Brian Townsend Biography

Brian Townsend aka (sbrugby & Aba2) resides in Santa Barbara, California .  He was born in 1982 but did not begin playing poker until 2004.  He attends graduate school at the University of California of Santa Barbara .

Brian is a professional online poker player and at the top of the online poker class in 2006/2007.  His first TV debut was on “GSN High Stakes Poker” the 3rd season.  Brian made his way onto the show when the producer scouted him out during his continous high stakes play online.

How it All Started

Brian now plays limits exceeding $200/$400 online but it was not always that way.  He first began like so many others at the $.25/$.5 Limit tables losing his first buy in.  After losing his first buyin, Brian re-deposited and slowly moved up from there.

School or Poker?

After graduating college Brian wasn’t sure what his true calling was going to be so he moved to Vegas to try playing poker professionally.  By this time he was playing $5/10 but was having a tough time trying to beat the $10/$20 tables.  “For the life of me I could not beat it.  I wasn't playing my best.  I would just multi table like a robot.”  Brian is still quoted as saying live games are much easier to beat than online games.

Brians Virtual Screen Names

Sbrugby -   Fulltiltpoker.com
Aba20 -      Pokerstars.com

Moving to NL Games

Towards this time of his life (mid 2005) he turned to No Limit live games ($2/5) as his bread and butter.  When Brian went back to graduate school his game stepped up more than a notch.  He was now playing $20/$40 Limit poker but still said “I never really played No Limit online.”  That also changed as he went from playing $.25/$.5 no limit online to $50/$100 in 6 months against the best player in the world, Phil Ivey and others.

Brian’s Weaknesses

Brian said his biggest weakness is lack of focus at the table.  Reading and talking on AIM hurts his game said Brian.  He also confesses that his lack of proper table selection gets him into trouble.  While everyone likes to play against great players in their profession, in poker it’s not always the best choice.

The Bankroll Questions?

Brian commented that in late 2006 his bankroll was around $350,000-$400,000.  He has not yet commented on his bankroll of late but continues to be on a tear at Full Tilt and Poker Stars.  One of his latest pots captured by a twoplustwo railbird shows him winning a $430,000 pot so we can assume his bankroll has increased dramatically.

What Now for Sbrugby?

Brian's online poker profession is being attacked by the US legislation to stop players from the US from playing poker online.  Brian plans to sit back enjoy things while they are still good and see what happens from there.  If things go south he said he will probably move to France where his father lives.  He prefers not to travel and play in live poker tournaments so for now, Sbruby will stick to the online scene.  You can follow Brian's day to day play on his blog.