Gavin Griffin (born August 28, 1981 in

Darien, Illinois Darien 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-55 and Historic U.S. ...

) is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player. He attended

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, 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 Allen Cunningham (born March 28, 1977) is an American professional poker player who has won five World Series of Poker bracelets. Career Cunningham studied civil engineering at UCLA before dropping out of school to play poker professionally. ...

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

title in 2004, 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 one of the most popular variants 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 fac ...

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 h ...

. In 2007, he won the Grand Final of the

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

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, after qualifying via a $240 online

satellite tournament A satellite tournament is either a minor tournament or event on a competitive sporting tour or one of a group of such tournaments that form a series played in the same country or region. Poker A satellite tournament in poker is a qualifying event ...

PokerStars.com PokerStars is an online poker cardroom that was a part of The Stars Group until it was sold to Flutter Entertainment on May 5, 2020. It can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for the Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It is the larg ...

. 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 The World Series of Poker Circuit is a series of poker tournaments held annually at a variety of casinos since 2005 as a build-up to the World Series of Poker (WSOP). All Championship events are competed in no limit Texas hold 'em; preliminary ev ...

Harrah's Rincon Harrah's Resort Southern California (formerly Harrah's Rincon) is a Native American gaming casino and hotel in Valley Center, California. It is owned by the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians and operated by Caesars Entertainment. Hotel rooms The h ...

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and finishing 7th at the 2007

Pot Limit Hold'em Championship at the

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

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 fi ...

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 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 the $1,000 No Limit even ...

, Jake Cody,

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 Bertrand Grospellier (; born 8 February 1981 in Melun), also known as ElkY , is a French poker player and former '' StarCraft: Brood War'' and ''Warcraft III'' esports player. He has won a World Poker Tour (WPT), a World Series of Poker (WSOP ...

, 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 raise awareness and reduce the stigma of breast cancer through education on symptoms and treatment. Supporters hope that greater knowledge will lead to earlier detection of breast cancer, which is associ ...

. 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

Notes

External links

{{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