Amid the hubbub of Phil Ivey‘s five final tables and Konstantin Puchkov‘s record 11 cashes in events at the 2012 World Series of Poker, Jeremy Ausmus quietly had an excellent performance, including being among those in contention for the Main Event’s final table in October as a member of the 2012 WSOP October Nine. He started the final table with the short stack at 9.8 million in chips, but fought to a fifth place exit for $2.1 million.

Originally from Colorado and now calling Las Vegas home, Ausmus became interested in poker through the method that many millennials did, the movie “Rounders.” After seeing the film early in the 2000s, Ausmus began his poker education through reading about the game and playing low-limit stakes in card clubs around Colorado State University, where he attended. After saving enough money, he set out for the bright lights of Sin City, but didn’t immediately jump into the games there.

Continuing his education with online poker, Ausmus became a threat in the online cash games that he frequented. He wouldn’t step into the live tournament poker world until 2008, when he picked up his first tournament cash at the Gold Strike World Poker Open in Tunica, Mississippi with a seventh place finish in a $500 No Limit Hold’em event. From that point on, the tournament poker bug had bitten Ausmus and he has been able to compile a nice stat sheet.

He earned a cash at the World Poker Tour’s L.A. Poker Classic in 2010 before heading back to Las Vegas for his first ever WSOP. He would make his first WSOP cash that year in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, but his biggest ever score would come in 2011. In “The Big Event” at the Bicycle Casino in L.A., Ausmus finished in third place for a $190,000 payday, one of seven live cashes during the year.

The 2012 WSOP was Ausmus’ coming out party. Over the seven-week span of the 2012 WSOP schedule, Ausmus was able to compile eight cashes in various events for a total of $66,144 in earnings. Through the Main Event alone, Ausmus earned more than those eight tournament cashes put together.

With 8.3 million in chips (good for 10th place at the start of Day 7), Ausmus was at a very balanced table that contained Yuval Bronshtein, Robert Salaburu, and Gaelle Baumann, which gave him an optimal chance to drive toward the Main Event final table and 2012 WSOP Octo-Nine.