Brian Townsend (born 1982) is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player. He graduated from the

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

and played Lock for UCSB's 2005 league championship

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

team.

Biography

Townsend is largely known for his success playing no limit hold 'em and pot-limit omaha at

Full Tilt Poker Full Tilt Poker is an Irish online poker card room and online casino that opened in June 2004. Formerly privately owned by Tiltware, LLC and later by the Rational Entertainment Group, the site was acquired by The Stars Group (then known as Amaya ...

, playing under the nickname 'sbrugby.' Townsend began playing

online poker Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a huge increase in the number of poker players worldwide. Christiansen Capital Advisors stated online poker revenues grew from $82.7 million in 2001 t ...

at $0.50/$1.00 blinds but gradually moved up in stakes, eventually becoming a regular player in some of the highest stakes games online. By the mid to late 2000s, Townsend was among the most highly respected professional online poker players in the world. Townsend appeared on season 3 of GSN's ''

High Stakes Poker ''High Stakes Poker'' is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ran f ...

''. He also appeared on NBC's

Poker After Dark ''Poker After Dark'' is an hour-long poker television program that originally aired on NBC, premiering on January 1, 2007.

and won $120,000 by beating

Doyle Brunson Doyle Frank Brunson (August 10, 1933 – May 14, 2023) was an American poker player who played professionally for over 60 years. He was a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) List of World Series of Poker Main Event champions, Main Event champi ...

heads up. After considerable success in playing high-stakes games, he was featured on the front cover of the August/September 2007 issue of

Cardplayer Magazine Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position. Position Games of Anglo-American origin In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...

and November 2008 issue of Inside Poker. Although better known to be a heads up and short handed specialist online, Townsend has participated in several live tournaments, including an

in the money ''In the Money'' is a 1958 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on February 16, 1958, by Monogram Pictures, Allied Artists Pictures and is the 48th and final film in the series. It ...

finish at a

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the ...

no limit hold 'em event, and a 10th place finish at a

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...

circuit event. In 2014, Brian Townsend played at the World Series of Poker (for the first time since 2011) and finished 170th out of 6,683 players for a $44,728 payday. In December 2009, Townsend was accused of sharing hand histories with professional poker players, Cole South and

Brian Hastings Brian Frederick Hastings (23 March 1940 – 7 October 2024) was a New Zealand cricketer. A middle-order batsman, he played 31 Test matches between 1969 and 1976, scoring four centuries. He played first-class cricket for Wellington, Central Dis ...

. Since Black Friday Brian has spent less time playing live tournaments, and more time playing online. He prefers playing online poker, over the limelight of live tournaments. He regularly participates in road running races and triathlons. As of 2017, Townsend's total live tournament winnings exceed $460,000.

References

External links

Hendon Mob profileWSOP profilePokeronamac.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Brian American poker players Poker After Dark tournament winners 1982 births Living people University of California, Santa Barbara alumni