10 total points to any of the nominees to decide this year’s inductee.

Here’s a quick look at all the 2020 nominees:

Patrik Antonius

This longtime pro from Finland has played at some of the highest stakes both live and online. He has $12 million in live tournament winnings and is recognized for his appearances on televised poker shows.

Some of those have included High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark. Antonius has scored wins and finishes on some of the game’s biggest stages.

Lon McEachern and Norman Chad

This is the first duo ever nominated for induction because of contributions to the World Series of Poker broadcasts on ESPN. The pair began broadcasting for the network in 2003 and remain some of the game’s most popular commentators.

Eli Elezra

Another well-known pro, Elezra has played in some of the biggest stakes and has four WSOP bracelets. With $3.8 million in live tournament wings, he’s also been featured in major televised cash games.

Elezra released an autobiography in 2019 detailing his life in the Israeli armed forces. He later emigrated to the US, spending time in Alaska before jumping into poker in Las Vegas.

Antonio Esfandiari

Any poker fan will probably recognize Esfandiari from television as well as his numerous tournament wins. That has included two Word Poker Tour titles and three WSOP bracelets.

In 2012, he won the biggest tournament ever at the time – the WSOP $1 million Big One for One Drop. That brought him more than $13 million and he now has $28 million in live tournament winnings. Esfandiari has also served as a poker analyst on ESPN.

Chris Ferguson

One of the more recognizable names from the poker boom of the 2000s, Ferguson has six WSOP bracelets. His resumé also includes $9.6 million in live tournament winnings and a European Poker Tour title.

In 2017, Ferguson was named the WSOP Player of the Year. However, many players harbor negative feelings about him for his role in the Full Tilt poker scandal following Black Friday.

Ted Forrest

One of the most respected players in poker, Forrest has been on the tournament scene since 1991. That included winning three WSOP bracelets in 1993 and he now has six total. He also scored a WPT title in 2007 and won the National Heads-Up Poker Challenge in 2006.

Additionally, Forrest was among a group of players who challenged billionaire banker Andy Beal in the early 2000s. The battle included massive stakes in heads-up Limit Hold’em. Author Michael Craig detailed in the book The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time.

Mike Matusow

No stranger to poker fans, “The Mouth” has been one of the more colorful characters in the game. Fans have enjoyed his antics on ESPN broadcasts and numerous other poker shows. Matusow also has four bracelets and $9.8 million in live tournament winnings.

Isai Scheinberg

His two final table appearances in the WSOP Main Event certainly stand out as nice bullet points. With $1.9 million in winnings and five final table appearances, Matrusow has also found plenty of success on the WPT.

Matt Savage

The longtime executive tournament director of the WPT has managed some of the biggest events in the world. He’s also conducted interview segments for the WPT and is a co-founder of the Tournament Directors Association.

Savage worked at the WSOP from 2002-04 and has been a longtime tournament director at the Bicycle Casino.

Isai Scheinberg

Isai Scheinberg Forbes

Many in the poker world had hoped for Scheinberg’s inclusion in the Hall of Fame. Scheinberg combined a love of poker and background in mathematics and programming to create the company’s software.

Founded in 2001, PokerStars would go on to become the largest online poker site in the world. Scheinberg played a key role in online poker’s explosion around the world.

Huckleberry Seed

The winner of the 1996 WSOP Main Event, Seed now has four WSOP bracelets and $7.6 million in live tournament winnings.

In 2010, Seed won the National Heads-Up Poker Challenge and the WSOP Tournament of Champions a year later. He remains a regular on the tournament poker scene.

A look at the Poker Hall of Fame criteria

The Poker Hall of Fame criteria remains the same as in previous years. A player must:

  • have played poker against acknowledged top competition
  • be a minimum of 40 years old at the time of nomination
  • played for high stakes
  • played consistently well and gaining the respect of peers
  • stood the test of time

Non-players must have contributed to the overall growth and success of the game with indelible positive and lasting results.

The 2020 inductee will be announced on Dec. 30 prior to the WSOP Main Event finale at the Rio in Las Vegas. A formal induction ceremony is expected to take place later in 2021.

Insight on how members are voting

Isai Scheinberg Wife

After the nominations were released, several players took to Twitter to announce how their points would be used. Poker legend Doyle Brunson appeared to be squarely behind Elezra.

Not gonna say who I voted for in the Poker HOF but he was from Israel. Nobody deserves it more. He has logged more time at the poker table than anyone I know.

— Doyle Brunson (@TexDolly) December 19, 2020

A former PokerStars ambassador, Daniel Negreanu has long been a supporter of Scheinberg and announced his continued support.

“It’s been a long time coming for Isai Schienberg to be on the nomination list and he got all 10 of my votes this year,” Negreanu noted. “His innovations changed poker forever.”

Erik Seidel chose to use his points for two players.

“After careful thought and consulting people whose opinions I value, [I’m] going to split my vote between Huck and Isai,” he wrote on Twitter. “So many great choices who have all helped grow the game, but these two seem the most deserving to me.”

Several other players have yet to reveal their votes and it will be interesting to see this year’s selection.