Maria Ho, Tom Marchese, and Brian Rast Become Poker Central Ambassadors
The self-proclaimed world's only 24/7 poker television network Poker Central announced that Maria Ho, Tom Marchese, and Brian Rast are the latest trio of poker pros to become Poker Central Ambassadors.
The trio join the already impressive group of Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, and Daniel Negreanu who each became ambassadors for the network in 2015. According to a press release from Poker Central, the new ambassadors will be involved with plans to "help launch innovative and creative new events and programming for the network."
Maria Ho
Maria Ho is a natural addition as a Poker Central Ambassador considering her countless contributions already to the network, most notably her numerous live streams on the Poker Central Twitch channel.
The television personality and host has also proven herself time and time again on the poker felt with over $2 million in live tournament cashes according to The Hendon Mob. Born in Taiwan and raised in California, Ho was introduced to poker while attending the University of California, San Diego. Upon graduation in 2005, Ho quickly began to make her mark on the game, soon growing into one of the most recognizable poker players in the world.
Ho's biggest cash came shortly after Black Friday rocked the poker world on April 15, 2011 when less than a couple of months later she snagged second place in the $5,000 No Limit Hold'em event at the 2011 World Series of Poker for a huge haul of $540,000. This past year, Ho impressively cashed six times during the WSOP with her best performance being in the $3,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout where she took fourth place for $87,487.
Tom Marchese
Hailing from New Jersey, Tom Marchese is one of the most successful players in poker with almost $13.7 million in live tournament cashes according to The Hendon Mob. That places him in third place on the site's New Jersey All Time Money List, in 12th on the United States All Time Money List, and 18th on the Worldwide All Time Money List.
Like many young poker players, the 28-year-old began his roots in online poker before he was legally allowed to play on the live stage at land-based casinos. He emerged on the live scene with a bang with his first recorded live tournament cash at the 2010 Borgata Winter Open Main Event where he took second place for $190,027. Less than a month later, he hit the west coast and went on to win the 2010 $5,000 North American Poker Tour Deep Stack Extravaganza for $827,648.
Since then, the poker pro has played in many of the biggest buy-in events, while impressively notching seven-digit cashes on five different occasions in tournaments with buy-ins of at least $100,000:
| Date | Tournament | Price | Place | Cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 2012 | $100,000 WPT World Championship Super High Roller | 1st place | $1,308,405 | |
| June 27, 2014 | $102,000 Bellagio Super High Roller | 3rd place | $1,465,451 | |
| Sept. 5, 2014 | $100,000 Aria Super High Roller 2 | 1st place | $1,306,800 | |
| Dec. 19, 2014 | $100,000 WPT Alpha8 Five Diamond World Poker Classic | 2nd place | $1,574,518 | |
| July 4, 2015 | $500,000 Super High Roller Bowl | 6th place | $1,075,000 |
While Marchese has yet to add a WSOP gold bracelet to his many accomplishments, during the summer he racked up six cashes in WSOP events including a deep run in the 2016 WSOP Main Event where he bowed out in 14th place for $427,930.
Brian Rast
Brian Rast is another natural addition to the Poker Central crew of ambassadors as he historically became the first-ever winner of Poker Central's $500,000 Super High Roller Bowl in July 2015. There Rast outlasted a star-studded field of 43 entrants to win the huge $7,525,000 top prize.
Born in Denver, Colorado and raised in California, the 34-year-old poker player isn't just a one-trick pony as in his career he has accumulated almost $17.8 million in cashes placing him in second place on The Hendon Mob's California All Time Money List, seventh on the United States All Time Money List, and 11th on the Worldwide All Time Money List.
Rast won his third WSOP gold bracelet over the summer after winning a tournament with one of the most competitive fields of the summer, the the $50,000 Poker Players Championship for $1,296,097.
Like Marchese, Rast also has five tournament cashes of at least $1 million. His three other seven-digit cashes include another win in the WSOP PPC in 2011 for $1,720,328, a sixth-place finish in the $1,000,000 The Big One for One Drop in 2012 for $1,621,333, and an outright win in the $100,000 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in December 2013 for $1,083,500.
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