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New Jersey pro wins first WSOP bracelet, $116K in Limit Hold'em Shootout18 June 2012Brian Meinders certainly knows his limitations. Hold’em limitations, that is. More precisely, limit Hold’em. Meinders pulled off poker’s equivalent of a triple play over the past three days, winning a steady progression of increasingly-more difficult sit n' go matches en route to a World Series of Poker bracelet. Meinders won the $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold'em Shootout tournament which took place on the Pavilion main stage at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The central New Jersey-based poker player enjoyed his highest profile victory ever, following two previous deep runs in previous WSOP events. Meinders' first WSOP cash was three years ago when he took eighth in an event, which was good for a $55,000 payout. Then, he finished second in another event held in 2010, good for another $145,000. This year, he has only one cash (so far) -- and this was it. Tack on another $116,118 in prize money to a poker nest egg that now has more than $300,000 in just three deposits. The bottom line is, Meinders makes his cashes really count. The cumulative succession of three cashes and three final table appearances -- posting eighth, second and first -- unquestionably represents an uptick in results that may indicate Meinders has his best days still ahead. Aside from poker, Meinders has a serious love of languages. He studied for a few years at Rutgers University in New Jersey and became proficient enough in Latin that he now teaches the subject at a private school. However, Meinders is just as passionate about poker and now tends to call one of the biggest poker rooms in Atlantic City his "office." Darin Thomas was second, claiming $71,704, while Christopher Vitch was third, Victor Ramdin was fourth, Brock Parker was fifth, Preston Derden was sixth, Matthew Schreiber was seventh, Sean Rice was eighth, Ian Johns was ninth, and Christopher Hartman was 10th. The tournament began on Tuesday with 366 entrants. The top 63 finishers in this event collected prize money. Noteable players who won their first table to cash included: Matt Matros, Greg Mueller, Tex Barch, Justin Bonomo, Scott Seiver, and J.J. Liu. Modified from tournament notes provided by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla. |