Los Angeles-based mixed-game pro Brian Brubaker overcame a field of 326 to win his first World Series of Poker bracelet, topping Event #28: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw for $109,967 in first-place prize money.
Out of a final table that lasted roughly five hours, about two of those were devoted to heads-up play between Brubaker and start-of-day leader Brendan Taylor, who won a bracelet in a limit hold'em shootout event back in 2010 and was seeking his second piece of gold.
"It was a lot of fun. Pretty intense, there were a lot of swings throughout the final table," Brubaker said. "Luckily, I pretty much just won the majority of the [heads-up] pots and went straight up."
Just getting there took some work, as Brubaker had to overcome some tilt that was completely unrelated to poker online. He came into the day on short sleep after an especially irritating night just looking for somewhere to sleep.
Brubaker had a room booked until the start of Day 2 of this event, when he checked out with the plan of simply finding a place to crash if he advanced to the final table. Turns out, that was easier said than done with Electric Daisy Carnival in town. The famed music-and-dance festival had hotels throughout Las Vegas packed to the brim.
"I finally found a room at Cosmo, but it was like the eighth place I called," Brubaker said. "It was 3:30 in the morning and I was tilted for not being able to go to sleep before the final table."
Nonetheless, Brubaker persevered through those first-world problems. Short stacks Rick Fuller and Dean Kerl fell early at the final table, and they were followed by one of the biggest stars in the event, though not one necessarily known to game poker fans.
