Oh Hinkle, Where Art Thou?

The poker industry has seen its share of familial success. Most notably, you have poker legend Doyle Brunson and his son, Todd. Both are World Series of Poker winners, and not surprisingly, both are considered by many to be among the best in the game. Throw into the mix another father-son combination in Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok, and it becomes clear that at least in poker, the apple tends not to fall far from the tree. Sibling success stories are nothing new, either, as brother-sister duo Howard Lederer and Annie Duke quickly became household names with their performances in the 2003 Tournament of Champions. In fact, just last season, Danny and Zvi Shiff turned heads as they simultaneously cashed in back-to-back WPT events.

So, what makes the Hinkle brothers, Grant and Blair, so darn special? Well, it could be that they are the only two brothers, let alone relatives, to have won gold bracelets during the same year at the WSOP. But the real reason, the real truth of why players on the tournament circuit have stood up and taken notice, is that they know the Hinkles are just getting started.

Going Pro - Embracing the Set-Your-Own-Hours, Be-Your-Own-Boss Lifestyle

It's early August and Grant Hinkle is back in Las Vegas for the first time since the WSOP. He tried to stay away, and even insisted after winning his bracelet that his taste of success wouldn't change anything and business would go on as usual with his marketing job in Overland Park, Kansas. But the allure of the lifestyle afforded to a poker player has proven to be too tempting to resist, as the 28-year-old has recently decided to join his younger brother Blair on the tournament circuit as a professional.

Grant's $830,000 score in the then fourth-largest live poker tournament of all time remains as the only cash on his resume, but it is clear that in a family full of poker players, he was the catalyst for a childhood, and later adulthood, full of games and endless competition among the Hinkle brothers.

"Everyone in my family wants to win at all costs, so the competition level was always very high," said Grant. "As the oldest brother, I remember inventing hundreds of different games to play against my younger brothers. The great thing about inventing games is that you can change the rules if you need to in order to win. I'd say every fight that I ever had with my brothers was caused by some sort of competition that we were engaged in."

With six years separating Grant from 22-year-old Blair, the "annoying little brother" factor could have posed a threat to any chance of a parallel in their demeanor. But as Grant points out, he and Blair are easily the most alike of the four Hinkle brothers.

"Blair and I are probably the closest in terms of our interests and what we excelled at in school," said Grant. "I was always in the higher- level math classes in high school and he went one step further by being bussed to a local college for math during high school, because he already had surpassed the available curriculum. Blair being the oldest of my younger brothers also meant that he was usually the guinea pig for the games I would make up. I think that played a big part in his competitiveness and his ability to think strategically at an extremely high level, because he was always at a disadvantage while growing up, competing against an older brother who had no problem changing the rules on him at any given moment."

Getting Serious About the Game and Grandma's Tough Love

Still, Grant may have held all the cards while growing up, but only because he realized at an early age that mercy has no place at the poker table. His lesson in the desire to ruthlessly win at all costs came from an unlikely source - his grandmother. "Our Grandma Sue always used to break out the cards at family gatherings and teach us all sorts of card games," remembered Grant. "She wouldn't let any of her grandchildren win, either, so we really had to learn the ins and outs of the games to compete with her and her 50 years of experience."

After the poker bug had firmly bitten Grant, he began to pick up the intricacies of the game, first by sweating his father in a monthly home game when he was 9, and then by playing and winning in a dealer's choice game in middle school. After Grant began to win consistently in limit hold'em games after college, Blair took notice and began to study the game himself.

The stars aligned and Blair was pushed by yet another determining force, University of Missouri roommate James "mig.com" Mackey. As Mackey tore up the online world, Blair logged on as "blur5f6" and joined the ranks. "James got me started in poker about three years ago," said Blair. "I guess the fundamentals of my game all came from [James], so I really owe him for that." Along the way, Blair's bankroll ballooned from $30 to more than $100,000. Blair quickly joined his roommate as one of the more respected players in the online community, taking down a Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) event in the process for nearly $150,000. (Grant also won an event, a limit hold'em tournament in the inaugural FTOPS, playing as "drossxyu.")

Taking it Down - Different Approaches Yield the Same End Result

After he "aged legal," Blair turned his attention to the live tournament circuit in the States. He burst onto the scene in a loud way, despite his quiet, reserved manner. After cashing in the 2007 WSOP main event, he came close to making two World Poker Tour final tables by going deep in the L.A. Poker Classic (finishing 11th) and the Bay 101 Shooting Star (24th). A month before the 2008 Series, he made the final table of the WSOP Circuit event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and no doubt was riding high and poised to put the Hinkle name on the map at the WSOP. Little did he know that Grant would strike gold in his first opportunity, followed 11 days later by Blair's own dominating performance.

