Mark Dickstein, a well-known investment group founder who pursued his love of poker in later years, has passed away after a lengthy illness. Dickstein, 66, was a mixed-games fan who played numerous formats yet perhaps made his largest mark in the game for the camaraderie he shared with fellow players.
Ari Engel, who had become a fast friend of Dickstein's over the past couple of years, brought the news of Dickstein's passing to social media on Friday:
Numerous other well-known pros offered condolences and fond memories, including Eugene Katchalov, Ben Ludlow, Allen Kessler, Jesse Lonis, Phil Hui, and many others. The common theme was Dickstein's engaging and thoughtful personality, or as Lonis said, "a great guy".
Separately, Engel shared a few more details of a poker friendship he'd hoped would last much longer. "I think what Jesse [Lonis] wrote really encapsulates him well," he told PokerOrg. "He loved debating me and would never let me get away with the simple answer - always challenging me to not take the easy route. He had, in his own words, a troubled past and you could tell it affected him greatly.
"In our conversations, it seemed like he wanted to [relate] whatever negative experiences he had went through to assist me with my future decision-making. When we debated it often ended in a prop bet and we probably made 20-30 bets over the last year, from politics to 25K fantasy-draft prices to red/black flops. As a friend, he never wanted anything from me besides for me to take his advice seriously."
Over $775,000 in recorded lifetime tourney winnings
Dickstein mixed his love of poker with his own ongoing investment career, which he obliquely referred to in his Twitter/X bio as having once been a "famous investor". There was some truth to that claim, as he and his firm, Dickstein Partners, made business-world headlines on several occasions, most frequently in the 1990s, with their investments in and acquisitions of multiple firms.
Exactly when Dickstein began dabbling in top-level poker is uncertain, but his earliest recorded tournament cashes date back to 2004. In 2006, he finished third in the $10,000 PLO Championship at the World Series of Poker, taking down a career-best $184,428 score in the first of his two WSOP final-table appearances. In 2009, he recorded his only database-tracked victory, winning a $3,120 no-limit hold'em prelim event at the Festa el Lago series.
Though he played many formats, he was most fond of mixed-game tourneys, and that's where most of his ongoing poker friendships were formed. Though seriously ill, he played a relatively deep schedule at the 2024 WSOP, cashing in seven different events. Dickstein's career ended with $775,874 in recorded tournament winnings, according to The Hendon Mob.
PokerOrg extends its condolences to Dickstein's family and many friends throughout the poker world.
(Featured image source: Facebook/Mark Dickstein)
