One of the other major tournaments going on this weekend took place in Aruba — a slightly more scenic destination than New Jersey. The $5,500 buy-in event drew 548 players, and in the end, after enduring a semi-difficult outdoor final table (complete with sun, wind, and bugs) Fort Worth\’s Travis Rice was the last player standing — winning $800,000 and providing further proof of the old adage about the success of the Dallas Cowboys being tied to the Ultimate Bet Aruba Classic.
Mean Gene was there ogling the bikini-clad following the official action, as was PocketFives. While a handful of big-name pros competed (Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Robert Williamson, Mike Matusow, Kristy Gazes, et al.), by the time this thing got to the money, the online qualifiers were clearly dominating.
Online players know Travis as \”TravestyFund\” … but some of you may remember him as a dealer at the now defunct Sixth Street. He has since turned pro, and thus far in 2007 banked nearly $1.2 million in tournament winnings. He celebrated his most recent victory by jumping in a pool.