Strike that. The word dominating doesn't do his performance justice. The fact is that Blair took over, owned the table - "pwned," even. He was stuck in overdrive for the duration, out-aggressing fellow online player Dustin Dirksen and seasoned veteran Chris Bjorin en route to the Hinkles' second bracelet. It didn't matter if he was in early position or if there was a raise in front of him; he just sat calmly and stone-faced as he put in yet another raise with his tall stacks of green and orange chips. His never-wavering fearlessness at the table, despite all the pressure to follow in his older brother's footsteps, is the main difference between his maniacally aggressive game and Grant's, who sometimes opts for a gear or two lower than insane. "Blair is just so relentless, and so aggressive; he just keeps applying pressure," said Grant. "I'm talking to him about different situations, and it's hard to get comfortable with some of the stuff he's suggesting. But there is definitely a method to his madness."

Blair's "madness" already has impressed many on the tournament circuit. "I guess I'm one of the most aggressive players in live poker, sometimes even spewy, so I need to get better at slowing down at times," said Blair. "Grant definitely has a better image than me. I am always wearing hoodies and looking like a typical 'Internet kid,' which means people already assume that I will play aggressively. Grant wears business casual clothing, and he said that he doesn't really get reraised that often, allowing him to get away with a lot of small pots."

So, the obvious question remains: Who is the better player? With careful reserve and humility, Blair answered, "I'm not sure: if we play no-limit, I think I might have an edge on him, but if we play limit or stud or anything else, he's much better at those games than I am. He would crush me in limit hold'em, for sure."

The Family's Concern - Anything Grant Can Do, I Can Do Better

The heads of the Hinkle household were not too concerned when Grant began to play seriously, because he already had graduated from college and held a full-time job. It also helped that he could provide meticulous notes and numbers as he progressed and moved up in limits. As his wife, Kim, joked, "He keeps spreadsheets on his spreadsheets."

Blair was another story. As his mother, Lynn, recalls, Blair's decision to forego his senior year of college and take his chances as a professional worried her, as they would any concerned American parent. "With Blair, I worried more about his poker playing online, because he originally was a chemical engineering major, with a very demanding curriculum. While Blair has always been especially gifted, it was my fear that he would neglect his studies and be swept away by the poker phenomenon, to the detriment of his degree and future career. Now, I realize that my fears about poker as a career were based on a lack of understanding about what it takes to be successful, and I was influenced by the stigma associated with gambling. Having watched two final tables for the first time in my life on June 4 and June 14, I came to appreciate the intellect, skill, psychology, poise, courage, strategy, and talent it takes for my sons to play at that level. I admire them and respect their talent, and know that the skills they are employing to be successful at poker are the same skills a major Wall Street investment firm might seek, or an entrepreneur would need to achieve greatness."

Waiting Their Turn - There's More Hinkle Where That Came From

Grant and Blair are both well aware of their accomplishment, but their never-ending modesty forces them to shrug off the notion that the Hinkle family could one day become a staple of the poker world. Lynn, however, has allowed herself to envision such a possibility, especially with younger sons Taylor, age 20, and Mason, age 18, beginning to pick up the game themselves.

"Unfortunately, I made the mistake of telling a couple of reporters after Blair won that the youngest two brothers, Taylor and Mason, wouldn't be interested in following in their older brothers' footsteps," said Lynn. "Perhaps I spoke too soon. [In late July,] while on a family vacation together on Hilton Head Island, I came back from the beach to discover Mason on his laptop in a heads-up match for $200. Grant was on his right and Blair was on his left, both offering advice. I actually videotaped Mason's victory as the bracelet brothers coached him along and then high-fived each other when he won in record time. Then, Taylor admitted to me that he too had won a small-stakes tournament online. 'Oh no,' I thought. But then again, maybe the designation given by the WSOP marketing team to the Hinkle brothers will become the family franchise. 'The First Family of Poker' … it certainly has a nice ring to it."

While that title is still a few years and, frankly, a few wins away from becoming a reality, with two more Hinkles waiting in the wings, it certainly wouldn't be too farfetched to imagine. Regardless of what becomes of the Hinkle family and their stable of poker savants, the mark they made on this year's WSOP won't soon be forgotten, as they took center stage and became the highlight of a Series full of firsts.

Of course, sibling rivalry doesn't come to a halt just because two brothers reach a milestone so early in their careers. When asked what he thought of his big bro turning pro, Blair half-jokingly responded, "I think it sucks that there will be another good player in all the tournaments that I play."