Deputy Editor
The New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League have hired former poker pro Sunny Mehta as general manager of the downtrodden franchise.
The Devils finished with the fourth-worst record in the 16-team Eastern Conference this season, so Mehta will have his work cut out for him. He has spent the past seven seasons in the Florida Panthers front office, where he helped the franchise win the past two Stanley Cups.
Now, he returns home — Mehta grew up in New Jersey.
“This is where I’ve always wanted to be,” said Mehta, 48, to the Associated Press. “This is where I want to be.”
Mehta laid down the poker metaphors when asked about his past. He noted that analytics “helped me win” in poker but said the human side of the game will bring him an equal edge in his first try as a GM.
“You have to have a feel for your opponent,” he said. “You have to understand the subjectivity of bluffing… you have to understand the psychology.”
He also cited ignoring short-term results and being process-oriented as key parts of his poker background that will carry over.
While Mehta isn’t a recognizable name to tournament fans — he has just one recorded cash, in 2006 — old heads on the TwoPlusTwo poker forums may recall him. Mehta joined the forums in 2004 and posted about a variety of topics, including sports and trading. He last appeared there in 2014.
Mehta put his expertise into print on two occasions, co-authoring poker books. He helped write Professional No-Limit Hold’em: Volume I and then Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em. In both projects, he collaborated with well-known poker authors Ed Miller and Matt Flynn.
Mehta took his writing talents to sports, where he penned articles about the NHL in his free time. He made the jump to an NHL front office with the former Phoenix Coyotes in 2010 and didn’t look back.
Mehta the Latest to Apply Poker Principles, Succeed in Other Arenas
Top tournament pro Sam Greenwood wrote in his blog about the wonder of seeing an individual he knew from poker forums becoming the head decision-maker of an NHL franchise:
That a guy who I interacted with on Two Plus Two over a decade ago is running an NHL hockey team would be wild to imagine, if there weren’t already several similar examples in a variety of different arenas.
That echoes some of the recent comments from Tom Dwan. He said he sees a bleak future for poker and recommends that high-level players think of ways they can apply their skills in other areas.
Greenwood joked that he only wished Mehta had taken a job with his own favorite team.
“Mr. Mehta, As a fellow member of TwoPlusTwo please reconsider and fix the Toronto Maple Leafs,” he wrote.
Image credit: Doug Kerr/Flickr (license)
