When Donaldson Brown bought into the No-Limit Hold'em World Series of Poker Circuit Event #8 with the requisite $500, he probably didn't expect to beat out the entire field of 750 (one of the largest in World Series of Poker circuit history) and come away with $98K in prize money. Oh, sure, everyone plays poker expecting to win - if you don't, you're sittin' at the wrong table, pardner - but the odds were certainly against Brown as he squared off against 749 competitors recently in a Tunica, Miss., game room.

At his day job, the 40-year-old Copper Canyon resident invests (i.e., "speculates"; i.e., "gambles") in oil and gas offerings - so betting on the turn of a card must seem to him like a busman's holiday. Of course, in the realm of oil and gas trades you can't really run a bluff - or if you do, the SEC might have a thing or two to say about it (such as: "You're under arrest.").

By the second day of the event (after 14 hours of play on day one), all but 35 players had been eliminated. Three hours later, that number had been whittled down to the nine lucky guys (that's right - no women made it this far) who would duke it out at the final table. Among the final table combatants was another Texan, John Bradley, of Irving, who traveled back across the Sabine with a respectable $25K for his fourth place performance.
By John P. Meyer