Prominent high-stakes tournament pro and six-time WSOP bracelet winner Shaun Deeb recently offered a touching gesture to the family of his recently passed friend and fellow online pro Thayer Rasmussen. Deeb, who won Event #27: $1,500 Eight Game Mix 6-Handed last month, presented Rasmussen's mother with the gold bracelet he won in that event.
Deeb and Rasmussen were longtime friends and members of an early online MTT grinding group, Waffle Crush. The two stayed close friends through the years, and it was Deeb who brought the news of Rasmussen's passing to the poker public in April.
Rasmussen's brother, Frank Barrett, revealed the news of Deeb's gesture on Twitter. Deeb presented the bracelet to Rasmussen's mother at a remembrance ceremony in Rasmussen's honor held last week:
Deeb's relationship with Rasmussen and his family was dear enough that Deeb was willing to take time away from one of his prime goals for the WSOP, defending his 2022 Player of the Year title:
Deeb added, about his close friendship with Rasmussen, "You learn a lot from who you spend time with and it’s clear where he learned a lot of his traits from he was lucky to have such caring and supporting parents."
Gifts of cherished WSOP bracelets to close friends and family or their loved ones happens more with some regularity. Even the WSOP itself has taken some unusual steps to honor highly respected players. In 2014, for example, the WSOP gave an honorary bracelet to the highly popular but gravely ill Chad Brown, who was nearing the end of his multi-year battle against liposarcoma.
Featured image source: Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood
