Blair Hinkle - WSOP Event 23 winner Bio

News / nono / 16 June 2008 / Leave a comment

The winner was Blair Hinkle, from Kansas City, MO. Hinkle is a 22-year-old poker pro, who has also attended college.

Blair Hinkle is the brother of Grant Hinkle, who won Event #2 at this year's WSOP. The Hinkle Brothers became only the second tandem of brothers to win gold bracelets. The other is the Pearson Brothers - consisting of Puggy Pearson (three wins in 1973) and J.C. Pearson (one win in 1994).

The Hinkle Brothers became the first siblings in history to win WSOP gold bracelets within a single year.

"There is no rivalry between us," Hinkle said. "I was ecstatic when he won his bracelet and I know he's the same way. It's just amazing that we could both win in the same year."

Twelve days earlier, Hinkle's mother sat in the audience and watched her son Grant win his first WSOP victory. She returned to the main stage again and watched her other son, Blair earn his victory. Hinkle's mother joked afterward that she is looking forward to getting her own bracelet. While she has no aspirations of entering a WSOP tournament, Hinkle's mother did suggest that she was a sort of good luck charm for the family.

Blair Hinkle collected $507,613 for first place. This was his first WSOP gold bracelet. This marked his second time to cash. Hinkle finished in 520nd place in the 2007 WSOP Main Event (6,358 entrants). He also finished 6th at the recent Caesars Las Vegas WSOP Circuit event, a few months ago.

"The player I was worried about the most was Dustin Dirksen (who finished fifth)," Hinkle said afterward. "I made a huge jump after he busted out and I was able to really pick up my game after that."

Hinkle also wanted to point out that his grandmother taught him how to play poker (along with his brother Grant). He said hello to his grandmother in a post-tournament interview.