With an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University, it’s pretty safe to say that Rafe Furst is one smart dude. He began his career as an artificial intelligence researcher. After a few years in the workforce, he left in 1996 to form his first company, Pick’em Sports, which he later sold for a profit in 1999.
On the tables, Furst has been playing poker for 17 years, primarily in a weekly home game with a group of friends who called themselves ‘The Tiltboys’. In 2005, he made waves on the live tournament circuit, taking 1st in the $1500 in the Ultimate Poker Challenge in Las Vegas for $35K. A year later, he really hit it big by winning his first World Series of Poker bracelet – a $1500 Pot Limit Hold’em event for $345K. In January of 2008, he took second at the Aussie Millions $10K HORSE Special Event for $35K. He made his second WSOP final table at the 2009 series, taking third in the $5000 Ante Up for Africa Charity event for $72K. All told, Furst has over $500 K in live tournament winnings.
Away from the felt, Furst sits on a number of Boards for both non-profit and profit organizations. He is on the Board of Directors for the Prevent Cancer Foundation and serves as a member of the Advisory Council for the Decision Education Foundation. In 2003, he and Phil Gordon founded the Bad Beat on Cancer Foundation, which is a program that encourages poker professionals to donate 1% of their winnings to fight cancer. In 2007, he received the Excellence in Cancer Awareness award and was recently given the 2010 Cancer Champion Award from the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
Online, Rafe Furst plays on Full Tilt Poker, where he is a sponsored pro.