Owen Messere: A Chess Prodigy Turned Poker Wizard

Faraz Jaka and Owen Messere are all square in the early goings of their heads-up duel, with each player trading pots.

Recently, Jaka took in a 160,000 pot after his turn bet of 80,000 on the 5♣5♠9♣6♣ board folded out Messere, the following hand, Jaka raised to 20,000 from the button before folding to Messere's 88,000 three-bet.

Many poker fans will be familiar with Jaka, a notable name in the poker world but many would be forgiven if they hadn't heard of Messere before, so here's some info about the upcoming star.

A poker player known for his expertise in heads-up cash games, Messere was originally a young chess prodigy competing internationally. He transitioned to poker, where he quickly climbed from micro stakes to high-stakes games, playing up to $5,000 No-Limit Heads-Up (5KNL HU). His screen name, "pr0digy," reflects his swift rise in the poker world.

One memorable moment in Messere's career was during a heads-up match against poker star Doug Polk at The Lodge. In a hand where Owen mistakenly thought he had a flush, Polk kindly returned his share of the pot.