A lot of people think Bryn Kenney is a little bit crazy on a poker table. And that's ok with him.... Bryn (pronounced "Brin", sounds like "WIN") has a "go big or go home" philosophy. There are people who say Bryn is a bad player and criticize his play, but rest assured, he is also feared at any table. Bryn is a PokerStars VIP "Supernova", and a native New Yorker, so it all rolls right off him...He's a rock. It's all part of the game to him. Bryn's passion is poker, and he has incredible heart for the game! With considerable experience in tournaments and high-stakes limit and no-limit cash games, he has already played in two World Poker Tour Events in the Bahamas, in 2006 and 2007. In the 2006 event, he was barely past his 18th birthday.
Bryn also attended the European Poker Tour Event in Monte Carlo in March, 2006 and played at the Monte Carlo event in 2007. Bryn chopped the East Coast Poker Championships at Turning Stone, NY at age 20.
If you've never heard of Bryn Kenney, trust me, you will. Stay tuned...
 Who is Bryn Kenney?
Bryn has a "go big or go home" attitude. Everyone remembers Babe as the home run KING, but what many people do not know is that along with the home run record, Babe also held the record for most strikeouts!
- Every strike brings me that much closer to my next home run.
- Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back.
- If I'd just tried for them dinky singles I could've batted around .600.
- It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.
- I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big.
 Bryn formerly played Magic.
The dominance of Magic the Gathering players and former Magic the Gathering players in the poker world has been well documented. From the days of Chris Pikula's final table in the 2002 WSOP, to the David Williams runner up in the 2004 main event and Brock Parker's third place finish in the 2004 WSOP Limit Holdem and Thomas Kellers NLH victory, to Jordan Berkowitz record breaking win at the 2005 World Championship of Online Poker, to Noah Boeken's win on the European Poker Tour, Magic the Gathering players have been among the winningest tournament players in the world.
Over the past few years former MTG players such as T_Soprano, K_Rose, and Rabscuttle, Paluka, Bigglesworth and many others have also been among the winningest cash game players on the internet, winning hundreds of thousands of dollars and inspiring a generation of younger mtg players to move up in the online poker world, such as Jordan Berkowitz, who followed in the footsteps of his idol, former mtger and PokerStars top player William Jensen, and went on to become the Lebron James of Online Poker and online world champion.
Former MAGIC champions becoming Poker champions seems obvious. MTG players are very intelligent, detailed oriented and disciplined, so the connection may not be so magical. These are people determined to succeed and be the best at whatever they do...
Bryn has numerous friends and contacts from the world of Magic, including Jordan Berkowitz, who won the PokerStars 2005 WCOOP Main Event, Dario Minieri who moneyed in the 2006 and 2007 WSOP, Adam Levy (Roothlus) with a number of FTs, including 2 in the PokerStars Sunday million, along with numerous others who have achieved significant wins....
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Bryn receives a lot of mail from the site like this one:
Bryn, i have been watching your play alot, and i just want to say you are an extremely impressive player and your site is a very useful thing.
For fans, watching Bryn Kenney play poker is like the rush someone might get trying to land a great marlin on a deep-sea expedition, feeling the earth move and standing in awe at the awesome power of a rocket launch, seeing someone try to break a wild mustang that refuses to be broken, or maybe running a wild river on some level 5 rapids. Sound extreme? Perhaps. Sometimes it’s quite a ride, like a giant roller coaster with some pretty big ups and downs. There’s no question Bryn’s game is dramatic, and for anyone who truly loves poker, often thrilling. It's only a matter of time before Bryn Kenney achieves dramatic success in the world of poker.
Bryn's circle of friends includes virtually all the TOP players on PokerStars. In fact Bryn has played head-to-head in tournaments and the highest stakes cash games with virtually everyone on the leaderboard, as well as many other high-stakes players.
Another example of Bryn's game...
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While opportunites to compete in major live events have been extremely limited so far, Bryn has proven his ability to compete on the same playing field as the toughest, most talented players on PokerStars, the most sophisticated and elite players of online poker. While Bryn does well online, he strongly feels that his true strength is going to be in LIVE poker...
Bryn playing 1K HU match and 10/20 NL with "Elky"
Bryn's 2006 WCOOP #2 run...
Bryn's 2006 WCOOP #4 HU matches run...
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Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality....
n 1: the trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose; "a man of energy and commitment" 2: the act of binding yourself to a course of action; [syn: allegiance, loyalty, dedication] 3: a pledge [syn: dedication]
Bryn Kenney is highly committed to becoming a poker professional.
While Bryn is well aware that the vast majority of poker players are not ultimately successful, he is willing to settle for nothing less than ultimate success.
Bryn has the ambition, the tenacity, the confidence, the discipline, the perserverence, and the drive to ACHIEVE.
Bryn is a native New Yorker, and things that might bother a less confident player roll right off him. Nothing much can get under his skin. Bryn is not intimidated by anyone, even by elite amateur or even pro players.
In fact, he has said that he would be prefer to be at a table with as many pro players as possible, because then he would be at a featured table, maybe even a TV table ;-) There's no doubt the kid has CONFIDENCE!! While many players might be uncomfortable at the thought of playing live poker in front of the cameras, Bryn is not only comfortable with that, but actually seeks that opporunity.
