I’m Dr. K – otherwise known as drkamikaze in online poker. I’m a filmmaker and interdisciplinary (quantitative and qualitative) theorist who has been playing poker for over 20 years. You can find my training and theoretical work here and on the GTO Wizard theory blog.
I initially became a professional player while I was teaching at universities such as UC Berkeley during and after finishing my PhD at UC Santa Cruz in 2007. I love all poker variants and spend a significant amount of time working in mixed games in addition to my primary focus on NLHE.
Some of my early successes in poker include: 1st in 2009 Full Tilt Series of Poker $500 HORSE, 2nd in the 2009 WCOOP Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better (PLO8), 1st in the 2010 Venetian HORSE, and 1st in the 2012 SCOOP Badugi.
Around 2013, I stopped playing professionally and went back to school to complete an MFA in Film Production at York University. I returned to poker in 2019, and soon after I won my second SCOOP title in May 2020 in NLO8, followed by my 3rd SCOOP win in 2021 in PLO8.
Recently, in fall 2024, I won two more titles in the Pokerstars Ontario COOP in Razz and NLHE, finishing 9th on the overall series leaderboard.
Over the last several years I have been coaching and studying extensively, especially NLHE, O8, and bounty formats.
My recent in depth NLHE, ICM, and tournament theory research – supported with solver work with HRC, ICMizer, Monker, and GTOwizard on Holdem, PLO, and O8 – has helped me develop concrete strategies for all MTT variants and formats.
My passions are theory and teaching, and I’ve founded The Poker Mix as a space to connect, learn, and grow as players and students of the game together!
Dr. K at the 2012 World Series of Poker.