Look Out - Byron Kaverman

Until 2011, Byron Kaverman had only two live tournament cashes on his poker resume totaling a modest $17,000. Then this year, the 25-year-old pro broke out and has since gone on a run that includes seven final tables, one outright win and over $760,000 in winnings.

Kaverman got going in January when he won a $5,000 no-limit hold’em preliminary event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. The stacked final table included notable online pros such as Darren Elias, Alex Fitzgerald and eventual runner-up Jon Turner, but it was Kaverman who came out on top for the $320,840 first-place prize.

After one more final-table finish at the PCA, the Ohio native then turned his attention to the World Series of Poker, where he narrowly missed his first official final-table appearance of the summer, but still cashing in a $1,500 no-limit hold’em event for $38,839. He made amends, however, when he finished third in the August Florida State Poker Championship main event for $144,650.

Most recently, Kaverman headed to France to play in the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris, where he finished fourth in the main event, earning $224,359 and his third six-figure score of the year.

All of this recent success has Kaverman sitting in 17th place overall in the Card Player Player of the Year race, which isn’t too bad considering he had just two cashes to his credit prior to 2011. ♠