James Brady is severely handicapped and took 4th place in a recent $1.5K WPT DeepStax for $33K. He's not just a one time luck box - the dude can play and has over $163k cashes since 2012! Very impressive and really cool to see someone over come their disability and succeed at poker. Also mad props having the balls just to go out there and play. Plus being able to compete with "normal people" will do wonders for his mental health. Assuming his Handler is his Dad or a relative is a great way to bond over an exciting activity and forget all the struggles they endure daily. He has a Handler who holds the cards and places all his bets.
What are the rules for who can be the Handler? You can fake "break both arms or any other hand/arm injury" not hard to get a doctor note if your cool with the family doc or you pay him some cash. Or if your hard core you just burn your hands a bit on purpose but not too bad. Would the WSOP really pay an independent 3rd party injury expert to examine you and reivew all medical records which prob would be a HIPAA violation to look at personal medical records. You have to wear tons of gaze and bandages - thus you would need a handler to hold cards and place bets. Then use an expert poker player as your Handler. Obv the handler is not allowed to give his input on any of the plays but it wouldn't be hard to have some simple hand signals. The handler could signal he agrees or disagrees with the players command then the player can change his mind if he wanted. Or the handler signals before the player gives his command so the player can take that advice into consideration. Simply feeling a light kick under the table 1, 2 or 3 times could mean something. Big edge having 2 good players acting as one. Plus on the breaks the handler can advise on any tells or ways to optimize his play against each player. Maybe the handler is an expert in body language and tells. Just advising the player on a few tells at the table is a huge advantage. Optimal spot for a handler is if you make a big WSOP final table. The night before you just happen to burn your hands bad so of course you need your buddy to be your handler. Also a cool way just to get your friend or maybe a hot chick model wanna be to get on ESPN just for the fun - they don't have to be a poker pro. Are they not going let you play the final table due to an accident?
An expert poker player might have trouble getting approved as a handler. But what defines an expert? Cashing $10K in tourneys or maybe $100K but who has the right to say what defines an "Expert". Maybe the handicapped person doesn't have many friends who could be his handler. Just so happens his good buddy is poker god.
James Brady is legit and I doubt his Handler gives him any edge. But this can definitely be exploited by some shady poker players.
Imagine WSOP Main Final Table has 18 people sitting at it due to everyone having their own handler! Would be amazing to have Todd sitting next to you at the Main event ( complaining about the huge $3 online event registration fee, how the RIO fail boated his room again, & how his status change has led to 0.0 free meal comps). Would rather have Fedor Holtz or Jusin Bongamo. Would the WSOP hire an expert Doc to make sure all players have a legit medical issue with their hands?
Also if the WSOP denies your handler request you can make a huge stink about them discriminating against you. I doubt the WSOP would like that negative press. Doesn't look good if the poor guy with 2 burnt hands can't play in the WSOP he always dreamed about since he was a child and saved up all his money...
If James could play online poker - he would be a great ambassador for a USA poker site if they continue to grow and share user bases. Should lock him in for a 10 year contract now on the cheap before USA poker blows up. PokerStars would get a huge return on their investment when all the news outlets are doing a heart warming stories about this guy. Many non poker players will sign up thinking - wow if this guy can play poker surely i can. Clearly he can play based on his hendon. He might not be up overall due to all the buyins but the regular public will just see total hendon cash or his total online cashes.
Only complete scum would do this, but we already know how many scammers reside in the poker community.
James IntroDuction - Fast Forward to 1:15
Final Table
Hendon results since 2012
https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/pla...p?a=r&n=260952
https://twitter.com/jamesbrady23
LOL side note - Adrew WU got 2nd for $79K but he seems like a train wreck. Looks like he got hit by a bus and just rolled out of bed!
Adrew Wu Interview - fast forward to 58 secs
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Originally Posted by Dan Druff
