Local man wins United States Poker Championship title

William Brindise won the 2009 U.S.Poker Championship main event at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City this week.

But taking home the $261,800 first-place prize was no easy feat.

A resident of Rumson, New Jersey, about an hour and a half up the Atlantic shore from the Taj, Brindise had to defeat one of the game's most decorated stars to take the title.

But as if getting past Men "The Master" Nguyen and his $9.5 million in career earnings wasn't enough, the final table also featured 2009 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Brian Lemke (5th) and WSOP final tablist and Deep Stack Extravaganza III $5k winner Nick Binger (6th).

The $5k four-day event drew 154 entrants creating a prize pool of $770,000.

Brindise now counts almost $400k in career earnings including a win in the $500 Trump Classic in 2005 and a deep run in the WSOP Main Event back in 2004.

Unlike the 2008 edition, the 2009 USPC was once again filmed for television and is set to air on Spike TV in January.