Full Tilt Poker Pro Takes World Poker Tour (WPT) Title

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Full Tilt Poker Pro Steve Brecher won first place at the 2009 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, taking home more than $1 million in prize money and his first WPT Championship title.

Brecher
  started the final table in third place, with over $2 million in chips and battled his way through the longest final table in WPT history - a record 319 hands dealt.

The key moment at the final table came during three-handed play, with Brecher all in pre-flop with A-Q versus Kathy Liebert's A-K. Though dominated, Brecher turned an Ace-high straight to win the pot and keep his championship hopes alive.

Entering heads-up play, Brecher held a better than 2-to-1 chip lead over Liebert, who would've been the first woman to win a WPT open tournament. The final hand came when Liebert's pre-flop raise met a re-raise from Brecher. Liebert called all-in with her remaining chips and showed Q-10 versus Brecher's A-9. The board fell 6-6-2-2-4, giving Brecher two pair with a better kicker and his first WPT Championship.

Brecher bested a field of 391 players, including several "Shooting Star" pros with $5K bounties on their heads.

This is Brecher's first major tournament victory. A former software programmer, his previous best finish came at the 2004 $25K WPT Championship, where he finished sixth for more than $225K in prize money. With this victory, Brecher also earns a seat at the 2009 $25K WPT Championship event.

To learn more about Steve Brecher, please visit www.fulltiltpoker.com.

"Team Full Tilt," is a select group of the world's finest professional poker players, including Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon, John Juanda, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Allen Cunningham, and Patrik Antonius who have collectively won 35 WSOP bracelets. Full Tilt Poker offers players the unique opportunity to Learn, Chat and Play poker with the best poker pros in the game.