Thomas Keller

With a nickname like "Thunder," you might expect Thomas Keller to have come from a career in demolition or professional wrestling. When you learn he's a musician, you might think he's a drummer - you'd be wrong.

Keller, while an intimidating presence at the poker table, is a concert pianist with an economics degree from Stanford University. Having already earned a WSOP bracelet, Keller has proven himself as a force among the young, new players taking poker by storm. After a childhood full of thinking-man's games like chess and Magic: The Gathering, Keller figured he'd have a good head for poker.

"That gets you really thinking in a kind of gamer's mentality and you think about game theory and things like that," Keller said. Of course, convincing his parents was another matter entirely. With a professor for a father and publishing house vice president for a mother, Keller had to live up to some high expectations. It didn't take him long. "When I decided to go into poker they, at first they weren't that thrilled with it," he said. "Now, they've seen it on TV and they've seen me do pretty well and I think they're pretty happy with my choices."