Marc Naalden, former derivatives trader turned pro poker player, has won his first ever World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Naalden spent ten years in derivatives trading, but left the business world behind in 2005 to play professional poker.
Over the past few years, Naalden has earned the nickname ‘Needle King’. He cemented his pro reputation in event 38 of this year’s WSOP, the $2,000 buy-in limit Hold’em event, where he defeated a field of 445 other players to win $190,770.
Naalden started the final day with a strong chip lead, and, when the field was whittled down to seven, he was in a dominating position – holding more than half of the total number of chips in play. He quickly drained his opponents stacks. When the game came down to heads up play against Steven Cowley, Naalden wavered for a moment, and Cowley took the chip advantage. It did not take long for Naalden to recover his chip lead, however, and after two hours of heads up play, Naalden won the game.
This victory marks Naalden’s first ever WSOP gold bracelet, but is not his first tournament victory. So far this year, Naalden’s winnings total $444,070.
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