Tragedy hits the poker world as Lou Krieger succumbs to cancer

Just a day after the poker world discovered that Danish poker pro Theo Jorgensen had been shot three times during a robbery at his home outside of Copenhagen (Theo was shot in the leg and is recovering), the poker world lost one of its greatest assets in Lou Krieger. Krieger lost his battle with cancer on Monday morning, with everyone from grizzled old veterans to Internet wunderkinds offering their support to Krieger’s family.

On his Facebook page a family member relayed the news to the poker world, saying:

It is my deepest regret to inform you that early this morning Lou’s fight against cancer ended. He fought courageously to the end with the same pride and dignity that carried him through his life. He wanted everyone to know that he did not go peacefully in his sleep but fighting like hell. He was surrounded by his family. We know he would want everyone to keep floppin’ aces. He will be missed by all that knew him. Poker has lost a star.

Should you wish to reach the family, they can be reached here.

There are already 78 comments on this post, with players and members of the poker media offering their support and thoughts to Lou’s family and reminiscing about Lou the person. Some of Lou’s peers were hit hard by the news, and thankfully as writers were able to paint a picture of the man that many of today’s younger players were probably completely unaware of. A poignant blog post by Krieger’s friend and contemporary Nolan Dalla is a fitting tribute to the poker player, author, columnist, and broadcaster.

Sometimes a man’s impact goes well beyond their celebrity, and in the case of Lou Krieger he was one of the titans of the game, and his loyalty to poker was out of love. Like many of the early columnist and authors, he was willing to suffer through the thankless, ultra-lean years of poker before the boom –actually, the people like Krieger, Dalla, Linda Johnson, and the late Andy Glazer never foresaw a poker boom; it was the game of poker that drove them to write regardless of the number of readers. In this way Lou was like a band that would play any venue, whether it was a stadium or a 100-seat club.

On a personal note, Lou’s Cardplayer columns helped spark my interest in poker back in the late 1990’s, and I’m sure many other people feel the same way. He was a pioneer in the now booming poker media industry, paving the way for people like myself to be able to earn an income covering and writing about the game we love. My thoughts are with Lou’s family friends today.