Steven Begleiter won’t be quitting his day job anytime soon, but after making the final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, he’ll have some extra spending money to take back to his home in Chappaqua, New York. Beglieter took sixth in the tournament for $1.6 million.
Begleiter is a Senior Principal at investment firm Flexpoint Ford in New York City. Prior to joining Flexpoint Ford, he was a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns, where he was a member of the firm’s Management and Compensation Committee. Steven Begleiter puts a good amount of time into his career, but in his down time, he enjoys playing poker with friends at a local home game, which is precisely where he earned his seat into the Main Event. Begleiter won a poker league to pay for his $10,000 seat and a percentage of his winnings will be divided among the players.
He’s described his run in the Main Event to many media outlets as “dancing between raindrops in the middle of a minefield.” Steven Begleiter survived through a field of 6,494 to earn his seat as a member of the November Nine and entered the final table third in chips with 29,885,000.
Begs! Begs! Begs!
When it’s all said and done, Steven Begleiter might best be remembered for his strident cheering section that proudly stood behind him during the final two days of the Main Event in July. A loud cry of “Begs, Begs, Begs” could be heard throughout the Amazon Room whenever he won a pot, none more deafening than when he got his last five million chips in against Tommy Vedes near the end of Day 7. Begleiter’s A-Q was well behind the pocket kings of Vedes, but an ace on the turn gave Begleiter the lead and a queen on the river gave him two pair to seal the victory and help him advance.
He had a deafening crowd during the 2009 WSOP Main Event, which panned out in the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio. Begleiter’s fans watched as their hero departed in sixth place for $1.6 million. He suffered a bad beat to end his Main Event run, as he put his tournament life on the line with pocket queens against Darvin Moon’s A-Q. Moon hit a three-outer ace on the river to send Begleiter packing and, after his elimination, the Rio was noticeably quieter.
Future in Poker
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Begleiter admitted that he is “probably a one tournament a year guy.” However, he remains a sponsored pro of Full Tilt Poker, whose logo he donned during his magical Main Event run. Begleiter has been quick to point out the similarities between poker and stock trading, telling Bloomberg, “You need to have an affinity for understanding your probabilities pretty quickly, but really your opponents are telling you stories. You either have to believe them or not. A lot of us in the investment business, we hear a lot of stories. We decide whether we believe them or not and we put our chips to work in one way or another.” He added that players like his coach, Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, would have bright futures on Wall Street.
