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$481,000 US pot plucked at World Series of Poker
Tournament win is 22-year-old's 'big dream' come true
Chantal Eustace, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, June 11, 2007
Jason Warner may have joined the international poker elite on the weekend, earning almost half a million dollars, but he has no plans to quit his day job at a Surrey building supply store.
"I'm going to take it all in and recover," said the 22-year-old Langley resident, adding he'll be back to work on Wednesday. "It's almost unbelievable. I'm trying to take it all in."
On Saturday night, the aspiring poker shark won a pot of $481,000 US at the World Series of Poker, beating 1,427 competitors from around the globe. Players paid $1,500 to compete in the three-day poker event, part of a 55-event championship series held at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.
He also won a heavy gold championship bracelet spotted with about 50 small diamonds and engraved with the words, "World Series of Poker 2007."
"It was a really big dream of mine to win a bracelet. I didn't expect it would happen so fast," said Warner, who has been playing poker since he was 15. He began competing seriously about a year and a half ago, he said.
After relaxing for a few days, he said, he'll be back to work this week at Surrey New and Used, where he sells building materials.
Although he said he played a smart game, Warner credits his big win to luck.
At one point on the final table, he said, he moved all his chips in with hopes that the "river card" -- the last community card to be dealt in a poker hand -- would be a five. It was. He doubled his chips and stayed in the game.
"That was the crucial hand. If I didn't hit the five, I was going home," he said. "I would have been out. Just like that. That was the lucky hand."
He said he was surprisingly calm even though it was only his second time competing in the same tournament. (He lost his first and only other World Series event last week, losing the $2,000 he paid to enter that match.)
A poker face is important, but so are good nerves, he said, adding you can't think about the money you could lose -- or you'll lose it.
"You just got to kind of pull it all together, be calm and just play it out," said Warner. "You learn to calm down your nerves a bit."
The tournament was exhausting, he said, but well worth the payoff.
He'll pay 30 per cent of his $481,000 earnings in U.S. taxes, he said. With the remaining money, he might buy a house now that he can afford a down payment, he said.
He will use some of the money for poker, he said. He'll likely head back to Las Vegas next month for the Poker Series final event, a 10-day challenge, starting July 6. It costs $10,000 per player. Last year the first-prize winner took home $12 million US.
"I almost have to now. I think I probably will [go]," said Warner. "That's a little more expensive though."
Tim Huber, a spokesman for the event, said competition is intense because the World Series of Poker attracts the best players from around the globe.
He said Warner is very young to win a bracelet, but not the youngest ever. This year, a 21-year-old player from the U.S. won half a million in the first event of the series.
Warner's win is seen as a big deal for Vancouver's poker scene, said Howard Blank, a spokesman for the Great Canadian Casinos.
"I don't think anyone from Vancouver has won a World Series bracelet," he said. "It's very coveted and he should be very proud."
The win highlights Vancouver's talented poker community, he said.
"It's really important to note that our homegrown talent is making a mark for itself on the world stage. When you talk about the World Series, that is the grand dame of them all," said Blank.
Warner said he plays most of his poker at the River Rock Casino in Richmond. He can't count how many games of poker he's played, he said, but he remembers watching his parents play at his home when he was a little kid.
He loves poker, he said.
"It's definitely not an easy career. It's a grind. It's not super easy to win in big tournaments," he said, chuckling. "If I could do this once a year, then I'd be doing all right." |
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发表于 2007-6-12 07:53
