Hal Lubarsky

Hal Lubarsky was an American professional poker player. He was the first blind poker player to ever cash in a World Series of Poker event.

Background Hal Lubarsky was 29 when he moved to Las Vegas with the dream of becoming a professional poker player. For over 15 years he routinely competed in the $150–300 H.O.R.S.E. games, where he played with many of the biggest names in poker. His poker playing days, however, came to an end in 2004 when he lost his vision to a hereditary dystrophy known as retinitis pigmentosa.

The return to poker

After losing his vision, Hal became very depressed. His brother, an employee at the Mirage Casino mentioned this to Donna Harris, the Mirage Casino's Poker Manager. A few weeks later Donna called Hal to inform him that an old friend and Mirage Poker Room Shift Manager, Dennis Jackson was dying of cancer. She told him that the Mirage was going to have a charity tournament to raise money for Dennis and wanted to know if Hal would play. At first Hal declined, but Donna insisted stating that he could have a "reader" tell him what the cards were. Hal also mentioned William Rockwell, a player without arms whose mother had assisted him at the 2005 WSOP. Harrah's Casino quickly relented and agreed to allow Hal to participate with a reader.

With the help of Jo Adair, a poker dealer, Hal competed at the 2007 WSOP. Jo would whisper Hal's cards and the community cards into Hal's ear.

Hal returned to the 2008 WSOP, with a new reader, where he "was a favorite of ESPN's television cameras."