Humberto Brenes
Lovingly nicknamed HumbertoB, Humberto Brenes is one of poker’s charismatic and most approachable players who picked up the nuances of his favorite card game at the tender age of seven!
Many people refer to Humberto as ‘The Godfather of Costa Rican Poker’ – and for a good reason, we’d say! That’s because his gaming style is so unique and difficult to pinpoint to a few strategies that this self-styled poker guru is the perfect role model for anyone looking to pitch a true entrepreneur: someone who is not scared to try out the untried and do it with passion and guts!
Humberto began his professional life an industrial engineer but furthered his latent interests by listening to his entrepreneurial spirit that guided him to try his hand at a variety of business ventures, including hotels, restaurants, construction projects, food exports, production of a TV channel besides real estate. Thus, he proved himself to be a man of many moods and as well business talents because Humberto managed to do all of these things successfully.
However, if big money is considered, it was his skill – and luck – at the poker tables that brought Humberto his major earnings. Prior to taking up poker professionally, Humberto had been an extremely advanced Baccarat and Craps player, winning many tournaments hosted in the Bahamas and even notching up tournament winnings of $300,000 plus during a craps event. So, big time tournament earnings were no way new to Humberto.
Still, it wasn’t baccarat or craps that he chose to specially focus his attention on when he did decide to turn pro: it was poker! It has stayed that way for some time now though he laughingly admits that most tourists didn’t really know how to play either of the gambling games he’d previously made money in, which was a major cause of his big wins! “It made good business sense to play baccarat and craps – the tourists knew hang about the game!”
However, since he was looking for a challenge, he turned to poker so he could pit his brains and luck against real pros.
Currently living in San Jose, California, the sunny climes suit Humberto well as he has notched up 121 FullTilt Poker cash game winnings, a majority of which contributed to his total game winnings of $5,213,128 from tournament events.
The fact that he has secured 11 first place finishes and earned 2 WSOP bracelets only underline his skilful playing style and his confidence in rising to challenges in pro matches as opposed to playing with amateurs or tourists for other major cash wins.
This 60-year-old poker player is a real family man too with 2 boys and 1 girl adding to his picture of domestic bliss with No Limit Holdem poker games coming a close second on his list of personal favorites – right after family!
Humberto had once been regarded as the most successful poker players in history, having notched up high earnings from the game, but he has earned equal attention for his flashy dressing style, table antics being a shark card protector! All these elements of his poker playing personality make him a huge hit with global fans who love the friendly manner in which Humberto draws spectators to his game – a trait that his two decade long poker career has witnessed as a particularly approachable one.
Humberto’s love for his native Costa Rica people is evident from the way in which he always takes time out to teach the game to his hometown folk apart from tutoring family members in various aspects of pro poker.