Brian Hastings is experiencing the best World Series of Poker run of his life this year. He’s already captured a pair of 2015 WSOP bracelets, and is currently ranked among the top 15 chip counts going into Day 3 of the WSOP Main Event.
Hastings was among the Day 2AB participants that converged on the felt Wednesday, closing the day with 367,300 chips, putting him in the 10th spot behind current chip leader Amar Anand (603,500). Only three players finished Day 2C with a higher stack than Hastings, giving him the 14th highest stack going into Day 3.
Brian Hastings already Worth $742k at 2015 WSOP
The American poker pro from Pennsylvania is having a phenomenal year at the 2015 WSOP, already recording cashes in six events worth $742,331. Three of those were final table finishes; two worthy of WSOP gold.
Brian found ultimate success at the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, where he bankrolled $239,518 after defeating 2x WSOP bracelet winner Scott Clements. One week later, Hastings triumphed again at the $1,500 Ten Game Mix 6-Max event for $133,403, overcoming Rostislav Tsodikov in heads-up.
Hastings now has three bracelets to his name; the first coming in 2012 when he won the largest cash of his career, $371,498, at the 2012 WSOP $10,000 NLHE Heads-Up Championship.
Interestingly enough, neither of this year’s bracelet wins accounted for Hastings’ largest cash of the summer. That came with his 11th place finish in the 2015 WSOP $111,111 High Roller for One Drop, netting the elite poker pro $332,593.
Now Brian Hastings is looking forward to a deep run at the 2015 WSOP Main Event, hoping to acquire the illusive World Championship bracelet in November. But despite the presence of Lady Luck favoring his shoulder at the Rio all summer, combined with an uncanny skillset, the 26-year old will have to face the stiffest competition of all to take down the 2015 WSOP Main Event.
Notable 2015 WSOP Main Event Contenders
While Hastings is more decorated than any of his chip-count superiors, there are several highly successful poker pros trailing not so far behind.
The tournament still features half a dozen former WSOP Main Event Champions, including 2013 champ Ryan Riess (291,700), 1998 champion Scotty Nguyen (181,200), 2010 champ Jonathan Duhamel (177,400), 2005 winner Joe Hachem (148,500), 1993 victor Jim Bechtel (140,000), 1989 WSOP / 2012 WSOP Europe champ Phil Hellmuth (88,800), and 2004 winner Greg Raymer (58,400).
Although Hellmuth may be one of the lowest stacks among them, you can never count out a man who holds the record for most WSOP bracelets with 14.
Other notable poker pros in contentions for the prestigious WSOP Main Event World Championship include high-stakes tournament specialist Matt Glantz (306,000), 2013 WSOP Europe champion Adrian Mateos (285,000), WSOP bracelet winner Max Steinberg (232,700), 4x WSOP bracelet winner Mike “The Mouth” Matusow (200,700), 5x WSOP bracelet winner and 1x WPT titlist Daniel Alaei (199,800), 6x WSOP bracelet winner and 2x WPT titlist Daniel Negreanu (123,600), and 2x WSOP bracelet winner and 2x WPT titlist JC Tran (113,700).