In June 2012, Jeff Fogel notched the first tournament in of his career when he took down the World Poker Tour Regional Series Coconut Creek $165 No-Limit Hold'em Bounty for $1,801. Two weeks later, had another nice score, finishing runner-up in a Wynn Summer Classic $340 No-Limit Hold'em event for $4,540. Few knew that months earlier he'd been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.
ALS affects the nervous system with the progressive degeneration of motor neurons, which in time painlessly shuts down the body.