Jon Finkel

Jon Finkel
Jon Finkel
Nicknames	Jonny Magic

Jon Finkel (born May 18, 1978)

Pro Tour events, winning three of those. In the year 2000, he became the Magic: The Gathering World Champion

, as well as playing for the United States National Team, which won the team portion of the competition.

Career

Finkel was born in

Brockport, New York, but moved with his family to Woking, UK, in the summer of 1992 and learned about Magic: The Gathering shortly thereafter at a local game shop named Fun and Games. After he returned to the New York area in 1995 Finkel quickly made friends with the "OMS brothers", Steven and Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz.^[1]

In 1996 the first

Pro Tour was held in New York. Finkel competed in the Junior Division of the tournament, made it to the Top 8, and won a $1,000 scholarship. After reaching another Top 8 in the Junior Division of Pro Tour Columbus Finkel had his first appearance in the senior competition of the Pro Tour at the 1996 World Championship in Seattle

. A ninth-place finish earned him $3,200.

Finkel had three Top 16 finishes in the

Pro Player of the Year

title.

The

Time Spiral and Modern Masters 2015 edition.^[11]

After two additional Top 8 appearances in the 2000–01 season Finkel's performances dropped in the 2001–02 season. Two Top 8s in 2002–03 were followed by another drop in 2003–04 and eventually by Finkel retiring from professional play. In 2005 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the vote leader of the inaugural class. This allowed him to attend further Pro Tours without having to qualify. In 2008 Finkel thus attended and won Pro Tour Kuala Lumpur, becoming the first player to win a Pro Tour after his induction into the Hall of Fame. Magic head designer Mark Rosewater commented on the occasion, "[Finkel] is the most naturally gifted player the game has ever seen. His accomplishments are rivaled by only one other man [Budde]".

In recent years, Finkel, like fellow Magic players

David Williams and Noah Boeken, has been playing in high-level poker tournaments. He currently works as a managing partner at the hedge fund Landscape Capital Management.^[12]

As of 2021, Finkel was the Treasurer of the board of directors of Gamers Helping Gamers, a nonprofit organization that assists aspiring college students who play Magic: The Gathering by awarding them tuition scholarships.^[13]

Accomplishments

Season	Event type	Location	Format	Date	Rank
1997–98	Pro Tour	Chicago	Extended	October 10–12, 1997	3
1997–98	Grand Prix	Rio de Janeiro	Extended	January 31 – February 1, 1998	1
1997–98	Pro Tour	New York	Limited	April 17–19, 1998	1
1997–98	Grand Prix	Zurich	Limited	May 30–31, 1998	6
1997–98	Nationals	Columbus	Special	July 3–5, 1998	3
1997–98	Worlds	Seattle	Special	August 12–16, 1998	3
1997–98	Worlds	Seattle	National team	August 12–16, 1998	1
1998–99	Grand Prix	Boston	Standard	September 5–6, 1998	1
1998–99	Pro Tour	Chicago	Limited	September 25–27, 1998	5
1998–99	Invitational	Barcelona	Special	February 4–7, 1999	4
1998–99	Pro Tour	Los Angeles	Limited	February 26–28, 1999	2
1998–99	Grand Prix	Vienna	Extended	March 13–14, 1999	3
1998–99	Grand Prix	Kansas City	Extended	March 27–28, 1999	5
1999–00	Pro Tour	Washington D.C.	Team Limited	September 3–5, 1999	3
1999–00	Invitational	Kuala Lumpur	Special	March 2–5, 2000	2
1999–00	Grand Prix	St. Louis	Team Limited	May 13–14, 2000	1
1999–00	Nationals	Orlando	Special	June 8–11 2000	1
1999–00	Grand Prix	Pittsburgh	Team Limited	June 24–25, 2000	3
1999–00	Worlds	Brussels	Special	August 2–6, 2000	1
1999–00	Worlds	Brussels	National team	August 2–6, 2000	1
2000–01	Invitational	Sydney	Special	November 16–19, 2000	1
2000–01	Masters	Chicago	Limited	November 30 – December 1, 2000	2
2000–01	Pro Tour	Chicago	Standard	December 1–3, 2000	5
2000–01	Pro Tour	Los Angeles	Limited	February 2–4, 2001	4
2000–01	Masters	Barcelona	Block Constructed	May 4–6, 2001	3
2002–03	Invitational	Seattle	Special	October 18–20, 2002	3
2002–03	Pro Tour	Chicago	Limited	January 17–19, 2003	3
2002–03	Pro Tour	Yokohama	Limited	May 9–11, 2003	4
2002–03	Grand Prix	Amsterdam	Team Limited	June 7–8, 2003	2
2002–03	Nationals	San Diego	Special	June 27–29, 2003	7
2003–04	Grand Prix	Washington D.C.	Team Limited	April 17–18, 2004	4
2008	Pro Tour	Kuala Lumpur	Limited	February 15–17, 2008	1
2012	Pro Tour	Honolulu	Standard and Booster Draft	February 10–12, 2012	3
2012	Pro Tour	Barcelona	Block Constructed and Booster Draft	May 11–13, 2012	5
2012–13	Players Championship	Indianapolis	Special	August 29–31, 2012	4
2015–16	Pro Tour	Milwaukee	Standard and Booster Draft	October 16–18, 2015	3
2015–16	Pro Tour	Madrid	Standard and Booster Draft	April 22–24, 2016	5
2016–17	Grand Prix	Kyoto	Limited	July 22–23, 2017	4
2017–18	Pro Tour	Las Vegas	Team Limited	September 23, 2018	1

Last updated: October 25, 2023
Source: Wizards.com

In addition, Finkel was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the class of 2005 vote leader. Finkel holds the highest vote percentage of any inductee.

