Roger Teska

Roger G. Teska was born on April 29, 1985. He studied at Indiana University in Bloomington and first began playing poker during his freshman year. For nearly five years, from July 2006 to March 2011, he built an online poker bankroll on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, accumulating more than $200,000 in tournament winnings under his screen name. He currently calls Marina del Rey, California, home.

Teska's first live tournament cash came in January 2006 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, where he finished 29th for $16,900. That result also represented his first cash on the World Poker Tour. His most memorable early appearance, however, was the 2014 PCA Main Event. Teska entered Day 4 among the chip leaders and began drinking Bloody Marys at the table, a celebration that earned him eight penalty rounds. Despite the chaos, he survived to finish 20th for $70,700, establishing a reputation as an unconventional and fun-loving competitor.

Teska has also been a regular at the World Series of Poker. His WSOP record includes 14 cashes and two final tables with more than $895,000 in WSOP prize money. Among his early WSOP results are a 45th-place finish in the 2010 $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event for $10,226, an eighth-place finish in the 2016 $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em event for $54,190, and a 115th-place finish in the 2017 WSOP Main Event for $53,247. He also cashed in the 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event, taking 64th place and €16,723, and placed third in the A$20,000 High Roller at the WSOP Circuit stop in Sydney in December 2019 for A$153,064.

Teska's WPT career spans four cashes worth more than $775,000, including two final tables and one title. In May 2011, he finished fourth in Event 17 of the Five-Star World Poker Classic, the WPT Championship at Bellagio, earning $371,665. Eight years later, at the 2019 WPT Gardens Poker Festival, Teska captured the $5,000 Main Event. The tournament drew 373 entries and generated a prize pool of $1,753,100. Playing with his usual relaxed demeanor, including vodka with soda and toasts to opponents, he defeated Laszlo Molnar heads-up to win $368,475 and his first WPT championship. The win was his third career live tournament title. In July 2023, he added another WPT cash by finishing 142nd in the WPT EveryOne for One Drop World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas for $19,790.

Teska's largest career payday came in November 2018 at the Caribbean Poker Party MILLIONS World. In the $25,500 No-Limit Hold'em main event, he outlasted the field to take first place and the $2,000,000 top prize. That victory anchored his career earnings and made him one of the most recognizable American grinders on the tournament trail.

He continued to produce strong high-stakes results in 2023. At the World Series of Poker, he finished fourth in Event #57, the $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha, for $701,522—in what was the largest PLO tournament in WSOP history. He also cashed in the $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em; Pot-Limit Omaha event for $8,000 and the $1,000 Mystery Millions for $1,160. Later that summer, Teska took second place in a $25,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 2023 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open for $141,300. During the PGT PLO Series II in October 2023, he placed ninth in the $10,100 PLO event for $45,600 and 15th in the $15,100 Progressive Bounty event for $18,180.

Teska has remained active in 2025 with cashes on multiple U.S. circuits. He finished 188th in the $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em event at the 2025 Arizona State Poker Championship for $3,200, and 173rd in the $1,110 No-Limit Hold'em event at the 2025 Michigan Poker State Championship for $3,387. He also cashed for $1,617 in the $400 No-Limit Hold'em event at the WSOP Circuit stop in Chicago in early March 2025.

Across his career, Teska's recorded live tournament earnings exceed $3.3 million, and when confirmed online results are included, his total surpasses $4.4 million. He has recorded 38 tournament cashes with three wins. His WPT-specific totals include four cashes, two final tables, and $776,830 in WPT earnings; his European Poker Tour results add another $126,300 from three cashes.

Teska plays a straightforward but aggressive brand of poker, using position and selective hand ranges to keep pressure on opponents. He is unafraid to gamble and frequently employs unconventional tactics to keep his table image unpredictable. Off the felt, he is known for a laid-back, good-humored demeanor that sometimes manifests in celebratory drinks at the table, as seen at the 2014 PCA and his 2019 WPT title run. That combination of results and personality has made Teska a memorable and recognizable figure in the American tournament scene.