Brendon Rubie is a professional poker player from Sydney, Australia. He is best known for winning two major Australian poker tournaments, the Melbourne Poker Championship in 2010 and the 2012 Aussie Millions A$1,000 Opening Event. The same year Rubie came just short of his first World Series of Poker bracelet finishing second in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em – Four Handed event.
Intro
Rubie was born in 1990 in Sydney, Australia and grew up in the Central Coast urban region in the state of New South Wales, on the coast north of Sydney. He started playing poker at the age of 16 with his friends as well as at the online tables. When he turned 18, Rubie entered his first major poker tournament and won. That's when his poker adventure began.
Background
Rubie left school after year ten and went on to do music. He played in various bands for awhile and then entered a TAFE college where he did two-year music course. He then got a job as a projectionist in a movie theater. Rubie didn't have much to do during his work hours so he spent a lot of time reading poker books. Brendon grew up with five older siblings, one of whom was particularly into gambling and poker. Brendon used to hand out with his brother a lot and got used to the casino environment.
However, the one thing that triggered Rubie to start playing poker was the James Bond movie Casino Royale. After watching it Rubie and his friends hit the Sydney casinos as well as the online tables. However, the first six months didn't go too well as Rubie kept losing all his money. Eventually things got better for Rubie and he started making more money playing poker than in his day job. Then in 2008 Rubie won his first major tournament, the APPT Sydney A$700 No-Limit Hold'em event for more than $30,000.
World Series of Poker
So far Rubie has three World Series money finishes to his name. His first one came in 2011 when Rubie finished 13th in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed event for more than $30,000. Then in 2012 World Series he came very close to scoring his first WSOP bracelet. Rubie finished runner-up in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Four Handed event falling off the hand of the eventual winner Timothy Adams and taking home more than $240,000.
Brendon Rubie's Top 3 WSOP Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Four Handed | 2nd | $242,458 |
| 2011 | $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed | 13th | $31,135 |
| 2012 | $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 36th | $24,041 |
Asia Pacific Poker Tour
Rubie has a total of four APPT money finishes to his name. His best result was winning the A$700 No-Limit Hold'em event at the Sydney Big Game Poker Championships in 2008 for just over $30,000. It was also his first live tournament cash which encouraged Rubie to pursuit his poker career. He scored his best Main Event finish in Sydney, in 2010 by placing 15th and taking home almost $19,000.
Brendon Rubie's Top 4 APPT Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Sydney Big Game Poker Championships A$700 No-Limit Hold'em | 1st | A$49,140 ($31,046) |
| 2010 | Sydney A$6,000 Main Event | 15th | A$19,050 ($18,834) |
| 2010 | Macau HK$40,000 Main Event | 16th | HK$140,000 ($18,028) |
| 2009 | Sydney A$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Deep Stack | 21st | A$2,421 ($2,214) |
Australia New Zealand Poker Tour
Rubie also has a few decent ANZPT scores on his record. He won two side events in ANZPT Darwin in 2011, while a year before that he placed 3rd in the A$500 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed event in Sydney. Then in 2012 Rubie final tabled the Grand Final A$4,700 Main Event in Melbourne. He ended up finishing the tournament in 9th place for more than A$27,000 in cash.
Brendon Rubie's Top 5 ANZPT Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Darwin A$500 No-Limit Hold'em / Team Event | 1st | A$2,812 |
| 2011 | Darwin A$500 No-Limit Hold'em / Turbo | 1st | A$2,925 |
| 2010 | Sydney A$500 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed | 3rd | A$9,190 |
| 2012 | Grand Final, Melbourne A$4,700 Main Event | 9th | A$27,175 |
| 2009 | Sydney A$275 No-Limit Hold'em | 16th | A$941 |
Other Achievements
In May, 2010 Rubie won the Melbourne Poker Championship A$1,000 Main Event taking home just over $100,000 in first-place cash. Then a few months later, in September, he placed third in the A$10,000 High Roller event at the Sydney Poker Championship for almost $40,000. In January, 2012 Rubie won the A$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Aussie Millions Opening Event for more than $200,000 and then in July he finished second at the Deep Stack Extravaganza III, Las Vegas $600 No-Limit Hold'em event taking home just over $30,000.
Did you know?
- Rubie's first win in an online tournament was also his biggest one so far. In 2009 he won an event on Full Tilt Poker for $93,000.
- He managed to loose his whole bankroll of around $100,000 in just one night playing Omaha online.
