Perrins win WSOP bracelet after learning how to play on YouTube

Sometimes you hear stories about poker players being bored and entering tournaments in games they've never played before. But rarely do you see a player who does that go out and win a World Series of Poker bracelet in that event.

If you're name is Matt Perrins, apparently all you need to know about 2-7 draw lowball (no-limit) is what you can learn in 30 minutes of YouTube viewing to do just that.

Perrins defeated a field of 275 hardcore lowball enthusiasts in the $1,500 2-7 draw lowball event to claim his first WSOP bracelet and $102,105.

Before taking his tournament seat, Perrins had to familiarize himself with some rules and basic strategy of the game. Since there aren’t too many tutorials out there on mastering No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Lowball, he turned to YouTube. That’s right, YouTube – the site famous for music videos, pranks, and pet tricks.

Apparently, Perrins found a YouTube link that must have included some pretty good material. He watched what he estimated to be a total of 30 minutes of video, and a short time later, he owned a WSOP gold bracelet.

Sick. Amazing. Absurd. Ridiculous....take your pick of adjectives. But the reality is – the best single-word description would be IMPRESSIVE.

Indeed, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

"During day one and the first three or four hours, I was not sure what was going on," said Perrins. "I was getting into a few hands, and I was not sure what I should do here. So, I ended up speaking to some of my mates. I started to pick it up. As the tournament got deeper, it was kind of similar to Hold’em as in where being aggressive and three-betting will get you a lot of chips. That’s where I started moving toward the final table.”

Perrins’ account of his inexperience playing the game was reminiscent of at least two legendary poker accomplishments. Jennifer Harman famously declared that she had never played the game, after winning the $5,000 buy-in version of this game in 2000. She took a five-minute course from another player moments before the action began and ended up winning her first of two gold bracelets.

A similar story occurred in 1980 when Stu Ungar won the WSOP Main Event Championship. That was only the second time Ungar had played in a No-Limit Hold’em tournament. The runner-up that year (Doyle Brunson) quipped afterward that he was astonished by Ungar’s ability to learn so much so quickly and pick up things about the game as he went along. Undoubtedly, Perrins’ victory in this tournament (with a much larger field size) will entice some comparison.

Another fact to file away in the "truth is stranger than fiction" category: Perrins is from a tiny town in England called Rochdale. Also from Rochdale? Jake Cody, who won the $25,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold'em title last week.

The runner-up was Chris Bjorin, the amiable gambler from London. Bjorin owns two WSOP gold bracelets and ranks sixth on the all-time list of WSOP career cashes. Unfortunately, he just missed what would have been his first WSOP victory in 11 years. With the cash, Bjorin moved into a sixth-place tie with Humberto Brenes for most career cashes at 59, and ranks 10th for most career final tables at 25.

Robin Rightmire, from Glenwood Springs, Colo., was third, while well-known poker pro and ESPN "Inside Deal" commentator Bernard Lee from Wayland, Mass., finished fourth.
Thomas Fuller, from Boulder, Colo., was fifth, Josh Brikis, from Pittsburgh, Pa., was sixth, and former gold bracelet winner Jason Mercier, from Davie, Fla., was seventh.

Other former WSOP bracelet winners who cashed in the event included Dan Kelly (11th), Rami Boukai (13th), Greg Mueller (18th), Dario Alioto (20th), Eli Elezra (25th), and “Captain” Tom Franklin (28th).

Attendance increased 10 percent from last year’s turnout when there were 250 players. The overall trend at this year’s WSOP thus far has been a slight increase in attendance in tournament participation and a large increase in action both in cash games and satellites.

Tournament summary by Nolan Dalla, WSOP Media Director, reprinted by permission.