Gavin Griffin (born August 28, 1981, in

Darien, Illinois Darien (formerly Cass) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 22,011. A southwestern suburb of Chicago, Darien was named after the town of Darien, Connecticut. Darien is just north of I-5 ...

) 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 attended

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, Texas. Starting as an

internet 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 ...

player he successfully made the transition to live poker, and broke Allen Cunningham's record as the youngest person ever to win 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 ...

title in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, winning a $3,000

Pot Limit In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing. Different games are played using different types of bets, ...

Texas hold'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is the most popular variant of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in ...

event. Griffin lost that record the following World Series to

Eric Froehlich Eric Froehlich (born February 9, 1984, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American professional poker player, professional Magic: The Gathering player, and member of the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with ...

. In 2007, he won the Grand Final of the

European Poker Tour The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of poker Poker tournament, tournaments created by John Duthie (poker player), John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas ...

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

, after qualifying via a $240 online

satellite tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

on PokerStars.com. His victory paid him €1,825,010 ($2,434,061) which pushed him to the top of the all-time

winnings list. Other achievements include finishing 3rd in a World Series of Poker Circuit Event at Harrah's Rincon in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and finishing 7th at the 2007

Pot Limit Hold'em Championship at the

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Griffin won the Borgata Winter Open, his first

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 ...

title. With the win, he was the first player to have won a WSOP bracelet, an EPT event, and a WPT event. Only four other players,

Roland De Wolfe Roland De Wolfe (born November 30, 1984) is an English professional poker player and a former writer for the poker magazine ''Inside Edge''. After winning first prize in an event at the 2004 Gutshot Poker Festival, De Wolfe went on to cash in ...

Jake Cody Jake Cody (born 4 July 1988) is a professional poker player from Rochdale, England, United Kingdom. He entered the European tournament scene in 2010 with major wins at the European Poker Tour event in Deauville in January where he won €857,00 ...

Davidi Kitai Davidi Kitai (born 28 September 1979) is a Belgian professional poker player who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event for $244,583, becoming the first Belgian to win a WSOP bracelet. He also has won 2 other bracelet ...

, and Bertrand Grospellier, have won a title in each of these three tournaments since Griffin accomplished the feat. As of 2012, his total live tournament winnings exceed $4,800,000. His 10 cashes at the WSOP account for $442,255 of those winnings. Griffin has been active in

breast cancer awareness Breast cancer awareness is an effort to raising awareness, raise awareness and reduce the Social stigma, stigma of breast cancer through education about Breast cancer screening, screening, Cancer signs and symptoms, symptoms, and Breast cancer ...

. He won the EPT Monte Carlo with pink hair for this cause. Griffin also walked in the September 2007 and September 2009 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Long Beach, California with teammates and fiancee Amy Roberts. He credits much of his success to the support of his friends, family and fiancee.

World Series of Poker bracelets

References

External links

Card Player profileHendon Mob profileWPT profileWSOP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Gavin 1981 births American poker players European Poker Tour winners Living people People from Darien, Illinois World Poker Tour winners World Series of Poker bracelet winners