Wyckoff Native Wins $1.6 Million Payday in Poker Tournament

Cha-Ching!

That's the sound likely reverberating through the head of Gregory Brooks, a 23-year-old Wyckoff native and professional poker player who's $1.6 million richer after winning The Los Angeles Poker Classic on March 4 with a pair of 7's. 

Brooks outlasted a field of 681 players winning $1,654,120 of the $6.5 million prize pool. Hosted at Commerce Casino in Commerce, CA, the LAPC is widely considered among the toughest fields at any WPT event. Brooks crushed a final table featuring a former Online Player of the Year and two World Poker Tournament champions.

“I am pretty happy,” Brooks told the Wyckoff Patch. “I consider myself a perfectionist and I took a couple of days off after winning to enjoy myself.”

Brooks said he got into poker playing for donuts...literally He and his friends would play to test their skills against the other with nothing on the line more than pastries.

“We wanted to see who had the best strategy,” he explained. “The point of it was to see who could win, but it was nice when the loser bought Dunkin’ Donuts.” 

Brooks then went to Wake Forest University where he pursued a degree in communication and entrepreneur studies. There he discovered playing online poker and set up an internet poker training business which he sold in 2009.

However, in recent years he returned to table poker.

“I prefer the challenge of playing people face to face,” he said. “I liked the internet, but it was a nice change of pace.” Brooks explained that he enjoys the challenge of pitting his strategy against a table of opponents and trying to get into their heads.“I will sit there and look for tells,” he said. For example, if a player is holding a winning hand, he watches to see their eye movement, the way the opponent may tap their fingers.

When asked about gambling addiction, Brooks well understands the addictive nature of the game. He explains that he doesn't only play only for money, but also to match his skills against an opponents. His "day job" is his  internet businesses.

“People hire me to help their companies make money on the internet using Twitter, Facebook or Flickr,” he said. “We come up with ways to get their companies mentioned in search engine programs.” 

But when time allows, he enjoys hopping the globe playing cards. “I have been able to travel all over the world and the United States playing in poker tournaments,” he said. “I spent a couple of days at the tables and spend another few days seeing the world.” 

Yet no matter how far he travels, Brooks said Wyckoff still holds a special place in his heart. “I grew up in Wyckoff and I remember going to Dairy Queen and eating ice cream,” he said. “They had a single arcade game and I would play that a lot,” he said. “I spent a great deal of time hanging around Boulder Run.” 

For now Brooks is hanging around Las Vegas waiting to play in the next tournament. “I am hanging around by the pool side at the Wynn Hotel,” he said with a laugh. “It’s great.” 

To find out more about Brooks, visit him on Facebook here.