Uh! Bumped. - N

ESPN has poker headlines, so why not Bruinsnation? :P  I was shocked to realize that I'm a friend of a friend of James (Jimmy) Gorham, a current UCLA student who won his first bracelet in the World Series of Poker about 2 weeks ago (I found this out through facebook, funny huh :P)  Here's part of an interview from Pokerlistings.com:

You look pretty calm, how are you feeling right now?

I'm a calm guy in general, but I'm definitely not calm right now. I'm shaky, and I've got a lot of adrenaline going through me. I don't know if I'm hungry or tired or what.

What does it mean to you that you won a WSOP?

I'm not sure. It means my bankroll is a lot bigger, so I can probably travel and play in some big tournaments and try to have some fun. I'm 21 and this is a lot of money, if I manage it right this opens a lot of doors for me for the rest of my life.

Whereabouts are you from?

I'm from San Diego originally, but I'm now going to UCLA.

What kind of poker experience do you have?

Well, I'm a poker professional besides being a student. I'm mostly an online player. I play 20 to 30 hours a week. It's how I've paid my way through school, and I've gotten extra money on top of that. It's also how I've paid for all my WSOP entries.

Click the link to read the full thing. Pokerwire.com also describes how the last hand went down:

Heads-up play lasted seven hands.

Hand #117 - James Gorham limped, Osman Kibar raised to 90K, and Gorham called. The flop came 10 6 6, Kibar bet 150K, and Gorham called. The turn card was the 7, Kibar moved all in, and Gorham called. The players showed:

James Gorham 76
Osman Kibar KK

The river card was the Q, and James Gorham won the hand -- and the bracelet -- with a full house (sixes full of sevens). Osman Kibar finished in second place, earning $420,870.

Damn nice hand. Prior to this Jimmy could be found playing shark at the official dorm poker nights, but maybe not anymore :P  $792,289 is a buttload of money.  It took him 15 or 16 tries to finally cash in though, costing about $1-2k each time, so it wasnt without some initial struggle.  Like he says though, he pays for school AND the tournies with online winnings, so he was doing something right before he exploded with this big win.  That's pretty damn cool.  Go Bruins!