In popular culture

Finkel is the subject of a 2005 biography by author David Kushner, entitled Jonny Magic & the Card Shark Kids—How a Gang of Geeks Beat the Odds and Stormed Las Vegas. The book recounts Finkel's rise to Magic stardom and his subsequent exploits as a poker player and Blackjack card counter.

In 2011, Alyssa Bereznak, an intern for tech website

Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood.^[15]^[16]^[17]

References

^
ISBN 1-4000-6407-4
.

^ Bennett, Josh (March 2003). "Kai Leads Star-Studded Top 8". The Sideboard. 8 (45): 4–5.
^ "Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders". Wizards of the Coast. August 27, 2017. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
^ "Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
^ "Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. July 28, 2014. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
^ "Planeswalker Points". Wizards of the Coast. September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.^{[dead link]}
Time Spiral
expansion)

^ "Jon Finkel: Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2012.

^ David-Marshall, Brian (June 22, 2012). "Hall of Fame Calisthenics". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on June 24, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2012.

^ Justice, Mark (June 1, 2009). "Musings on the Pro Tour". Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2009.

^ "Magic Invitational 2002". Wizards of the Coast. October 17, 2002. Archived from the original on October 27, 2002. Retrieved January 14, 2007.

^ "Landscape".

^ "Meet the 2017 Gamers Helping Gamers Scholarship Winners". Fetchland. June 21, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2021.

^ "My Brief OkCupid Affair with a World Champion Magic: The Gathering Player". August 29, 2011.

^ Ngak, Chenda (September 1, 2011). "Jon Finkel talks to us about Gizmodo's Alyssa Bereznak (a.ka. mean girl) – Tech Talk". CBS. Retrieved November 10, 2021.

^ Tassi, Paul (August 30, 2011). "The Science of Gawker's Nerd Baiting". Forbes. Retrieved September 15, 2011.

Attack of the Show
. Retrieved November 10, 2021.

External links

Hendon Mob poker tournament results

Preceded by
Canada
Gary Krakower
Michael Donais
Ed Ito
Gabriel Tsang
Magic: The Gathering Team World Champion
With:
Matt Linde
Mike Long
Bryce Currence
1998 Succeeded by
United States
Kyle Rose
John Hunka
Zvi Mowshowitz
Charles Kornblith

Preceded by
Paul McCabe

Pro Player of the Year

1997–98 Succeeded by
Kai Budde

Preceded by
Kyle Rose
Magic US National Champion
2000 Succeeded by
Trevor Blackwell

Preceded by
Kai Budde
Magic World Champion
2000 Succeeded by
Tom van de Logt

Preceded by
United States
Kyle Rose
John Hunka
Zvi Mowshowitz
Charles Kornblith
Magic: The Gathering Team World Champion
With:
Chris Benafel
Frank Hernandez
Aaron Forsythe
2000 Succeeded by
Eugene Harvey

Trevor Blackwell
Brian Hegstad

Preceded by
Chris Pikula

Magic Invitational Champion

2000 Succeeded by
Kai Budde

Authority control databases
International

FAST

VIAF

National

United States

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jon_Finkel&oldid=1188948810"

[johnnymagic-1] 
ISBN 1-4000-6407-4
.

[2] Bennett, Josh (March 2003). "Kai Leads Star-Studded Top 8". The Sideboard. 8 (45): 4–5.

[3] "Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders". Wizards of the Coast. August 27, 2017. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2017.

[Lifetime_Pro_Tour_Top_8s-4] "Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2014.

[Lifetime_Grand_Prix_Top_8s-5] "Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. July 28, 2014. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.

[Planeswalker_Points_(requires_login)-6] "Planeswalker Points". Wizards of the Coast. September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.^{[dead link]}

[jfinkelppc06-7] Time Spiral
expansion)

[8] "Jon Finkel: Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2012.

[9] David-Marshall, Brian (June 22, 2012). "Hall of Fame Calisthenics". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on June 24, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2012.

[10] Justice, Mark (June 1, 2009). "Musings on the Pro Tour". Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2009.

[11] "Magic Invitational 2002". Wizards of the Coast. October 17, 2002. Archived from the original on October 27, 2002. Retrieved January 14, 2007.

[12] "Landscape".

[13] "Meet the 2017 Gamers Helping Gamers Scholarship Winners". Fetchland. June 21, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2021.

[14] "My Brief OkCupid Affair with a World Champion Magic: The Gathering Player". August 29, 2011.

[date1-15] Ngak, Chenda (September 1, 2011). "Jon Finkel talks to us about Gizmodo's Alyssa Bereznak (a.ka. mean girl) – Tech Talk". CBS. Retrieved November 10, 2021.

[date2-16] Tassi, Paul (August 30, 2011). "The Science of Gawker's Nerd Baiting". Forbes. Retrieved September 15, 2011.

[date3-17] Attack of the Show
. Retrieved November 10, 2021.

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