From College Dropout to Multiple Bracelet Winner

He lasted only one year at the University of Maryland.

Spending all of his time playing limit poker online, Brock Parker wasn’t getting much studying done. His parents were extremely worried. His friends thought he was crazy. He admits that he was a bit of a “degenerate,” but nearly 10 years later, Parker finds himself near the top of the Card Player 2009 Player of the Year standings midway through the World Series of Poker.

“My dad was trying to make me join the Army after I dropped out,” said Parker, a concept that many people might find amusing when looking at the full-bearded 27-year-old pro who has earned a reputation online with his mobster persona of “t_soprano” on PokerStars. Although there are plenty of military members who play online poker, Parker knew that the Army probably wasn’t the best fit for him.

Instead, he wanted to try to make a living playing online poker.

His decision, made in 2000, was criticized and ridiculed by most of his family and friends. After all, this was pre-Moneymaker, before anyone realized that a person could conceivably make a living playing online poker.

“My parents were pretty worried,” said Parker, especially after his online habit forced him out of school. “It’s understandable, obviously. No one knew anything about online poker. They thought I was going to get robbed. Everyone called me crazy. All of my friends told me that I was an idiot.”

His parents told him that he couldn’t stay at home if this was what he was going to do with his life. So, he told them that he’d get his own place. “They were pretty torn up about it,” said Parker, who remains very close to his parents and his two younger siblings today.

Parker was just starting to become a winning poker player when he made this decision, but he was hardly rolling in the dough. He admits that during the first half of his freshman year, he lost money. But when Paradise Poker opened its doors, he found his groove.

Nine years later, Parker had firmly established himself as one of the best players online, and a limit-hold’em specialist. But he still hadn’t won a major live tournament to gain wide recognition. That all changed this summer.

Over the span of four days, Parker won two bracelets at the 2009 World Series of Poker — one in six-handed limit hold’em, for $223,697, and the other in six-handed no-limit hold’em, for $552,745.

“I’m obviously very surprised,” Parker told Card Player TV after outlasting fields of 367 players and 1,068 players in the two tournaments. “I was surprised to take down the first one. I thought it would probably happen at some point, and then the last tournament was just unreal.”

For his first bracelet, he beat fan-favorite Daniel Negreanu heads up, preventing Kid Poker from taking down his fifth World Series event. Although Parker’s online winnings total more than $1 million, many people — unaware of his success — characterized the heads-up battle as one of “David vs. Goliath.” Parker laughed off this description, reportedly saying, “Yeah, right. Whatever.”

It’s doubtful that anyone will be underestimating Parker’s chances at a final table anytime soon. When the Maryland native accepted his second bracelet, he couldn’t help but smile.

“My mom called me last night and said, ‘Sorry for nagging you all of those times. I can’t believe it,’” Parker said, with a laugh.

Like many other top pros, Parker got his start in poker after he had already established himself in the Magic: The Gathering crowd. Magic, a collectible card game, is played by an estimated 6 million people worldwide.

“It was something to challenge my mind and be competitive at,” said Parker. “I started out just playing with friends in middle school, but then in high school, I played more competitively.”

It was at a Magic tournament that he discovered online poker.

With two bracelets in hand and a spot in poker immortality secured, Parker says that he’ll go back to the grind and see if he can rack up more Player of the Year points.

“I hope to be Player of the Year, but there are other people putting up big numbers,” said Parker. “But that’s definitely very exciting.”