B’klyn man aces 650G poker test
A 22-YEAR-OLD Brooklyn man is flush with cash after winning a $650,000 World Series of Poker tourney in Las Vegas.
Henry Lu outlasted nearly 3,000 other players to score a dramatic, come-from-behind win in the $1,500 no-limit hold ’em tournament.
“It’s surreal,” said Lu, a Bensonhurst native who started playing poker while a student at Midwood High School.
“Winning this tournament is basically the pinnacle of anyone’s pro career. It just feels good to win one pretty early on.”
Lu was down to one chip before staging a furious comeback and outdueling British poker vet Neil Channing.
“He pretty much came out of nowhere,” said tournament rep Harry Hammel.
Lu and his Brooklyn buddies got the poker bug while watching World Series of Poker events in high school.
After graduating, Lu left town for Syracuse University to study biology. But his real major was online poker.
“I didn’t ask my parents for money at all throughout college,” Lu quipped.
He graduated in 2011 and moved to Toronto, where online poker is still legal.
Nowadays, Lu splits his time between the Canadian house he shares with three buddies and his parents’ place in Bensonhurst.
Reached several hours after his early-morning win, Lu said he still had no plans for his sudden windfall.
“Maybe buy myself something nice,” Lu said.