Bradley Jansen Wins Gold Ring Two Weeks Before Wedding
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is in Milwaukee to live report action the $1,700 Main Event, but is just one of a dozen gold ring events at the stop. As such, we thought we’d profile some of the preliminary tournaments and those who struck it big.
Event #4: $400 NLH 6-Handed saw 138 runners create a $45,540 prize pool that was paid out to the top 21 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Craig Trost (10th - $1,108), Cody Brinn (15th - $761), Ben Rock (16th - $761), Nik Stone (18th - $665), and James Pupillo (21st - $604).
Just two weeks before his wedding, it was 33-year-old attorney Bradley Jansen from West Bend, Wisconsin coming out on top to win the title, $12,605 in prize money, and his first gold ring.
“Feels so good. This is my home casino, I love this place and I always feel like I bring my A game here,” said Jansen after his win. “I play to win. I came in second place [in 2017] but chopped for $90,000 and told myself never again. I don’t care what’s up top or if its bar poker, I play to win because I love to play you know, I love the game.”
He continued: “I wasn’t even planning on playing today. I work at 7:30 in the morning and I’m getting married in a few weeks, but my fiancé told me to rip it and here we are, just seems it was meant to be.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bradley Jansen | West Bend, Wisconsin | $12,065 |
| 2 | Jason Mirza | Fitchburg, Wisconsin | $7,456 |
| 3 | Carl Felten | Richfield, Wisconsin | $5,032 |
| 4 | Chris Brand | N/A | $3,496 |
| 5 | Shane Thorne | Sheboygan, Wisconsin | $2,502 |
| 6 | Duane Gerleman | Ridgeway, Iowa | $1,847 |
| 7 | Kathryn Lovrich | Wetmore, Michigan | $1,407 |
| 8 | William Conway | Bartlett, Illinois | $1,407 |
| 9 | Michael Brunner | Madison, Wisconsin | $1,108 |