One of the first hires made by Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond when he started his online poker training site BlueFire Poker was Niman Kenkre, better known to online poker players as ‘Samoleus’. Kenkre is a rare talent in the poker world, he is not only a fantastically successful poker player, but he is also intelligent –having scored a near-perfect 1580 on his SAT’s– and brings real-world experience and an unmatched competitive drive to his poker game –having been a professional soccer player in the past. It’s this combination of intelligence, poker skill, and being a competitor at the highest level that make ‘Samoleus’ one of the top online poker players and coaches in the business.

‘Samoleus’ takes a very analytical approach to the game, and it’s this straight approach to poker that makes him such a successful poker coach. Kenkre is able to easily explain the thought-process he is using to his students because he has thought them through analytically and not just on a theoretical level.

Before gravitating towards the poker tables in 2006 Kenkre was an All-American soccer player in high-school, before attending the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating from UT of Austin, Kenkre played professional soccer in Iceland for a year before heading back to the world of academia to earn his Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University, with a 4.0 GPA. Kenkre worked in his chosen field for some time, including a stint at MIT, before finally making the decision to play poker full time.

The now 37 year-old Kenkre is a late arrival in the poker world, as he told Card Player Magazine, he started out with a $25 deposit –against his wife’s wishes—and entered a $25 tournament! Fortunately, he ended up winning the tournament and suddenly had an online poker bankroll of $600 –‘Samoleus’ has never had to deposit since! Oddly enough, after his initial horrid bankroll management, Kenkre switched to cash games and imposed a 30 buy-in rule on himself.

Kenkre has more accomplishments than simply being an online poker millionaire: In the mid-2000’s Kenkre cashed in three tournaments at Foxwoods, but hasn’t put much time or energy into major poker tournaments since. Kenkre has also penned poker articles for both Bluff Magazine and Card Player Magazine, in addition to writing for BlueFire Poker.

Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kenkre now lives in the greater Boston area –it seems all of the BlueFire Poker coaches live outside of poker hotspots!

‘Samoleus’ is just one part of the BlueFire Poker coaching team that includes some of the top online poker players and theorists in the game: online poker legend Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, 2010 WSOP finalist Jason “PBJaxx” Senti, Martin “Giggy” Fournier-Giguere, Don “SoCalQuest” Nguyen, and Ryan “Fees” Fee.

The BlueFire Poker team focuses on quality over quantity when it comes to every aspect of the site, so while the roster of coaches is small, each player has been hand-picked by Phil Galfond, and every poker training video must meet the BlueFire Poker seal of approval.