Brandon Moran

Birthplace
Pottsville, PA

Hometown
Chicago, IL

Birthday
January 10

Total Winnings
$135,900

Brandon Moran was born and raised in the small town of Minersville, Pennsylvania but now lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up loving various types of games, being drawn to the competition and the need to master the games, possibly due to his over-consumption of TV game shows during his youth. Even so, games were simply a hobby. He attended college to attain a degree in electrical engineering but left that field to become a stock trader.

The mind of a stock trader comprehends and analyzes statistics, risk, and sometimes strategy, which was probably what drew Brandon into the world of poker. Though he is not a professional player, he began playing poker in casinos during vacations and leisure time and found that he had the skills to do rather well.

In 2004, during a trip to Las Vegas, Brandon placed third in a $1,000 Bellagio weekly tournament and won over $14,000. Several months later, he was inspired to travel to Atlantic City and play in the World Poker Tour's $10,000 main event at the Borgata Poker Open where he ended up at the final table, placing fifth for a prize of over $135,000. Most recently, during a trip to the 2007 World Series of Poker, he came in second place at the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament which was good for $142,845, but as did the winner of the event, he donated 100% of his winnings to the charity that benefited Darfur refugees. With a generous nature like that, karma may just bring him back to another final table very soon.