Brian Rast is one of the most accomplished poker players on the circuit. He has over $22 million in career prize money, sits in 24th place on the Hendon Mob’s All Time Money list, in 16th place on the US’s All Time Money list and holds the top place on California’s All Time Money List.
Rast Wins Fifth WSOP Bracelet
Rast along with a number of high-stakes poker players are currently at the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) which is taking place at the Rio in Vegas. He decided to take part in Event #51: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em as he was in search of winning his 5th WSOP gold bracelet.
He had a good run on Day 1 of the event and was among the few players who made it to Day 2. This was a confidence booster for him, making it into Day 2 as he hasn’t played a lot of poker during the last 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and felt a bit rusty.
However, he decided to give the 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event a shot as the buy-in was just $3,000 and it gave him the opportunity to win a WSOP bracelet and also take home a decent prize if he ended up winning the event.
That’s exactly what Rast ended up doing as he played a great game during the final table that saw him finish at the top. Rast and John Gallaher were the final two players at the table and in the end, Rast got the better of Gallaher to take home $474,102 while Gallaher had to settle for second place and a payout of $293,009.
Tuan Phan finished in third place and collected $210,913 for his win. While the top three players were Americans, the fourth place finisher was Chilean Nick Yunis who claimed $141,478 and Japanese player Jun Obara took home $100,827 for his fifth place finish.
Keen On Entering PHoF
Rast was delighted with his win and happy to increase his WSOP bracelet tally to 5. He said one reason he decided to take part at the WSOP and play this event was because he knew it was going to be very competitive and he wanted the challenge.
He joked and said the pressure was on him during the final table as his wife was in the audience. Rast says his wife only comes out when he makes the final table and he wanted to make her proud with a win and was glad he could do that.
Rast has joined an elite group of players who have 5 WSOP bracelets to their name. Some of these players include Jason Mercier, Stu Ungar, Scotty Nguyen and Michael Mizrachi. He is just the 2nd player to win 5 bracelets without ever ending as a runner-up at a WSOP event.
The 39 year old said he was keen on establishing his legacy in poker and wants to be considered for the Poker Hall of Fame once he turns 40.
In a statement, Rast said “I turn 40 in a couple of weeks and it was on my mind to make the Poker Hall of Fame. I think I have a pretty good claim. I’ve played the biggest cash games in the world for over a decade and I’ve done a lot in tournaments as well. I just don’t think there are too many people. I wanted to come back here this year to the WSOP and show myself that I can still play great poker and be around and enjoy it and hopefully add more.”
