Brian Rast

Last updated

Brian Rast
Brian Rast 2018.jpg
Brian Rast in 2018
Nickname(s)tsarRast
ResidenceLas Vegas, Nevada
Poway, California
Born (1981-11-08) November 8, 1981 (age 42)
Denver, Colorado
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s) 6
Final table(s)16
Money finish(es)64
Highest ITM
Main Event finish
134th, 2022
World Poker Tour
Title(s)None
Final table(s)1
Money finish(es)7
Information accurate as of 25 January 2020.

Brian Rast (born November 8, 1981) is a professional poker player living in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Contents

Early personal life

Rast was born in Denver, Colorado but raised in Poway, California, where he graduated as valedictorian from Poway High School in 2000. He attended Stanford University before dropping out in order to pursue a career as a full-time poker professional in 2004. [1]

In 2011, Rast married his wife, Juliana Karla Carlos da Silva. [1]

Online poker

In the online poker world, Rast is known as tsarrast on both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Rast was primarily a cash game player online and played very few poker tournaments. He has very limited tournament results, playing a small volume in 2007 and again in 2016, and barely any in between. [2] [3] Despite the small volume, Rast has some impressive online tournament results, which include finishing third in Full Tilt Poker's FTOPS III Main Event in 2007 for $114,203.50., [4] [5] finishing third in PokerStars Sunday Million in 2008 for $73,490 [6] and finishing third in a $2,100 NLHE SCOOP in 2016 for $155,600. Rast also produced some training videos online. He was one of the pros from the online poker training site Poker VT [7] as well as RunItOnce. [8]

World Series of Poker

Rast has six World Series of Poker bracelets, two of which he won at the 2011 World Series of Poker. His first was in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event, where he earned $227,232 after he defeated poker professional Allen Kessler heads-up, [9]

Rast's second was in the $50,000 Players Championship, the second highest buy-in event, that awards third highest prize money of $1,720,328; also awarded is the David "Chip" Reese memorial trophy and what was described by Andrew Feldman of ESPN as "the most prestigious bracelet of the Series". [10] The Players Championship started out with a field of 128 players and after four days of play in a mixed game format known as 8-Game, the format was switch to No-Limit Texas Hold'em on the fifth day, when the final table of eight was set with following noted poker professionals and where they finished: Ben Lamb (eighth), Scott Seiver (seventh), PokerStars Pro and SuperNova Elite George Lind (sixth), Matt Glantz (fifth), Owais Ahmed (fourth) and Minh Ly (third).

When heads-up play began, Rast was up against 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who was trying to capture his 12th bracelet in his third heads-up match of the 2011 series. As the match progressed, Hellmuth established a 5-1 chip lead on Rast; however, Rast gained the lead after a series of draws that failed to improve Hellmuth's hands. Rast captured the bracelet when Hellmuth's flush draw failed to improve against Rast's King high straight. [11]

Rast's other results at the WSOP include a ninth-place finish in the 2008 World Series of Poker $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha with Rebuys event for $84,863, 14th at the 2009 World Series of Poker in the $40,000 No-Limit Hold'em event for $128,665, and at the 2010 World Series of Poker he finished in the money, coming in 537th place out of 7,319 players for $24,079. [12]

At the 2012 World Series of Poker, Rast made two final tables: sixth place in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Re-entry for $137,632 and sixth place in the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop for $1,621,333.

Brian won his second Poker Players Championship bracelet at the 2016 World Series of Poker, beating Justin Bonomo heads up and winning $1,296,097. [13]

At the 2018 World Series of Poker, Rast won his fourth bracelet, and $259,670, in the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship event. Ten-time bracelet winner Doyle Brunson, four-time bracelet winner John Hennigan, and two-time bracelet winner Mike Wattel, whom Rast defeated in heads-up play, were among the players at the final table.

World Series of Poker bracelets

YearEventPrize Money
2011 $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em$227,232
2011 $50,000 Poker Player's Championship $1,720,328
2016 $50,000 Poker Player's Championship$1,296,097
2018 $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship$259,670
2021 $3,000 No Limit Hold'em 6-Handed$474,102
2023 $50,000 Poker Player's Championship$1,324,747

Was inducted to the Hall of fame in Las Vegas Nevada, 13.07.2023

Other career results

From 2010-2014, Rast made regular trips to Macau to play cash games. [1]

In December 2013, Brian won the World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic $100,000 High Roller at the Bellagio by defeating Erik Seidel heads up for the title, taking home a prize of $1,083,500. [14]

During the 2015 WSOP, Brian Rast won the 1st inaugural Super High Roller Bowl played at the Aria casino in Las Vegas, taking home over 7.5 million dollars, besting Scott Seiver heads-up, and a 43 player field in total. It stands as his largest single tournament win. [15]

