Poker Pro Passes Away During Dallas Tournament

A professional poker player has tragically passed doing what he loved at a tournament in Texas. Mark Toulouse, also known as “Doc” collapsed at the table and was rushed to a hospital where he passed away.

The Player Suffered a Heart Attack

Toulouse was competing at the $300 NLH tournament at the Texas Card House in Dallas on Sunday when he suddenly collapsed at the table. According to reports, the incident occurred just as players were “already in the money.” As it turned out, Toulouse’s stack was blinded out and he officially finished in 26^th place, securing himself $1,475 in cash.

Unfortunately, the player never got to enjoy his prize. He was rushed to a nearby hospital as soon as he collapsed. Toulouse passed away at the hospital due to what was later confirmed to be a heart attack.

Tournament officials, who had blinded out Toulouse’s stack until his status was confirmed, promised to send the money he won to his family.

Toulouse Was Loved by the Community

Toulouse focused on Poker in 2017, shortly after he retired as a professor at Emmanuel College. He became a prominent poker player who was loved by many within the poker community. His lifetime winnings stood at $551,944.

The highlight of his career was his TCH $250K GTD End of Summer victory in 2022. This win secured him $89,197 in prize money, which remained the biggest prize in his career.

Matt Savage, executive tour director of the WPT, described Doc as a “great guy that went out doing what he loved.”

One of our ClubWPT Stream Team Family ToulouseMark (VandyToronto) passed away at the table last night TexasCardHouse. Dallas while in the money of an event. If you ever met or played with him you’d remember, he was a great guy that went out doing what he loved. #RIPMark

Matt Savage

In the meantime, Toulouse’s family regretted his passing but said that they were glad that they at least got to spend the last Christmas together.

Other Poker Pros Find Themselves in Trouble

While Toulouse was a beloved poker player, a few less-admired poker celebrities were recently accused of fraud. This included four-time WSOP circuit winner George Janssen who was charged by federal prosecutors with defrauding 20 different financial institutions out of at least $3.2 million.

Elsewhere, Thomas Goldstein, a Maryland attorney and high-stakes poker player found himself in hot water because of alleged tax fraud.