Shane Schleger was born in Brooklyn and raised in Manhattan, New York. He was first introduced to poker at the age of 22 during a trip to an Indian card room with friends in New Mexico, but it wasn't until a few years later that he met some New York City players and began to truly develop a passion for the game. He decided to begin playing online to hone his skills anonymously, so he registered as "Shaniac," a nickname from his days as a bike messenger. There was no looking back.

Schleger is particularly known for his online tournament play. For several years, he could regularly be found playing on any number of the biggest Internet gaming sites, and currently remains in the top all-time tournament rankings at Pocket Fives. Along with his successes online, he craved live play just as much. While he could play in New York City clubs, his favorite being "The Playstation," he decided to try the tournament circuit and by 2005 was beginning to show what he could accomplish live.

Within a few months of being on the tournament circuit, Shane made it to a World Series of Poker final table in the $1,000 no-limit hold'em event where he finished fifth for $132,110. He continued to actively pursue that first tournament win, which finally came in 2006 at an L.A. Poker Classic preliminary event. His accomplishments in less than three years include three WSOP cashes, including two final tables and three World Poker Tour cashes, the most recent a final table at the 2007 Bellagio Cup that ended in a fourth place finish for his biggest live cash to date of $232,490.