Brian Green recently took fifth place in the $111,111.00 One Drop High Roller event at the recent 2016 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Green’s pot prize amounted to over $1.1 million!

Green did not have the required entry fee to join one of the toughest poker events of the year. He had to borrow $10,000 from another poker player in order to raise the entry fee. At the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, Green played a 10-hour session of blackjack. He played for five straight days without sleep so as not to break his winning streak. His winnings totaled to $113,000 which was more than enough to buy-in for the One Drop. On the first day of play at about 10 p.m., Green registered for One Drop.

Though he considers himself a non-PRO blackjack player, he claims to be a “big money gambler” ever since he became old enough to do so. He took to playing whatever there is and in the process became friends with Archie Karas, a legendary Las Vegas gambler and poker player. The poker community remembers Karas as the brilliant player who turned $50 into a whopping $40 million win in the 1990s. Though he eventually lost the millions, Karas is still remembered as one of the high stake rollers who played (and even won against) some of the best poker players in the world.
Some One Drop players hedged their bets to mitigate risks, but not Green. He bet his blackjack winnings for the buy-in. He admits that he is inclined to join high roller events as these suited him more. In the last 17 years of playing in poker tournaments, Green admits that he felt really excited with this event. He was quite hopeful to land in the top three when he made it to the final table of One Drop. He said it would have been nice to show his kids that he’s ranked third overall in Texas.

Brian Green’s wish of ranking third or first even would have been possible if only he played a hand differently. Green said that the fours hand was the biggest part of the tournament. He knew that his opponent’s hand had A-K and if he had made the call, would have gotten 30 million with some 90 million to play. Counting his chips, he was sure to have 7 million left even if made the call and lost.

I was pretty sure what he had based on how the hand was played. It was two million pre-flop and 1.3 million as a continuation bet. It seemed like A-K to me. The turn was the Q and he just ships it. I have been kicking myself in the ass all day for that. I thought about the call for six and a half minutes. The only reason I folded was because I asked him the stupid question ‘Will you show if I fold’ and he said ‘yes’ and I just mucked it. He showed A-K high. I’ve been beating myself up about it.

Green’s One Drop score places his name for the third time in the WSOP final tables. His first two came in 2001 and 2002. His recent winning sums up his total WSOP pot prize at $2.3 million.