The winner of this year's Borgata Poker Open honed his skills through an online casino, it has emerged.
Vivek Rajkumar, who is 22 years old, picked up the title at the Borgata Casino & Hotel in Atlantic City, but it was via online casino and poker sites that he developed his card-playing ability.
A statement from the host venue claimed that the young gamer is part of a "new breed" of players, who end up in land-based tournaments after plying their trade over the internet.
And the $1.4 million (£750,000) champion was apparently a "fairly unknown" individual to the poker community.
Highlighting the potential route online casino and poker enthusiasts, the casino added that Rajkumar's internet skills "proved valuable during aggressive play against top contender Sang Kim, an eight-time tournament winner and black belt Taekwondo instructor".
This comes after InsidePoker magazine editor Dave Bowden suggested that online-trained poker players could be the ones to watch during this season's European Poker Tour, which recently got underway in Barcelona.
Online Casino News - 23/09/2008
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