Matt Keikoan - WSOP Event 7 winner Bio

News / nono / 09 June 2008 / Leave a comment

The $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em champion is Matt Keikoan. He is a 40-year-old professional poker player from San Rafael, CA. Keikoan worked as a "poker prop" for about eight years before phasing gradually into the life of a working poker pro. Keikoan started out playing at Casino San Pablo in the San Francisco Bay area.

While working as a poker prop, some of Keikoan's regular co-workers included Bill Edler, Erick Lindgren, Bill Gazes, Matt Lefkowitz, and others. The poor tourists in that joint must have gotten skinned alive.

Matt Keikoan is the brother of poker pro Todd Keikoan, who lives in Las Vegas.

Keikoan attended San Francisco State University, but did not graduate. His father was interviewed following his son's victory and commented: "We were thoroughly pissed off because he left college and wanted to become a professional poker player. But, it turned out well."

Keikoan collected $550,529 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet. To date, Keikoan now has seven World Series cashes. This was his first WSOP final table appearance. However, he has finished high in several other major events.

Keikoan finished 63rd in the 2007 Main Event. That cash was worth $154,194.

Keikoan was cheered on by several poker pros, including Gavin Smith and Erick Lindgren. While Keikoan was celebrating victory, Lindgren remarked that he has been playing golf with the new champ for several years. "When we used to play golf, we would play for all the money in our pockets until the sun went down. Sometimes, we would be hitting golf balls when it was dark," Lindgren said. "Now, we can play a little higher."