Global Poker recently crowned the winner of its Global Poker Rattlesnake Open II Tournament of Champions. Texas native Fernando Guerra won the tournament in grand style during the first week of June.
Guerra, who goes by the hilarious online moniker “KanyeTrump2020,” took home the grand prize from the tournament series. Namely, Guerra received $5000 that he may use to represent Global Poker in a live tournament of his choice.
Guerra punched his ticket to the Tournament of Champions by winning the very last tournament of the series. He took home the trophy for the $C$4,500 Guaranteed, then set his sights on the big dance.
“It was a fun tournament,” Guerra said, in a press release. “I’ve been playing a lot of tournaments, trying to win one of those trophies, or at least place in the top two. I feel super blessed and lucky!”
He went on to say that things just went his way in the Tournament of Champions.
“I was on fire the whole tournament. I threw in some skill, but you can’t win without luck too.”
Whatever mixture of luck and skill Guerra used, it worked. Guerra plowed through the ToC field in about four hours.
He has not identified which tournament he will use to redeem the prize. However, one would think that Guerra would be a heavy favorite to go deep in that contest, too.
Global Poker one of few options in Texas
The win is a bright spot for Texas poker players. The traditional home of hold’em has surprisingly few stories of homegrown poker success in recent years.
For one thing, there are precious few opportunities for online poker players in the Lone Star State. Guerra spoke highly of Global Poker as one of the few places he can play.
“I just love Global Poker,” he said. “It’s the only place I play right now.”
Texas simply is not friendly to gambling, online or otherwise. Global Poker is about the only safe option instate; the rest are offshore sites that operate in the grey market.
To illustrate, consider the fact that numerous private poker clubs have popped up in Texas. These clubs attempt to contort their business practices in order to stay within the narrow exceptions given in Texas state gambling law.
So far, the Texas attorney general has declined any sort of action on the state level. However, that hasn’t stopped local law enforcement from cracking down.
Just last month, officers shut down two Houston clubs and charged the room owners with money laundering and organized crime – both felonies. So, it’s no surprise that Guerra has stuck to Global Poker.
At this point, it’s really the only safe bet in the great state of Texas.