Poker Player Kenna James - Ketta-Tic Energy

The outgoing “Cowboy” Kenna James has had plenty of incoming cash on the tournament circuit lately

Author: Jennifer Newell

KENNA JAMES HAD A PRETTY DARNED GOOD year playing poker tournaments in 2005. He won $889,829, the product of 13 money finishes, including second place in a WPT event, a final table at a World Series Circuit tournament, and 44th place out of 5,619 in the WSOP Main Event. All things considered, he had great success in ’05.

But not if you compare it to what he’s been doing in ’06. By the middle of March, James had already passed the million-dollar mark, finishing second on the PartyPoker Million cruise, winning a $2,500 buy-in Hold ’Em event at the L.A. Poker Classic, and reaching the final table at the Aussie Millions. It’s never a bad thing to surpass the previous year’s productivity in less than three months.

“Cowboy” Kenna James is sometimes described as one of the nicest guys in the poker world. He is grounded, family-oriented, and generous. At the same time, he is extremely hard-working and persistent in his efforts to be the best.

If you’re not familiar yet with his name, you might recognize Kenna’s signature cowboy hat and spirited personality. You also might remember him hiding beneath his hat and hood to escape the glare of Howard Lederer at the World Series a few years back. He has a distinct presence at and away from the table that fans don’t soon forget.

It’s often been said that it takes a good actor to make a great poker player. When James acquired a scholarship to the Michigan School of the Arts in his younger years, he focused on acting. Though he enjoyed doing theater productions and various acting gigs, he found that it simply didn’t pay the bills.
In 1995, Kenna’s life took a turn that he couldn’t have predicted. “Waiting tables got old,” he recalled. “So I decided to make a change and went to work as a dealer at Hollywood Park Casino.” In a short period of time, he transitioned from dealer to player, cashing in his first big tournament in 1997.

In that same year, James’ life took another turn. He met another professional poker player, Marsha Waggoner, who was an executive host at Hollywood Park. “The first time we met, she accused me of colluding with another player in a game. Of course, I wasn’t … I think she was just jealous that I made the final table, and she didn’t,” he joked. That series of events turned into a friendship and ultimately a romantic relationship and marriage.

James soon began to show his strengths in low-limit poker games and took a job as a proposition player at a Los Angeles casino. After some rough years of bottoming out and continuing to struggle back, he finally made it to a number of final tables. He began to travel the tournament circuit throughout the world and broke through in 2005 when he finished in second place in the WPT Legends of Poker tournament, leading to healthy helpings off success in the months that followed.

So what’s next for this rising star who recent signed an endorsement deal with SunPoker.com?

“Professionally, I have two major goals,” he said. “To win a bracelet at this year’s WSOP and to win Player of the Year.”

It’s impossible to guess how realistic that first goal is. But based on what’s happened so far in ’06, the second goal is definitely within reach.