Originally from Wichita, Kansas, Kirk Morrison has had an interesting run as a professional poker player and gambler. At just 20 years of age, he moved to Las Vegas to play blackjack for a living. While in Sin City, Morrison met a group of young poker players – Daniel Negreanu, Layne Flack, and Allen Cunningham – who convinced him that poker was the more profitable game.
Not long after he made the switch to poker, Morrison’s decision paid off as he finished third in the $1500 Limit Hold’em event at the 1994 World Series of Poker for $72K. In 1998, he won his first bracelet in $1500 Seven Card-Stud for $148K.
Following his initial success, Kirk became heavily involved in sports betting and experienced significant swings, which were the reasons he eventually moved to New Zealand. Although he moved halfway across the world to get away from gambling, he couldn’t stay away from poker forever and often played in small tournaments in New Zealand and Australia. It was at one of these tournaments that Morrison ran into his old friend Negreanu, who convinced him to come back to the States to once again play poker professionally.
Upon his return, Morrison made his first World Poker Tour final table, taking ninth in the 2007 $5000 World Poker Challenge NO Limit Hold’em Championship Event for $45.5K. A month later, he finally hit it big, finishing second in the Fifth Annual Five Star World Poker Classic $25K No Limit Hold’em Championship for$2 million. All told, Kirk has more than $3 million in live tournament cashes.
Given his tumultuous relationship with gambling, Kirk Morrison isn’t exactly a familiar face on the live tournament circuit. However, when he does show up, he’s one of the toughest players in the field and should never be taken lightly.
