My Year as 2006 Bluff Magazine's Player of the Year

• March 2008
• |
• Chad Brown

As 2006 came to a close, I was involved in what became a heated (and close!) race for the player of the year. So, I was overcome with emotion when it was all said and done and it became official that I had won. At first, I was overwhelmed with relief as the pressure of the race subsided – but I was also feeling an enormous sense of pride and accomplishment. I had achieved something that was very important to me—indeed something that would be a sense of pride for any poker player. No matter what happens the rest of my career, in the year 2006 Chad Brown was the player of the year—and in a sport like poker you rarely have a chance (even in success) to come out in first, so this was a very meaningful accomplishment.

 

But hey, 2007 was about to begin and I wasn’t ready to accept just one great year. So, it was time to prepare to defend my title, and prove that I wasn’t just a one hit wonder. My first stop in 2007 was Tunica, Mississippi. Now, Tunica is not exactly the most glamorous place on tournament trail. In fact, when some of my friends who are not familiar with Tunica asked me if there was damage there due to hurricane Katrina my response was, “Tunica is so undesirable that even Hurricane Katrina didn’t want any part of it.” But for poker, you can’t beat it. I had made the final table the year before for the

WSOP circuit which was aired on ESPN and I also cashed in their WPT main event. So I feel right at home there playing poker.

 

The first event that I played was the 5k Pot Limit Omaha event. Bam, off to a great start, finishing in 2nd place—the only problem was that I didn’t receive any BLUFF points for that. For a tournament to count in points for bluff magazine, it has to be a $5000 buy-in or bigger AND must have a minimum of 100 players. This event had 92, not quite making the 100 player requirement. Oh well, $85k wasn’t too shabby as a consolation. My performance in Tunica also gave me a boost of confidence that I was still making good decisions and should expect to do well in the upcoming tournaments.

 

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much success in either Atlantic City or at the LA Commerce WPT events. So, then it was on to a very prestigious tournament that I had been invited to play: the NBC heads up championship. This is compiled of sixty-four of the best heads-up players in the world. It is by invitation only. There is one super satellite where they give one seat away. That is the only player who gets in without an invite. It is a $25,000 buy-in. I won all of the rounds leading up to the finals where I found myself pitted up against Paul Wasicka for the championship. Paul played a great match and won the championship. I received $250,000 for runner-up… and of course, no points for player of the year (not enough players yet again!). But hey, those are the rules. Again, a nice paycheck was my not-too-shabby consolation.

 

Next, I was off to Europe to the EPT championship in Monte Carlo. This was my first time in Monte Carlo and I loved it. I have been to many cities in Europe, but this place is something special. A reporter told me that if you want to live there, you need to be worth at least $1.3 million. The only other alternative would be for you to work for the city. (Sanitation, bus driver, etc) City workers get special rates for housing, so they can afford to live there. The buy-in was 10,000 euros, which was about $16,000. They had 706 players. With 38 players left, I had a player all-in drawing dead to two outs on the fl op. If I won this pot I would have been in the top three in chips, but he hit the two-outer on the turn, and I was now shortstacked and would eventually be eliminated in 33rd place. Once again, no points. Yes, we had well over 100 players and well over the minimum of $5k buy in, but it was out of the U.S. and the only exception to the US requirement are WPT events held abroad. So, a $30k paycheck and a beautiful trip to Monte Carlo was going to be it for me… which was nice and all, but I’m trying to defend my title and I need points!

 

So, it’s back to the US to play in the $5k WSOP circuit at Caesars. This one will count for points and I need to finish high. Finally, I make the final table in a points event…but I am the short stack! I push in on the button with pocket eights only to get called by pocket nines. The cold deck seemed to turn warm when I hit an eight on the flop for a set! If this holds up I will be chip average at a pretty easy final table. But my opponent hits one of the two nines left in the deck to give him a higher set on the turn and he sends me home in 9th place (but at least I left with some points, finally).

 

I played a few events leading in to the WSOP but can’t seem to make anything happen so I begin to focus on gearing up for the Big Dance. This is my chance to get something going. During the series, I accomplished something that only two other people have done by cashing in 8 WSOP events, tying a WSOP record. I made two final tables and came 11th in another one. I almost won my 1st bracelet, coming in 2^nd to Eric Seidel in the Deuce to Seven No Limit event. I had Eric all-in three times, two of which I was a 2:1 favorite and the 3rd time we where even money. I can honestly say that I was only really frustrated for about ten minutes after the match. I feel I played my best and gave myself the best chance to win. I was very proud of my performance— even if it didn’t result in a bracelet. When you reflect on your performance and you are proud of how you played, there’s nothing to be frustrated about because that is what ultimately should be your goal. If you accomplish that, the goodies will come in time—and I try to remind myself of that during the tough times. Ultimately, my WSOP run culminated in a cash at the main event where I came in 97th place.

 

After the WSOP it was a 2 horse race for player of the year: Bill Edler who was crushing everyone had a big lead in 1st and David ‘The Dragon’ Pham was having a year that would normally make winning a walk in the park if it wasn’t for Bill Edler’s own unbelievable success. So, at that point I realized I would not be able to repeat as player of the year for 2007 even though I was having an excellent year by other measures.

 

I finished out the year with two more cashes: the WPT 10k in Biloxi and 7th place at the WPT 5k in Foxwoods. All in all, I totaled around $850,000 for the year in earnings and I managed a record at the WSOP. And the best thing of all, was that I got engaged to my girlfriend, Vanessa Rousso. As I reflect on my year in 2007, I am proud of my accomplishments. And even though I am happy with my performance, I will approach 2008 with the desire to do even better. I want to congratulate Bill Edler for winning Bluff

magazine’s player of the year 2007. He did it with a whopping 707 points, more than anyone has ever accumulated in a calendar year! He is a classy guy and he deserves it… congrats Bill!