Final Table Bios: Seat 5, Darus Suharto (12,520,000)

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Self-proclaimed amateur poker player Darus Suharto appears to be following in the footsteps of 2003 WSOP Main Event Champ Chris Moneymaker. Both Suharto and Moneymaker are accountants by trade and both earned entry into the big one via satellites on PokerStars. Strangely enough, when Suharto began playing poker in 2005, he had no idea who Moneymaker was:

“I've got to be honest with you… When I began playing in 2005, I didn't know anything about the WSOP. I didn't know anything about Moneymaker. I joined PokerStars, and saw this "WSOP.” I asked, "What is this WSOP?" So I researched the WSOP, and saw it was, like, the biggest tournament. I just tried to satellite and I won the seat, and people said stuff about this Chris Moneymaker. So I looked up this Chris Moneymaker, and I went "Oh my gosh, he turned $39 into $2.5 million."

The ‘seat’ Suharto refers to in the preceding snippet from a recent PokerNews interview was a buy-in to the 2006 WSOP Main Event in which he finished 448th place, scoring a $26,389 payday. No doubt a commendable accomplishment, though it pales in comparison to the $900,670 he’s already guaranteed to win in 2008. What’s more impressive is that Suharto earned his seat to this year’s Main Event via an $80 satellite on PokerStars and could potentially turn it into $9,152,416 – Chris who?

Whilst not playing poker, Suharto’s favorite hobby, the 39-year-old works as an accountant in Toronto, Canada. Suharto completed his undergraduate work at both York University and the University of Central Arkansas and then went on to earn an MBA from Indiana University. Were he to win the nine-million-dollar grand prize, Suharto said he would likely continue his career as an accountant, though he admits he’d upgrade his apartment in Vancouver. “Let's see what happens and I'll make up mind later on.”

This “quiet assassin” enters the final table sixth in chips with 12,520,000.

Tags: Darus Suharto