Famous Vegans - Ed Miller

Ed Miller, 2007.

Ed Miller

Born Edward Raymond Miller on August 10, 1979. He is a professional poker player. He has a BS in Physics and in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. In 2001, he started working as a software developer for Microsoft. He first played poker as a hobby, but in 2003, he left his job at Microsoft to play poker full-time. He has written several books about poker, including: Getting Started in Hold 'em, Small Stakes Hold 'em, Small Stakes No-Limit Hold 'em, No Limit Hold 'em and Professional No-Limit Hold'em. You can find his website at this link.

He is a vegan and contributes articles to Vegan Soapbox, where he is known as Plump Vegan. He is married to Elaine Vigneault, who became vegan with him.

Quotes by Ed Miller:

When asked why he became vegan, he answered:

"It was a 10-year process. The ball started rolling in college when I became a fan of a band from Canada called Propagandhi. Those guys are relentlessly pro-animal, and listening to them was the first time I ever really thought about the problems with consuming animals. In 2002, my mom had a heart attack, and I went to the doctor and found out I was headed the same way if I didn't make a lifestyle change. So I stopped eating meat. In 2004, I met my wife, Elaine Vigneault, who was also a vegetarian. In 2006, we moved to New York, and with all the great resources for vegans in that city, Elaine and I took the plunge and became vegan together. Five years later we're back in Vegas, still happily married, proudly vegan, and my doctor assures me that, thanks to my diet, I'm not going to have a heart attack any time soon."

"Veganism is, among other things, a statement that we should not exploit those weaker than us simply because we can turn a profit from it. Poker, on the other hand, demands that you attack the weak, and relish the profit you can make from it. Of course, the weak at my Las Vegas poker tables often own multimillion-dollar bank accounts, so you can't feel too bad for them. Having said all that, most of the other vegans I know who play poker are pretty darn good at it."

Quotes are from his 2011 interview with VegNews.