Anyone who’s been at the RDS over the last six days will certainly have noticed South Jersey native Randy Hagen. For starters, he’s big: 6’ 2”. Plus, he’s wearing the most OUTLANDISH outfits – a different one every day.
Not only does it take bravado to sport a wardrobe like Randy’s, it also takes precision planning and a bankroll big enough to pay Aer Lingus’s crushingly-expensive excess luggage penalty.
The journey to Blue Steel
Randy Hagen. now 53, didn’t set out to be an international style icon. Or a professional poker player for that matter. His background is in healthcare and he spent most of his career building up a series of flagship medical centres on the East Coast.
But around six years ago Randy began to suffer a degenerative spinal condition and by 2024, already suffering a lot of pain, he decided it was time to quit.
Looking around for something else to get his teeth into, Randy – a long-term recreational player – decided to get serious about poker. He said: “Poker distracts me from the pain. Getting to see people, meeting people, chatting at the table – it distracts me.” He’s made it his passion ever since.
Gucci guy
We first spotted Randy on Day 1, dressed head-to-toe in an Irish Open-themed Gucci suit that he had specially made for this year’s event. He was a commanding presence.
At first, I thought he’d got the dates all wrong and was trying to enter our 70s theme fancy dress competition 11 days early. But the Gucci suit was only the start of it. Every day since, Randy has turned up in a different outfit including today – Day 6 – a Stars and Stripes bandana teamed with eye-popping hoodie created by Bluff Everyone, the poker apparel company for which he is a Brand Ambassador.
Below we’ve chronicled Randy’s 2026 Irish Open fashion statements, including a Day 4 plaid ensemble (my personal favourite) and a subdued “palate cleanser” ensemble on Day 3.
Roll over Blue Steel
Hangin with the Wild Samoans
How and where Randy first learned poker is an extraordinary story in itself. Back in 1986, a 13-year-old Randy was spending summer with his Dad, a locksmith and part-time alcoholic who spent most of his free time drinking in dives around Yonkers, NYC. Hagen Sr’s idea of childcare was to send Randy, then aged 13, into the back room with $20 to learn poker. On his first foray, Randy was back out in less than an hour, having won $250. His Dad – suddenly getting all ethical – sent him back in to give the other players a chance to win it back Well, it was either ethics or fear – the poker game was run by a troupe of WWE fighters known as Captain Lou Albano and the Wild Samoans.
Over the course of the next 34 years, Randy left school, went to Uni, got married, raised a family and had a career. Until the back injury kicked in.
He said: “So I started taking poker really seriously about a year ago. I’m a late bloomer. Lol. I came to the Irish Open last year but I didn’t even play the Main. I didn’t think I was good enough. But I’ll be playing it this year.”
Randy’s results reflect the hard work he’s put into his game over the 12 months. On the Hendon Mob’s 2025 world cashes leaderboard, Randy is ranked 764th – out of more than 950,000 player profiles. He has already cashed three times at this year’s Irish Open – sixth in the Big O, ninth in the Mixed 8-Game and 11th in yesterday’s HORSE.
He said: “I would never miss this. I just love it. It’s always going to be the Irish Open, no matter what.”
