Those who know poker strictly from watching the World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour events will likely draw a blank when presented with Simon "Aces" Trumper. Aside from a fifth place finish in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament at the 2005 WSOP, the Guildford, U.K. resident has not had much success on American soil. Europe, however, is another matter; whether in England or on the continent, when "Aces" sits down at a table the whole room takes notice.

Simon Trumper was born in South Kensington, England on May 31, 1963. Although he waited until the age of 32 to try poker, the first signs of his future success came in secondary school, when, after being the first in his classroom to finish a mathematics exam, he began playing poker dice on a chair and was promptly expelled. Undaunted by the setback, Trumper entered the business world and achieved great success before, in 1995, he was invited by a friend to enter a £10 poker tournament in Reading. It would prove to be a hallmark moment in Trumper's life.

The friendly £10 tournament, originally simply an excuse to socialize, soon spawned an interest in poker that would lead from casual, low-stakes cash games to large tournaments with higher and higher stakes. In June of 1997 Trumper claimed his first major victories, placing first, second, third, and fourth in Hold'em, Stud and Omaha events at the Victoria Casino European Championships in London and netting more than £28,000 in earnings.

Trumper is best known in the United Kingdom for his appearances on "Late Night Poker." Beginning in 1999, Trumper played on six consecutive series' of the show, winning the overall title in Series 2, and finishing second to Hamish Shah in Series 4 after beating out such competition as Phil Hellmuth and Ram Vaswani. In all, Trumper appeared on "Late Night Poker" nine times and became famous in his native England.

As his celebrity grew, Trumper began winning poker tournaments off-screen as well. In March of 2001 he won the £1,000 European World Series of Poker Trial No-Limit Hold'em event in Vienna, and in June of the same year he returned to Vienna to capture another £1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event - an 11 hour affair that took place immediately after Trumper had lost a five hour match at the World Heads-Up Championship. For his efforts, Trumper was rewarded with the first-ever "Tournament Performance of the Year" award.

Since then he has continued to cement his reputation as one of the most diligent and prolific poker players on the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean. "Aces" is known as a fearsome No-Limit specialist with a dedication to the game; he'll play any tournament, anywhere. In recent years, however, Pot-Limit Omaha has given No-Limit Hold’em a run for its money as Trumper's game of choice. In November 2004, the Englishman scored a $90,361 payday for his first place finish at the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam, and in 2005 took his game to America in search of that elusive WSOP bracelet.

The bracelet remained just out of his grasp, but Trumper did take home another $93,060 for his fifth place finish in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. During the event, "Aces" made a new enemy in the form of Barry Greenstein, with whom Trumper clashed after the Englishman slow-rolled a nut flush to take a huge pot from Greenstein. Greenstein perceived the actions as unprofessional and left in disgust, even going so far as to request that Trumper be removed from the tournament. Trumper, for his part, was unrepentant, and, it seems, unconcerned with the animosity directed his way.

Aside from his innate talents as a poker player, Simon was also discovered to be a natural television poker announcer after he filled in for a presenter and began discussing the psychology of poker tells. He has since done live commentary on radio, television and in front of a live audience, and written articles that give readers insight into professional poker.

In 2005 Britain's Channel 4 announced plans to revive "Late Night Poker" with three new tournaments, including "Late Night Masters," which will commence in 2006 and include 24 professionals, including Simon Trumper. In an ironic twist, the commentary duties for the two remaining tournaments will be handled by "Aces" himself, giving him a chance to analyze and delineate the play of those who'll strive to follow in his footsteps as the latest Late Night Poker success story.

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