Poker newcomer, Joe Pelton, made his second million dollar Texas Hold'em poker tournament in less than 2 months.
Pelton placed an impressive 3rd on Friday evening, October 20th, in the World Poker Tour Festa Al Lago Championship held at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, bagging $292,000 at the event.
While he didn't walk away with the $1.1 million 1st prize, Pelton was the only amateur player at the final table, which is a feat in itself. Pelton held a $1.3 million chip lead over the 5 other players.
"It was tough the first time I went out to one (of these big tournaments), I was pretty intimidated by some of these big name players," said Pelton. "Once I played with a few of the big name players and saw how they played, I realized they're just guys playing cards and they make mistakes."
In September, Pelton bagged his first World Tour of Poker title and the cool $1.6 million that came along with it, at the 2006 Legends of Poker Championship at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California.
Pelton has always had a knack for numbers, a big help for someone aspiring to make a name for himself in the world of poker games. However, his mom thinks that there's something else on his side, stating, "You can't win one of those tournaments without a little luck".
Pelton says that he does not plan on dropping his day job as a business systems analyst at an insurance company in Newport Beach, California, even after winning almost $2 million in barely 2 months.
02/13/2007, Tuesday
Sherry Barlow