Bryn is extremely confident in his ability to WIN. He is constantly developing his game, and knows deep inside that he has the "right stuff" to compete at the top levels of the game.
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Along with all poker players, Bryn has his target keenly set on a WSOP bracelet. For the immediate future, Bryn wants to make his living playing professional poker, traveling around the world, and playing successfully at the most elite levels of the game.
Bryn's aggressive nature is probably his biggest strength. Like they say: "the guy that bets at the pot usually wins it...."
Bryn uses his superior mathematical skills continuously while playing. He can tell you the exact number of outs he has on any given hand almost instantaneously, as well as his percentages to win on any given hand on the flop, turn and river.
While math is not everything in poker, and intuition certainly plays a large role in the game, i.e. know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, the most successful professionals use math extensively in their game. Bryn is no exception.
Bryn knows over the long term, making the right calls will win big pots, and winning big pots wins tournaments...
Bryn is also adept at applying maximum physcological pressure to opponents in his poker game. He can often get his competition to lay down the superior hands, by playing on their fears and instilling doubt in their minds.
Bryn is an expert at totally mixing up his pre and post-flop play. It is extremely difficult even for people who play with Bryn on a regular basis to put him on a particular hand. Put Bryn on a hand? Think you know what he’ll do? Can you bluff him? Will he fold, call, raise, re-raise, all-in? Good luck to ya. Here a just a few plays Bryn has actually made...
- Raise 50K pre-flop on 88
- Raise all-in on 6-2 offsuit after a 300 pre-flop raise
- As chip leader in 1K game, raise 475 on K-7 offsuit, then call an all-in with it.
- As chip leader in 1K game , re-raise 2400 after 450 raise with pocket 8s on the bubble
- Raise all-in on A-K on the bubble
- In a 1K game on the bubble, raise all-in after 600 river bet by another player into a $975 pot, with a possible straight and flush on the board
- Win a $3,277,094 pot with 3-7 offsuit
- Put his entire stack on the line 6 times in a row on the bubble. Like Stu Ungar, Bryn is FEARLESS, and knows how to put the other guy to a decision for his chips, rather than facing that same decision himself...
- Play the absolute nuts to perfection to extract maximum $s from his opponent
- Raise 15,500 pre-flop and lay it down after a re-raise
- Shove all-in except for $1 and check all the way including the river and win the hand – the other guy never put him all-in for the other $1!!
- In a 5K heads-up match, call an all-in to win the game with two aces on the board, NOT holding an ace!
Bryn doesn’t always win, but even when he loses he’s amazing to watch. He has such heart for the game. Like the rest of us, Bryn gets frustrated a lot, getting his money in with the best hand and losing to sucky beats, but he dishes out his share of bad beats as well. Bryn’s bets can be rather interesting: how do you decide to bet $7,284, $1,316, $20,010…..??
You might find Bryn playing exclusively a $30 deep-stack no-limit tourney, OR you might find him on a high-stakes binge, playing two $2K heads-up matches, a $1K 9-player, a $530 9-player, and on two 10/20, 25/50, or 75/150 cash tables all at the same time!
The depth of his game skills as they continue to develop and he continues to "perfect" his game over the next few years should ensure that his play and capabilities become even more impressive.
Bryn's PokerEdge report, which deals primarily with cash games of "known" players, defines Bryn as a Bomb, i.e. aggressive/aggressive. The report goes on to say that his aggressive nature makes the table fear him. The report shows that Bryn has a very high pre-flop raise percentage, is aggressive in post-flop play, that he is a "blind stealer", and that he wins 93.3% of big bets out of 100 hands.
Bryn is his own toughest critic and often says he would rather finish last than not make final table. Of course Bryn understands the importance of getting into the money (ITM), but for Bryn, it's WINNING that matters. To him, even his impressive WCOOP runs are "meaningless".
Bryn finished in the top 5% of WCOOP #2, and the top 4% of WCOOP #4, the biggest heads-up competition in the history of poker.
 Bryn lost to the 4th place finisher in World Championship heads-up matches. A defining hand would have left his opponent crippled. Only the luckiest river in the world could make this guy a winner against Bryn, but he stubbornly held on for that card at all costs (being pot committed with a completely dominated hand). Bryn fought his way back, and again lost where he dominated.)
Bryn is not like some players who might say "hey, those are pretty good finishes....".
For Bryn, it's Final Table finishes that count. Anything less is sheer frustration.
Bryn hears a different drummer and insists on defining his life in his own way, not simply going along with the crowd.
Bryn relayed a story of how he told his father he thought he could beat him in chess, and his dad just laughed. Having never played the game, Bryn quickly studied up on some advanced techniques. When they sat down for the match, Bryn's family, especially his father, was stunned when Bryn quickly won the chess game, applying an advanced "fork" technique.
Bryn may have big dreams, but he is firmly rooted in reality. By the time Bryn turns 21, he will have been playing serious poker with the most elite online players for more than 2 years. Bryn has the energy, the talent, the committment, the confidence, the discipline and the drive to achieve.
Enjoy the show!
It’s interesting that PokerStars chose Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum as their VIP designations, and then deviated from the precious metal theme, to define the most elite and powerful players on PokerStars in terms of a rare celestial event: Supernova (an exploding star that shines intensely). Bryn achieved this stellar status at 18 years old.
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