Packing razor-sharp thinking, no fear, and a little luck, Jason "Strassa2" Strasser knocked out 2,457 obstacles that were standing in his way to a title and $442,000 during the 2006 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event. His... more

Packing razor-sharp thinking, no fear, and a little luck, Jason “Strassa2” Strasser knocked out 2,457 obstacles that were standing in his way to a title and $442,000 during the 2006 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. His tournament winnings on PokerStars alone are over $600,000.

Strasser has also successfully taken his poker game to live tournaments. He made four cashes at the 2006 World Series of Poker, including a final table and seventh-place finish in a $1,500 no-limit event ($108,661). His live winnings total almost $200,000.

The Duke student credits his poker-trained mind to opening doors on Wall Street.

“I have a job offer in the financial industry, trading options and other commodities for an investment bank,” stated Strasser. “The people in that industry love the mindset of a poker player. When trading stocks, you’re in a stressful environment, making decisions on unknown information, guessing what other people have. The intellectual ceiling for poker is only so high, but when you get to a place like Wall Street, it’s a bigger poker game.” close bio