Ziebell finds success in Las Vegas
Cubicles are made for some, but Byron Ziebell is not one of them. A year into his 9 to 5 job at SVA Accountants in Brookfield, he realized this.
“I was like, man, is this what it’s going to be like until I’m 65?” Ziebell asked in the fall of 2015.
Had he stuck with it, yes. But he didn’t.
Weeks after that initial question, Ziebell, 32, left the full-time job (last year he did accounting work part-time) and returned to his true passion — playing poker professionally. This past week, the passion brought the Hales Corners native to Las Vegas, where he competed alongside 7,220 others in the World Series of Poker’s Main Event.
And unlike all but 1,083 others, including fellow Wisconsin natives David Mowery and William Gibbons, Ziebell finished in the top-15 percent and earned $17,243 with his 805th-place finish.
“It’s very exciting because I know this is something he’s always dreamed of,” said Ziebell’s wife, Stephanie.
Ziebell added: “I’d have been grateful for the opportunity if I’d have busted on Day 1.”
That day was July 8 and Ziebell was nervous walking into the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. There were cameras, it was packed and the pressure was palpable.
But as is often the case, a calm fell over him when he pushed play on a Pandora playlist, featuring his favorites of Beethoven, Mozart and other classical composers.
“It seems to be right for the setting,” Ziebell said.
In February, the setting was the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee, which housed the Circuit series.
Ziebell played 12 events in the 14-day tournament at the casino, cashed in four of them and took home a gold ring in another. The overall win earned him a spot in August’s Global Casino Championship and inspired a golf buddy to sponsor him in the Main Event.
Although he played card games with friends at Whitnall High School, Ziebell was hooked on Texas Hold’em when Chris Moneymaker won the Main Event in 2003, as were many. Moneymaker, an accountant who won a seat to the Main Event through a $86 satellite online tournament, knocked off highlytouted Phil Ivey and garnered an improbable bracelet.
Ziebell always had lofty hopes of the same after playing more and more, so after college at UW-Madison, he played professionally online from 2008-‘11. That year, online poker was shut down across the United States after the U.S. Department of Justice brought a criminal case against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker for violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
Playing live was the next step, so he took some cash to Potawatomi and began playing.
“I tried to make it work, but it didn’t,” Ziebell said. “My head wasn’t in it.”
Weeks passed and he continued to struggle, so he went to UW-Milwaukee to get a master’s degree in accounting. Ultimately, though, Stephanie could see he was not as happy.
“It sounds cliche, but I didn’t see the sparkle in his eyes every day,” Stephanie said.
Stephanie attempts to support her husband in every situation, and poker is no exception. She knew he needed to play but also to not interfere with his play this past week.
Each night, Stephanie followed the tournament’s live updates online after their two kids went to sleep. She also read the texts Byron sent to family and friends.
Although it’s now over for her husband, Stephanie is proud of his finish. Byron’s proud, too, and he believes there’s more to come.
Come August, he’ll travel to Cherokee, N.C., to play in the Global Casino Championship with the same goal in mind — to win.
And you can guarantee the same Pandora playlist will be playing in his ears.