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Shannon Shorr Breaks WSOP Record

Just days after celebrating his 21st birthday and legally turning poker pro, Shorr stunned the World Series of Poker by reaching two consecutive finals tables.

Shannon Shorr, the 21 year old from Tuscaloosa, Alabama is still a college student but he has now buttressed his status as the enfant terrible of professional poker, becoming the youngest competitor ever to reach a World Series of Poker No Limit Circuit Event finals table at Harrah's Casino, in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

His winning ways continued three days later, on June 16, when he copped another finals table. In both tournaments, he shadowed the winner closely, garnering 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Consequently, Shorr marked his entry into the U.S. World Poker Tour by banking an eminently satisfying $40,000.

Shannon began playing online poker just three years ago and he still does thousands of hands a day. His favourite game is No Limits Hold 'Em. The soul of modesty, Shannon could only say about his recent performance: "I have just become the first player in history to final table 2 main events before the age of 21. It's my goal to become the most highly touted player, under 22 years old, in the world."

It is unclear whether, on achieving these ambitions, the young pro might resume his Civil Engineering studies at the University of Alabama.

Underlying the age gap between Shorr and the older pro's he faces down, he yearns "(For) iPods (to) be allowed at final tables." When not competing or studying, Shannon is typical of college boys; he chills drinking and hanging out with friends.

Groping for comparisons, poker pundits reached all the way back to another boy genius, Bobby Fischer, who won the 1956 U.S. National Chess Championship at the ripe old age of 17.

Just last January, Shorr did remarkably well in his first live tournament, landing fourth at the Aussie Millions Main Event in Melbourne out of a field of 262 that made the first-day cut. He made pocketing $271,700 all the sweeter by vanquishing some notable pro's along the way.

Before returning home for his strong birthday showing, he also finished 2nd in the Canadian Poker Championship in the Bahamas for $75,000, placed a strong 5th at the March 4 Spring Poker Festival E-WSOP Trial in Vienna and a comparatively unassuming 15th at the 6th World Heads Up Championship held in Barcelona.

This Monday (June 26), Shannon goes on to take a crack at that longed-for WSOP bracelet in the prestigious World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas.

09/16/2006, Saturday
Todd Sanders

Shannon Shorr Breaks WSOP Record

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