Brian Rast, born November 8, 1981 in Denver, Colorado, spent his formative years in Poway, California. As a student at Poway High School, he excelled academically – graduating in 2000 as valedictorian. Although he was familiar with the game of poker in his youth, it wasn't until his college days at Stanford University that Rast dove deeply into the game. While studying mathematics, Rast frequented a weekly poker game at the Stanford Poker Club and the rest, as they say is history.
Despite concerns from his parents, Rast's mathematics degree took a backseat to his newfound love for poker. In 2004, he made the difficult decision to set aside his academic pursuits to focus entirely on poker.
On Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, Rast played under the screenname 'tsarrast' and honed his skills battling it out in cash games. While he had success in online tournaments as well, the cash game streets became his bread and butter.
After moving to Las Vegas in 2007, Rast quickly became a regular in Bobby's Room at The Bellagio and made frequent trips to Macau – routinely playing in some of the biggest cash games in the world in both locations. Later, Rast turned his focus to tournaments and wasted no time in making a name for himself at the World Series of Poker.
In 2011, Rast won his first bracelet in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event for $227,232 at the summer series – but he wasn't done there. The $50,000 Poker Players Championship, often referred to as one of the most prestigious WSOP events to win, tests players across a variety of formats.
For some, it's the pinnacle of poker – and Rast has won the event three times, the first of which came that summer in 2011. With three PPC titles to his name, Rast has more than cemented his standing as one of poker's best mixed games players.
Rast's personal best score came in 2015 when he won the $500,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Rast defeated Scott Seiver heads-up to take home the title and the $7,525,000 first-place prize.
In recognition of his nearly two decades of dominance in cash and tournament arenas, both live and online, Rast was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2023.
