Poker News: Shankar Pillai is a half million dollars richer today thanks to his big win at the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP). The New York Post reported that first-time competitor Shankar Pillai, 22, of Commack was one of more than 800 players who put up $3,000 to buy into the no-limit, Texas hold 'em poker event, a game in which there are face-up community cards for all players to use and face-down hold cards for each player.Pillai plays online poker with PokerStars.com. He began playing poker on the Internet at age 15. Read poker blogs

"I'd never played in a World Series of Poker event. I wanted to give it a shot," said Pillai, who won $527,829. "It was pretty intimidating. We played for 12 and 14 hours a day. [But] I would say I held my own." The Finance Major is using online poker to pay for his college tuition. Play route 66 poker

"I make a lot of money playing online poker," enough to pay tuition and bills and to put some into the bank, he said. "At first, he said, his parents had no clue he was a cyber card sharp, but that changed when checks started arriving at the family home with his name on them. "They didn't like it, but when they saw how much I was winning, they said it would be OK, as long as I stayed in school," Pillai said. "Now, after this, they don't think it's so bad," he chuckled. Play $500 match poker bonus

His poker hero is none other than UltimateBet's celeb poker pro Phil Hellmuth, for whom he got a chance to play with recently "It was a really good experience. Even coming in, I told myself, I really wanna play with someone who I really look up to - basically, just to see what it's like. At first it was so nerve-wracking, and I felt like he just knew what I had every single time. And I just got used to it. I'm so happy I played with the best in the world and still came out and took it down." Women poker players can maybe ask a tip or two from the new boy in poker!
Joe Bartholdi

Poker News Source: gambling 911