Fernando Brito

For a full-time businessman that enjoys playing poker recreationally on the side, Fernando Brito certainly doesn’t just play for the fun of it. With a clear competitive drive, he is best known for winning the EPT Player of the Year award for the tour’s seventh outing between 2010 and 2011. This accolade is given to the player that receives the most points based on their successes throughout the tour and Brito’s consistently strong performances during season 7 made him a deserved winner.

During this run, he cashed in every single EPT stop bar two – EPT Berlin and Tallinn. It included six titles, the most significant of which came in the 2010 EPT Barcelona €10,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller event which Brito won for $174,266. He beat long-time tournament veteran Juha Helppi heads-up to seize the trophy – not bad for a part-timer. He had six other final-table finishes during this streak, with his largest cash coming in the 2010 EPT London £5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event when he finished sixth for $226,910.

Outside of the EPT, the Portuguese business owner has had a great deal of success at the WSOP. With over 33 cashes and more than $630,000 earned from this series of events, he has made two final tables and come agonisingly close to a bracelet win. One year on after his EPT successes, Brito finished third in the 2012 WSOP $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event – for his largest ever live cash at $282,676. More recently in 2017, he proved that he is able to excel at games outside of NLH, for he reached the final table of the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha 8-Handed Mix event.

Given the impressive amount of volume that Fernando manages to put in at the live tables whilst still managing other businesses, it should only be a matter of time before he earns himself that much-wanted WSOP bracelet.