Beth Shak Owns 1,200 Pairs Of Shoes (VIDEO)

The average woman spends $25,000 on shoes in her lifetime, according to "The Today Show." We're thinking Beth Shak, who owns 1,200 pairs, has already spent that much on shoes this year.

The professional poker player (and one-time "Millionaire Matchmaker" hopeful) has been making headlines for her unbelievably massive shoe collection.

The 41-year-old let "The Today Show" peek inside her closet, which boasts Manolo Blahnik heels, Lanvin flats, red crystal-studded Chanel stunners and a whopping 700 pairs of Christian Louboutins, her favorite label of all time.

To her credit, Shak earns her expensive habit through her own poker winnings. Her signature soles have earned her a reputation at the poker table and the male players have taken notice. "I wore Uggs [once] and a man said, 'Where are your heels?'" Shak told Women's Wear Daily. "[My name is] synonymous with shoes."

Although she seems to treat her shoes as her babies, Shak actually has three children of her own, including a 16-year-old daughter. So does her kid get to partake in the collection?

"She can't because I am a size seven and she's a size eight," Shak told the "Today Show." What a cruel, cruel twist of fate.

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Comments

[Tara L]

07:32 PM on 08/08/2011

These things didn't come from her poker winnings, they came as part of her divorce settlement with Daniel Shak. Apparently leaching off of alimony is something to be celebrated nowadays.

[igdoodle]

12:02 PM on 08/01/2011

It's amazing to me how many people jump on the "she could be doing this or that" instead of owning 1200 pairs of shoes. The fact is, we don't know what she may be doing relative to charities. Maybe a lot, maybe nothing. But if she isn't lying, stealing and cheating to acquire her shoes, she has a right to own however many pairs of shoes she wants. We should stop judging how people spend the money that they make. One of the benefits of working and making money is the ability to do/buy the things that we want.

[Dede Eagleburger]

01:55 PM on 08/01/2011

Amen!! If I were her I'd have 1200 pairs of shoes too!

[duze]

05:14 AM on 07/31/2011

AMEN. I guess I could get real philsophical about her owning all these shoes. Blame it on her selfishness or need to impress, too much money to waste while I'm starving or whatever. But all I really feel is jealous

[sanddc]

09:49 AM on 07/30/2011

The ghost of Emelda Marcos haunts this lady ,so she buys shoes.

[eb909]

07:04 PM on 07/29/2011

I just returned from a mission trip in Honduras where we passed out clothes, medicine, and as many flip flops as we could. Twelve hundred flip flops would have gone a long way down there.

[MariaMaria]

12:03 PM on 07/30/2011

I regularly send athletic and children's shoes to Ghana, not much use for all the fancy shoes this lady has. But practical shoes are greatly appreciated and you are right, it goes a long way.

[janemarple]

03:31 PM on 07/29/2011

This is just vulgar, a psychiatrist would be cheaper.
Having said that, my roommate in college had the most beautiful clothes and wore ripped, and even less than clean underwear. Later, she did get help.

[Dede Eagleburger]

04:14 PM on 07/29/2011

a psychiatrist would be cheaper but it wouldn't look as good on her feet or in her closet..

[Retrofuturistic]

12:04 PM on 07/29/2011

Wouldn't it be great to see a story about someone who had 1200 books? And had read all of them?

Just imagine the insights such a person could have compared to the woman with 1200 pairs of shoes....

[Dede Eagleburger]

01:28 PM on 07/29/2011

I don't know how many books I have, but I've read pretty much all of them, and I have a lot of shoes and I've worn them all at some point...maybe she's read a lot of books too?

[Kathleen Shimp]

07:40 PM on 07/29/2011

I do not doubt I have over 1000 books, (I tend to give up counting around 500 and figure it doesn't really matter the exact number) and if I could also have that many pairs of shoes, I would. (Used books at library and yard sales cost far far less than good shoes, even if the shoes are also used.) I would estimate my shoe library to number around 100 pairs. Have I read all my books, no, but I haven't worn all the shoes either. I always intend to read or wear, of course.

[x1cness]

08:06 AM on 07/29/2011

The fact that her 16 year-old daughter cannot use such a collection of shoes really is, I think, a "cruel, cruel twist of fate." I am not a female, but I love sneakers just as much as my mother loves shoes, and she has more shoes than she can find places to store them.

[Sofia Champion]

01:14 AM on 07/29/2011

Disgusting.

[firefly2000]

01:08 AM on 07/29/2011

You know the older I get the more I understand that a thing is just a thing and all that I have and own is no more then pieces of plastic and metal sitting around ,but for some reason we feel like these things realy mean something , but by the end of ones life these things mean nothing and they give you false happiness .

[Uvi Ajavon]

04:10 PM on 07/29/2011

At 41, she still is not at that stage to get that (things are just what they are). However, everyone is somewhat frivolous, and she, is a little more, that's all...

[lita m]

12:41 AM on 07/29/2011

Poor mental health manifests itself in many different ways. At least she isn't harming anyone or stealing to support her addiction.

[prestonsturges]

12:41 AM on 07/29/2011

Who?

[Tara Hunkoff]

11:35 PM on 07/28/2011

Beth Shak has won about $500K in tournaments. It's a tidy sum, but 1200 pairs of shoes at $200/pair (a low average) would be $240K. Where does all the real money come from?

Ms. Shak divorced very well. Her ex-huband, Dan Shak, also a pro poker, has won about $2.8 Million in poker tournaments.

It's obvious that her divorce settlement, private game winnings and related "celebrity earnings", combined with some good financial advice, have provided her with a good income. In other words, she works for her money and takes good care of it.

She is active in charity work, and she takes care of her family too. I imagine some of her detractors on this thread can't say the same. How many of you give the same percentage of your time and money to others that Beth does? Relatively speaking, she is no worse for buying shoes than middle-class families are for buying three TVs.

However, better or worse, it's none of our business how she spends her money as long as nobody is harmed.

[Paul S]

07:42 AM on 07/29/2011

Agreed!

[MariaMaria]

12:06 PM on 07/30/2011

So true, and if the worse thing she ever does is have 1200 pair of shoes, no real harm done.

[veritas88]

10:52 PM on 07/28/2011

I love shoes but 1200 pairs seems ridiculous. From the clip it seemed like she had forgotten about most of the shoes and had rarely worn many of them. Those shoes should be appreciated and worn often!

[x1cness]

08:08 AM on 07/29/2011

It's an addiction.

[Chester Erickson]

01:59 AM on 07/29/2011

SPAM