Las Vegas, NV – Many young people aspire to become professional poker players. The impact of television on making poker wannabes out of millions of dreamers is undeniable. Unfortunately, few players truly succeed in playing poker for a living. The ranks of those who play tournament poker for a living are even thinner.
Yet, if any young player can make a legitimate case pursuing his poker dream, it is 21-year-old Brandon Terry, from Corpus Christi, TX. He turned 21 (legal age to play poker in most casinos) last November. In just six months, Terry has now won two major tournaments, made four final tables, and has eight in-the-money finishes. Those would be impressive stats for any veteran player. But to see these numbers posted by a player who was virtually unknown at the end of last year make the feat even more eye-opening.
Indeed, the future looks very bright for Terry, who just won the most recent World Series of Poker Circuit tournament held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Terry conquered a field of 267 players en route to his first gold ring victory. It was his first time to cash in a WSOP event of any kind. First place paid $18,842.
The victory comes a few months after Terry won his first tournament ever, at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. He also cashed three times earlier this year at the L.A. Poker Classic.
The $300 (+40) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament was played over two consecutive days during April 17th and 18th. The top 27 finishers divided a prize pool totaling $77,697. Among those who finished in the money was former WSOP gold bracelet winner Mike Laing, who came in 26th.
Another notable performance came from the runner-up in this event, 26-year-old Ronnie Rodriguez, Jr., from McAllen, TX.
Just two days after he finished third in a WSOP Circuit event held here at Caesars Palace, Rodriguez outdid himself by coming in second in this tournament. Rodriguez was very disappointed by not winning what would have been his first major tournament. In fact, he had rival Terry outchipped when play went to heads-up. But Terry managed to win the key hands late in the tournament and closed out a most impressive victory.
Final Table play began on a Sunday afternoon. There were no prior WSOP Circuit gold ring event winners among the final nine players, which guaranteed a first-time champion. Brandon Terry arrived at the Final Table with a formidable chip advantage over the remaining players. Terry was up better than 3 to 2 over his closest rivals -- Tom Takara and Luke Brown. The remaining six players were down by 2 to 1 or more.
When Final Table play began at 2:00 pm, the nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:
|
Seat
|
Player
|
Hometown
|
Chip Count
|
|
1
|
Kambiz Zamani
|
Chandler, AZ
|
126,000
|
|
2
|
Paul Brettler
|
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
|
66,500
|
|
3
|
Nick Nadeau
|
Las Vegas, NV
|
156,500
|
|
4
|
Grant Geyer
|
Las Vegas, NV
|
220,000
|
|
5
|
Luke Brown
|
San Antonio, TX
|
267,500
|
|
6
|
Ronnie Rodriguez, Jr.
|
McAllen, TX
|
149,000
|
|
7
|
Brian Carstens
|
Rio Rancho, NM
|
67,000
|
|
8
|
Tom Takara
|
Pocatello, LA
|
302,000
|
|
9
|
Brandon Terry
|
Corpus Christi, TX
|
490,000
|
Final Table play lasted about six hours and ended at 8:15 pm. Players were eliminated in the following order:
Ninth Place: Brian Carstens Goes Out Ninth
Brian Carstens, who lives near Albuquerque, NM, was eliminated quickly and ended up as the ninth-place finisher. This was Carsten’s second time to cash at this year’s Caesars Palace series. He edged into the money in the first tournament on the schedule, finishing 35th. This time, he collected $1,942.
Eighth Place: Nick Nadeau Takes Eighth
Nick Nadeau, from Las Vegas, was the eighth-place finisher. He has previously cashed more than a dozen times and has made seven final tables in various tournaments. This was his first time to cash in a WSOP-related event. Eighth place paid $2,525.
Seventh Place: Paul Brettler Finishes Seventh
Paul Brettler came to the final table with the lowest stack. He stated his goal was to make it to fifth place. But Brettler did not make it that far, ending up instead in seventh place. Brettler, from Ft. Lauderdale, FL had to settle for $3,108 in prize money.
Sixth Place: Kambiz Zamani Ends Up in Sixth Place
Kambiz Zamani, who is originally from Ottawa (Canada) but now resides in Chandler, AZ went out in sixth place. Zamani, who works as a computer engineer, cashed twice in WSOP events last year. He added $3,885 to his poker bankroll this time in his highest WSOP-related finish.
Note: Some websites have previously misreported this player’s name. It is KAMBIZ ZAMANI.
Fifth Place: Tom Takara Finishes Fifth
Tom Takara, from Pocatello, LA finished in fifth place and collected $4,856. This marked Takara’s first finish in a major tournament in more than four years. It was also his highest tournament finish, to date.
Fourth Place: Luke Brown Ends Up Fourth
Luke Brown arrived at the final table ranked second in chips. He lasted about four hours before finally going bust. The former bartender-turned-poker pro from San Antonio, who once played college basketball, ended up asd the fourth-place finisher, which paid $4,856. This was his first time to cash in a WSOP-related event.
Third Place: Grant Geyer Takes Third Place
Grant Geyer, a 23-year-old vacation advisor and aspiring poker pro from Las Vegas, went out in third place. He previously finished as the runner-up in an event at last year’s Caesars Poker Classic. Geyer had his eyes on first place this time, but came up short, having to settle for a very respectable $7,381 in prize money.
Second Place: Ronnie Rodriguez, Jr. Finishes as Runner Up
Ronnie Rodriguez, Jr. is an aspiring poker pro from McAllen, TX. He was motivated to come out to Las Vegas and give poker a try by his father, who sadly passed away just two months ago.
Rodriguez, who takes poker very seriously, has dedicated himself to this pursuit and has some impressive results to show for his dedication. In Event #3 ($550 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em), Rodriguez finished third. He had a shot to win this tournament, particularly when he had Terry covered by nearly 3 to 1 in chips late in the duel. But Rodriguez suffered a bad run late and went out with a consolation prize worth $11,655.
The last hand came when Ronnie Rodriguez was dealt
. Brandon was dealt
. Rodriguez moved all-in pre-flop and Terry called. The final board showed
, which meant the pocket
took down the last pot of the night in what was a final battle between two Texans.
The final hand of the tournament can be seen here:
http://www.twitvid.com/ILLFY
First Place: Brandon Terry Wins First WSOP Circuit Gold Ring
Brandon Terry officially won $18,842 in prize money, plus his first WSOP-related victory. He hopes to continues succeeding in live tournaments and has his sights set on the WSOP coming up next month in Las Vegas.
An interview with Brandon Terry at tableside moments after his win can be seen here:
http://www.twitvid.com/QQKMD