Hoops star wins bracelet
The 2009 World Series of Poker $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em champion is Eric Baldwin, from Henderson, NV. Baldwin collected $521,991 for first place and was awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet.
He is a 26-year-old professional poker player who moved to the Las Vegas area about a year ago to concentrate on playing poker full-time.
Baldwin attended the University of Wisconsin. He earned his college degree in psychology, with a minor in mathematics. He was a member of the UW-Whitewater college baseball team that won the Division 3 National Championship in 2005. The name of the team was the Warhawks.
A few of Baldwin’s college baseball coaches were present. By coincidence, they were on a recruiting trip and learned that Baldwin was playing for a WSOP gold bracelet.
Prior to winning his WSOP title, Baldwin had enjoyed success in several tournaments. Most notable were wins at the Venetian (Deep Stack Series) for $198,000 and the Bellagio (WPT preliminary) for $147,000.
Baldwin plays mostly live poker. However, he also plays online tournaments, particularly on Sundays when some bigger events are offered.
He said: “I’m head over heels. It’s far above anything else that I have ever done. I can’t event talk about it accurately right now, because it hasn’t sunken in yet. Last year, I was coming out here (Las Vegsa) several times a year, not just for the WSOP. I would come out for some tournaments and I was here for almost half the year. So, I figured I’d just buy a place out here. Plus, I hate shoveling snow.”
The runner up was Jonas Klausen, from Odense, Denmark. This was his fourth time to cash at the WSOP and second final table appearance. Klausen collected $322,371 in prize money for second place.
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