From worst to first, Rafe Furst's poker career has taken him on a windy road from the infamy of being the first to bust out of the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2003 to a bracelet of his own in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event in 2006.

There's much more to his poker career than his wins and losses though, including his generosity, his brains and his circle of friends.

Born in San Francisco in 1968, Furst was a hippie kid with long hair who loved to compete in games and sports of all sorts. He grew up in Venice Beach where he became a die hard Dodger and Lakers fan, and while he still loves to play beach volleyball, golf, paddle tennis, baseball, go skiing or do anything that looks fun to him, it turns out his own talents lie at the card table rather than on a field.

He started playing poker in junior high, but it was his grandfather who got him playing for money, challenging him to gin rummy games when Rafe was just five. In college he upped his game and started a weekly card game with some buddies. In 1993, Furst met Phil Gordon playing poker at the Garden City public card room in San Jose, Calif. According to Furst, they had a "presto moment," and he was invited to join the home game group that would eventually become known as the "Tiltboys."

Though poker was a serious hobby, it wasn't Furst's whole life. After earning a Bachelor's degree in symbolic systems and a Master's in computer science at Stanford, Furst entered the working world. Starting out as a computer science researcher specializing in artificial intelligence, he eventually moved on to become an entrepreneur in online games and promotions.

Combining his love of sports with his career, Furst co-founded Pick'em Sports in 1996 to bring promotional sports contests to the Internet. While putting in long hours to build the business, he continued to pursue poker as a serious hobby.

When the dotcom bubble burst, Furst took the opportunity to take a break from corporate life to travel the world with Phil Gordon. They visited several places, but it was while they were on safari in Africa in January 2002 the idea for their next big adventure, the Ultimate Sports Adventure (USA), came to them.

According to the USA site, after one too many beers Gordon had said to Furst, "I've always wanted to get an RV and travel around America going to all the great sporting events." Furst's response was that it sounded good to him, and by the end of the evening they were already laying the plans to make it happen.

The two purchased an RV, hired a driver and away they went on a mission to travel around the United States for a year, seeing every sporting event imaginable. From the Super Bowl to the Kentucky Derby to the World Series and U.S. Open Tennis, Gordon and Furst pretty much accomplished their mission as well as raised $100,000 for the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, whose mission is the prevention and early detection of cancer through scientific research and education.

Both had lost loved ones to cancer and wanted to find a way to help. Their charitable efforts for the non-profit organization have continued throughout the years in various incarnations, the latest of which is the "Bad Beat on Cancer" initiative, which solicits poker players to pledge a certain percentage of their winnings to the CRPF. Furst and Gordon are also active as members of the foundation's board.

Throughout his travels and time off, Furst found himself playing more and more poker. He naturally slid into becoming a professional player and hasn't returned to a regular job since. As a sponsored pro, he plays a lot online at Full Tilt Poker, and he's becoming more involved in the tournament world as well.

Since his early bust out of the WSOP Main Event earned him a special spot on ESPN, he's cashed in a few events, including two WSOP events in 2005, and earned his first WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event in 2006.

Next on Furst's list of poker goals is to win the Main Event and other major tournaments.

"I actually like the notoriety from [busting out early in 2003 Main Event]," Furst said. "For one thing, there's no pressure like there is for the reigning champ. It's just going to be that much sweeter when I win it."

Furst has plenty of other projects he's involved with to keep him busy outside of the poker world. Aside from his work for the CRPF, Furst also recently started a company with Gordon called ExpertInsight.com, an educational media company that connects people with the world's experts through various products such as books, DVDs, software and more.

A multi-talented guy with an obvious and insatiable lust for life and action, Furst will no doubt continue to thrill the poker world with the Tilt Boys and inspire his peers with his non-profit work and business ventures. With one WSOP bracelet and plenty of in-the-money finishes under his belt, not to mention a support system that consists of some of poker's biggest and most successful players and companies, Rafe continuous climb to the top of the poker world is sure to be exciting, interesting and full of hilarious moments.