Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Las Vegas, NV--The 2009 World Series of Poker $1,500 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. champion is James Van Alstyne, from Las Vegas, NV. Van Alstyne was born in Columbus, GA and grew up in New Orleans, LA.

Van Alstyne is a 42-year-old poker pro. He has been playing seriously for about ten years. Van Alstyne is a graduate of Stanford University and earned his degree in electrical engineering.

Prior to playing poker professionally, Van Alstyne worked for Martin-Marietta, the aerospace company (now Lockheed-Martin). Van Alstyne enjoys analyzing things and solving problems. He first became interested in blackjack and was a card-counter. He spent his first summer in Las Vegas playing nothing but blackjack. As blackjack games became increasingly tougher to beat, Van Alstyne gradually turned his attention to poker.

Van Alstyne became so convinced he could beat the game that he quit his job and moved to Las Vegas. Van Alstyne's first WSOP cash was in 1994, and he finished 16^th in the 1999 WSOP Main Event.

Van Alstyne came close to winning a gold bracelet many times, but this was his first win. He finished in second place in the $3,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event (#21) which concluded three days ago.

Van Alstyne can rightfully claim to be the top H.O.R.S.E. player of this year's WSOP--with a first- and second-place showing in two events.

Van Alstyne collected $247,033 for first place. He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet. According to the official records, Van Alstyne now has 1 win, 6 final table appearances, and 13 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP. Van Alstyne currently has $726,075 in WSOP winnings.

This was Van Alstyne's third final table appearance so far at this year's WSOP.

-WSOP-