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Grant Hinkle on His WSOP Bracelet[ return to main articles page ]

By: Dan
Published on Jun 18th, 2008
In Event #2 of the 2008 World Series of Poker, Grant “drossxyu” Hinkle conquered a 3,929 player field en route to his first ever WSOP bracelet in his first ever WSOP cash. Twenty-one tournaments later, in Event #23, his brother, Blair, took home his first WSOP bracelet. The Hinkles became the second pair of brothers since Puggy Pearson (three wins in 1973) and J.C. Pearson (one win in 1994) to win WSOP bracelets and the first to do so in the same year. This week, the PocketFives.com Podcast welcomes Grant Hinkle, whose life has been turned upside down by his World Series of Poker bracelet win for $831,462.

Winning a WSOP bracelet is a truly difficult feat, but then having your kid brother also take down a piece of hardware is downright amazing. Hinkle comments on how his life has changed as a result: “It’s been a whirlwind since it happened. I really haven’t had much time to let it all soak in. Afterwards, I hardly got any sleep. During the final two days [of Event #2], we were playing until really early in the morning. Right after I won, that’s when all of the energy started coming in. In terms of how our lives have changed, my wife and I were looking into buying a new house and, before the WSOP, we had been passively searching. A score like that certainly opens up a lot of the options that we have. The next morning, my wife was on the real estate websites doing research.” He has since put an offer in on a house.

Grant’s win came in a tournament that boasted the largest non-Main Event field in WSOP history and was the fourth largest WSOP tournament ever. On the PocketFives.com Podcast, he described a key pot that boosted his chip stack and his chances of winning a bracelet. After originally being placed at a table with PocketFiver Shannon Shorr and another talented player, Hinkle’s table was broken up after the dinner break: “I went to the new table and didn’t recognize anyone. It looked like it was going to be a pretty good situation. I had about 15,000 in chips, which was about 15 big blinds, and I wanted to double up. I looked down at A-K in middle position and made my standard raise. The guy on my immediate left called and a stack on the button three bet us. I looked at [the button’s] stack and he had a lot of ante chips, so I could tell he was a pretty active player. It folded back to me and I shoved. The guy in between us went into the tank and finally called. The aggressive guy on the button shoved in as well. The guy in the middle had pocket fives. The guy on the button had pocket queens. There was an ace in the window and I tripled up to about 38,000.” He’d finish Day 1-A in the top five in chips.

Going into the final table, you’d expect some butterflies in your stomach. After all, Event #2 was one of the largest live poker tournaments ever held. For Hinkle, there was a different nervousness: “I was more nervous about the ESPN interviews. I hadn’t done a lot of interviews and I was definitely apprehensive. I had a couple of co-workers and friends who came out to watch me. Going into the final table, I was one of the short-stacks and felt like I had nothing to lose. Everyone else with bigger stacks was talking about how they wanted to ‘get at least fifth place’ or ‘have locked up fourth place with this stack.’ If I’m a short stack looking to steal blinds, be active, and get in there, getting people to fold means I’ll win 100% of the time with no risk.”
In the moments following his win, Hinkle’s life was a blur. He commented, “The final card was dealt and it was pure pandemonium, at least for the people supporting me. For the mot part, during the entire final table, I was pretty composed. From there, the Harrah’s people drew me in every direction. They did the bracelet presentation and I did an interview with Norman Chad. Then, they take you into another room for more interviews.” I’d imagine that Grant’s apprehension towards interviews lasted all of a few minutes.

Congratulations to Grant and Blair Hinkle, WSOP champions. Listen to Grant’s entire interview on the PocketFives.com Podcast. If you’re looking for live WSOP coverage, head over to PocketFivesLive.com.
 

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