Born November 27, 1983, Dan Sindelar of Omaha, Nebraska attended the University of Nebraska—Lincoln as a part of the Class of 2006. Since then Sindelar has moved to Las Vegas. Prior to his deep run in the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event, Sindelar had $335,962 in tournament winnings.

“By the time my junior year rolled around, I pretty much withdrew from all my classes,” Sindelar told PokerNews. “Started playing in casinos and everywhere I could play. Made the move to Omaha to play at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and started playing a little bit more online there. When I turned 22 I moved out here to Vegas.”

Intro

Sindelar’s deep run in the 2014 WSOP Main Event began on Day 1b when he finished the 1,428 survivors 686th in chips with 40,850. He then made it through Day 2a/b with 152,900 in chips, which put him 407 of 1,864 heading into Day 3. Just 746 players would make it out of that day, and was one of them, finishing in 132nd in chips with 421,500. Sindelar came on strong on Day 4 when he chipped up to 1.621 million, good for 17 of 291 players; however, it was on Day 5 that he finally cracked the top ten and finished seventh out of 79 players with 5.24 million. Sindelar improved upon that on Day 6 by finishing the top 27 with 16.345 million, good for the third biggest stack in the room.

“This is so much fun, I can’t really explain it right now, so much blood pumping right now,” Sindelar told PokerNews on Day 6 of the 2014 WSOP Main Event. “I’ve never played for this amount of money, so I’ve never really quite felt this feeling before. I just love it. I want to come back again next year and hopefully do the same thing.”

Day 7 saw Sindelar spend quite a bit of time in the chip lead, but things slowed down for him at the final two tables. By the time the November Nine was established, he sat fifth in chips with 21.2 million. One man Sindelar has his eye on is none other than Mark Newhouse, who made poker history by making back-to-back November Nines.

“He’s tough, he’s a tough player right there, and it’s amazing what he’s done to make it back-to-back final tables. A lot of respect for him,” Sindelar said of his opponent. Fortunately for him, he and Newhouse are seated in the eight and four seats respectively, so their positions are relatively balanced.

Background

His best cash up to the 2014 WSOP Main Event has been $105,312 for winning the 2007 Fall Poker Classic $1,000 Championship Event at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. Other tournament highlights for Sindelar include winning the 2013 Card Player Poker Tour Wynn Las Vegas Event #1 $550 No-Limit Hold’em for $60,000; a 13th-place finish for $44,110 in the 2012 WSOP Event #57 $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed; runner-up in the 2013 WSOP Circuit Caesars Palace $365 No-Limit Hold’em Reentry for $31,523; and 27th in the 2012 WSOP Event #46 $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $20,327.

“The games have been getting tougher, but I don’t really play as much as I used to, so I just kind of relax,” Sindelar said of the Vegas games. Indeed, Sindelar admits he’s been playing more on the golf course than he has on the green felt.

Sindelar ultimately finished in seventh place in the 2014 WSOP Main Event for $1,235,862.