Harrison Gimbel

Harrison Gimbel got started on the long road to poker mastery at a very young age, when most of his peers where still riding bikes and playing video games. Known in the online poker community as gibler321, Gimbel picked up much of his love for the game from his brother, who was a celebrated player in his own right. Gimbel’s brother was only 15 at the time, and he would regularly take the younger Harrison to house games every week. These games were typically hosted by friends and had a very reasonable $10 to $20 buy in. Fairly small operations as they were, these gatherings nevertheless cemented Gimbel’s love for the game, and doubtlessly taught him a few invaluable skills besides.

Career Highlights

Gimbel is known for playing extensively in MTTs with buy-ins starting from $1k. One of his earliest victories was a win at the PokerStars weekly $1k, where a 2nd place slot netted him a staggering $57,377.50.

While Gimbel does have a fair amount of experience playing online, he remains firmly focused on playing the bigger tournaments, which have always been his passion. He doesn’t actually have as extensive an experience playing live events as other players since he has just turned 19, and was therefore barred from entering major live competitions. Nevertheless, he has managed to show favorably in various cash events in Florida where he currently resides.

The FCP has proven to be a particularly favorable ground for Gimbel, who credits his entry into the competition to a certain online player named “no not baxter”. It was in 2006 when Gimbel joined the FCP community, and he attributes much of his success on the lessons that he picked up during his FCP tenure.

At the main event of the celebrated and prestigious 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Gimbel bested the competition comprised of several noteworthy players to win the staggering a $2.2 million first place prize. With this victory, Gimbel became the youngest player to ever win the $10,000 buy-in event. This is only the last in a long line of victories that have made this young phenomenon a force to contend with in the poker world.

Playing Style

Although Gimbel just recently turned 19 years and is still not legally allowed to play in any casino in the U.S., he displays a depth and cunning that is characteristic of far more experienced players. A study of his playing style during the recently concluded PokerStarrts Carribean Adventure shows a cool logic and subtle approach that occasionally gave way to bursts of brilliance. In the final hand of the event, Gimbel pitted skills against Tyler “puffinmypurp” Reiman, who went all-in on the pre-flop, with a pair of eights against Gimbel’s tens. With a 10-6-2 flop, Gimbel managed to wrest control of the top set, and a subsequent eight on the turn caused Reiman to draw with the coveted title at stake. When the river showed up as a Jack, the game was over for Reiman, and Gimbel went on to victory as the youngest PCA champion in the event’s history.