Humberto Brenes (; born May 8, 1951) is a Costa Rican professional poker player. Brenes currently resides in

Miami Lakes, Florida Miami Lakes is a suburb of Miami, an incorporated town and former census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. US Census, 31,628 people live in Miami Lakes. History The development was constructed by Sengra (now the ...

with his wife (Patricia) and three children (José Humberto, Roberto, Jessica). Brenes began his gambling career playing

baccarat Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score ...

, but later made his way into poker. He started to play

tournaments 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 ...

in 1974 and became a regular tournament player in 1988. In 1988, he made the final table of the

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 Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...

(WSOP) main event, finishing in fourth place and winning $83,050. He has collected two WSOP bracelets, cashed 72 times at the WSOP and made three

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 f ...

final tables. Brenes's two bracelets came at the

1993 World Series of Poker The 1993 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a series of poker tournaments held at Binion's Horseshoe. Poker professionals Phil Hellmuth and Ted Forrest would both win three bracelets during the 1993 Series. Preliminary events Main Event There ...

in limit Texas hold 'em and

pot limit Omaha Omaha hold 'em (also known as Omaha holdem or simply Omaha) is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards and must make their best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five ...

. He tied with Phil Hellmuth, Jr. for highest number of money finishes (eight) in the 2006 WSOP. He also finished first, winning $502,460 at the

Jack Binion Jack Binion is an American businessman. Binion is the son of casino magnate Benny Binion and worked for his father at Binion's Horseshoe, a casino and hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Biography Binion became president of the Horseshoe in 1963 a ...

2002 World Poker Open, beating

Erik Seidel Erik Seidel (born November 6, 1959) is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada, who has won nine World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title. In 2010, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. Early lif ...

heads up. Brenes's unique dress makes him easy to spot at tournaments, as he tends to wear bright tracksuits, two pairs of glasses, one on top of the other, and a visor. He uses a toy shark as a card protector, the origin of his nickname. A relentless self-promoter, the bright tracksuit and toy shark are consistent with Brenes' ostentatious personality; he will often use the shark to belittle his opponents, thus gaining himself more time in front of the cameras. He is also known for singing during hands. He also is a member of

Team PokerStars A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

. Brenes plays under the screen name "HumbertoB". Two of his brothers, Alex Brenes and

Eric Brenes Eric Brenes is a Costa Rican businessman, farmer, and poker player who won a World Poker Tour championship. He is the brother of professional poker players Humberto Brenes and Alex Brenes. Brenes began playing poker with family and friends in C ...

, have won World Poker Tour titles. In 2006, Brenes finished 36th in the

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

in a field of 8,773 and then in 2007, Brenes cashed

in the money In finance, moneyness is the relative position of the current price (or future price) of an underlying asset (e.g., a stock) with respect to the strike price of a derivative, most commonly a call option or a put option. Moneyness is firstly a thr ...

again in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event Championship, placing 83rd out of a field of 6,358 players, winning $82,476. Brenes was eliminated by

Hevad Khan Hevad Khan (born January 25, 1985) is an American professional poker player, best known for making the final table at the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, where he finished in sixth place. Competitive Gaming Khan began on the competitive ...

. In the hand Brenes with approximately 1,500,000 in chips had raised to 85,000, Khan then re-raised to 205,000, Brenes in dramatic fashion then went all-in holding and was instantly called by Khan who held pocket Aces, one of which was a spade. The board came 3♠ 5♠ K♠ 10♠ giving Khan the ace high

flush Flush may refer to: Places * Flush, Kansas, a community in the United States Architecture, construction and manufacturing * Flush cut, a type of cut made with a French flush-cut saw or diagonal pliers * Flush deck, in naval architecture * Fl ...

. However, with the 83rd-place finish, Brenes made WSOP history with the largest number of Main Event players outlasted in a two-year span with 15,012. As of 2013, his total live tournament winnings exceed $6,000,000. His 72 cashes in the WSOP account for $2,264,333 of those winnings, which he takes credit personally but also attributes greatly to his mentor and coach, Andrés ''"El Pemorado"'' Calderón. Humberto Brenes has been selected among the 10 finalists to enter the hall of fame of poker 2013.http://www.wsop.com/news/2013/Sep/4559/TEN-FINALISTS-FOR-2013-POKER-HALL-OF-FAME-UNVEILED.html Ten finalists for 2013 Poker Hall of Fame unveiled

World Series of Poker bracelets

Notes

External links

Official siteTeam PokerStars profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brenes, Humberto 1951 births Living people Costa Rican poker players World Series of Poker bracelet winners People from San José, Costa Rica People from Miami Lakes, Florida