Josh Brikis

Despite turning to professional poker at the relatively young age of 27, the Pittsburgh-born tournament specialist already had pursued a number of different ventures. After graduating from Penn State, Josh worked in the banking industry and it was in 2003 that he was introduced to the game. After opening a pizza shop that he owned for 18 months, Josh transitioned to playing poker full-time around 2006.

His breakout year came in 2009, and Josh’s list of achievements achieved in this 12-month period ranked him highly in CardPlayer’s Player of the Year rankings. He kicked it off with a final table finish at a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Deep-Stack event in Atlantic city. The following cash he made was a runner-up finish in a WPT event, and just one month later he caught his biggest career cash to date – at the 2009 WSOP. Though Josh was not able to get his hands on the gold or seven-figure payday that was up for grabs, he did finish runner-up ahead of such veterans as Phil Hellmuth and Eugene Katchalov for a whopping $619,608. Before the year closed out, Brikis earned himself another two second-place finishes – one at a WPT event and another in December at a WSOP circuit event. Though no doubt disappointed to not claim a trophy, he earned more than $1,000,000 in a year that was Josh’s finest to date.

A year later, Brikis managed to pick up a major title after winning a WPT event in Atlantic city for a six-figure score. As of 2015, his total earnings in the live arena surpass $1.5 million.

Before Black Friday outlawed online poker for U.S. players in 2011, Josh had a ton of momentum online as well. His MTT winnings on PokerStars and Full Tilt (as ‘brikdog24’) combine for almost $1,000,000, but the American has spoken openly about how his livelihood has been impacted by the legal changes in his country. In an interview with Tim Fiorvanti in 2012, he explained:

‘I just have to wait like everyone else and hope our government realizes we can handle playing poker online and it isn’t a crime by any means . . . either way I am just along for the ride, even though it stresses me out not knowing what I will be doing in five or 10 or 20 years’.

As of late, Josh has stepped away from poker and is focusing on his sports memorabilia business.