As of January 2020, his total live tournament earnings exceed $21,500,000. [16] He has now also cashed for over $1 million in tournaments for seven years in a row (2011 - 2017). [17]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "Brian Rast Biography". BrianRast.com. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  2. "Official Poker Rankings" . Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  3. "Official Poker Rankings" . Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  4. Graham, Alan (October 9, 2010). "Brian 'tassarast' Rast joins Poker VT". pokernewsreport.com. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  5. Hintze, Haley (February 19, 2007). "Online Poker Weekend: 'traheho' Takes Down FTOPS III Main Event". PokerNews.com. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  6. Green, Shawn Patrick (March 10, 2008). "Online Poker: tpir90036 Wins Sunday Million". CardPlayer. CardPlayer.com. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  7. "Brian Rast - Pro". PokerVT.com. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  8. "Meet the Pros".
  9. Feldman, Andrew (June 13, 2011). "Twist of fate leads Rast to WSOP win". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  10. Feldman, Andrew (July 7, 2011). "Brian Rast wins Players' Championship". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  11. Rodriguez, Julio (July 7, 2011). "Brian Rast Denies Phil Hellmuth, Wins World Series of Poker $50,000 Player's Championship". CardPlayer. CardPlayer.com. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  12. "Brian Rast's profile on The Hendon Mob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  13. Nuwwarah, Mo (July 7, 2016). "Building a Legacy: Brian Rast Wins $50,000 PPC a Second Time". PokerNews. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  14. "Brian Rast Defeats Erik Seidel To Win 2013 WPT Five Diamond $100K for $1,083,500" . Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  15. Roberts, Butt. "Brian Rast Wins Inaugural $500,000 Super High Roller Bowl for $7,525,000". Poker News. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  16. Butt, Robert. "Brian Rast - stats". TheHendonMob.com. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  17. Roberts, Butt. "PokerNews Did You Know: Negreanu, Rast, Gruissem, and Sands Chasing Lindgren's Record". Poker News. Retrieved August 6, 2015.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Hellmuth</span> American poker player (born 1964)

Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won a record seventeen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Event of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), and he is a 2007 inductee of the WSOP's Poker Hall of Fame. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tournament players of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Seidel</span> American poker player (born 1959)

Erik Seidel is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada, who has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title. In 2010, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Mortensen</span> Ecuadorian poker player (born 1972)

Juan Carlos Mortensen is an Ecuadorian professional poker player of Danish descent and the first South American Main Event winner of the World Series of Poker. Mortensen is known for his loose play, bluffing tactics, and interesting chip-stacking style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Matusow</span> American poker player

Michael Matusow is an American professional poker player residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Lisandro</span> Italo-Australian poker player

Jeffrey Lisandro is an Italo-Australian professional poker player, now residing in Salerno, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blair Hinkle</span> American poker player (born 1986)

Blair Hinkle is an American online high-stakes poker player and live midstakes poker player who won the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event. He earned $507,613 at the event. Less than two weeks earlier his brother, Grant Hinkle, also won a WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event making them the first brothers to each win a bracelet in the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Heimiller</span> American poker player (born 1962)

Daniel Heimiller is an American professional poker player who won the Limit Hold'em & Seven-Card Stud event at the 2002 World Series of Poker and the Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship in 2014. He has at least one WSOP cash for 25 consecutive years (1997-2021). He is ranked 5th in all time number of live tournament cashes and 12th in all time number of WSOP cashes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Vilandos</span> Greek-American poker player (died 2022)

Peter Vilandos was a Greek-American professional poker player. He was born in Greece and then resided in Houston, Texas. He won three bracelets at the World Series of Poker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Seiver</span> American poker player (born 1985)

Scott Seiver is a professional poker player from Cold Spring Harbor, New York, now residing in Las Vegas, Nevada who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $5,000 No Limit Hold'em event and is the winner of the $25,100 buy-in High Roller event at the 2010 L.A. Poker Classic. On April 29, 2015, Seiver became the 9th player in GPI history to be ranked #1.

Daniel J. Kelly is an American professional poker player from Potomac, Maryland, who won his first bracelet at the 2010 World Series of Poker in the $25,000 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed event, earning $1,315,518. his second came at the 2014 WSOP in the $1,500 Limit Hold'em event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Jarvis (poker player)</span> Canadian poker player

Matthew "Matt" Jarvis is a Canadian professional poker player from Surrey, British Columbia, known for his November Nine appearance in the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event. He earned his first World Series of Poker bracelet at the 2011 World Series of Poker.

The Poker Players Championship is a $50,000 buy-in event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Added in the 2010, it replaced the former $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship as the highest-stakes mixed-games event. It is considered among the most prestigious events on offer at the WSOP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaun Deeb</span> American poker player (born 1986)

Shaun Frank Deeb is an American professional poker player from Troy, New York. He has three World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) player of the year titles and six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Merson</span> American poker player (born 1987)

Gregory Merson is an American professional poker player. Merson is best known as the winner of the Main Event at the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP). During the same year, he also won a WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 Six Handed No-Limit Hold'em World Championship. Largely as a result of these two championships, he was the 2012 WSOP Player of the Year. He is an online shorthanded cash game poker professional.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuval Bronshtein</span> Israeli poker player

Yuval Bronshtein is an Israeli-born professional poker player based in the United States.

Michael Gathy is a professional poker player from Belgium with many successes in live and online poker, including World Series of Poker bracelets at the 2012, 2013, 2016 and the 2020 World Series of Poker. He is one of two players that have won 4 NLHE bracelets in the decade 2011–2020, alongside Dominik Nitsche. He was also the first person to win a WSOP turbo event. Online he has won multiple SCOOP events and WCOOP events on PokerStars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fedor Holz</span> German poker player (born 1993)

Fedor Holz is a German professional poker player, originally from Saarbrücken, who focuses on high roller tournaments. He was ranked by Pocketfives.com as the best online MTT player in 2014 and 2015. In July 2016, Holz won his first WSOP bracelet, in the $111,111 High Roller For One Drop, winning $4,981,775.

Ian Johns is an American professional poker player born in Seattle, Washington and now living in Rossmoor, California. He has won three bracelets at the World Series of Poker. He won his first bracelet in 2006 and won two bracelets in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Koon</span> American poker player (born 1985)

Jason Koon is an American professional poker player from Weston, West Virginia, known for his accomplishments in live and online poker tournaments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Shack-Harris</span> American poker player (born 1981)

Brandon Shack-Harris is a professional poker player who has won two World Series of Poker bracelets. He was born in Racine, Wisconsin and is based in Chicago. Shack-Harris developed his skills in cash games at the Horseshoe Hammond. As of 2020, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,325,000.