Look Out With Fernando Brito

Fernando Brito has been playing poker for less than two years, but he already has racked up an impressive collection of tournament results. He currently is atop the European Poker Tour Player of the Year standings, thanks to his impressive consistency during season seven. He has a big lead over current runner-up John O’Shea and Italian professional Dario Alioto.
Brito is a 51-year-old businessman from Portugal who currently lives in Brazil. He owns factories in Angola, and “fazendas” (large farms) in Brazil. He is married and has four children. He started playing poker online on PokerStars while also enjoying live play.
He got his feet wet on the EPT by finishing 53rd at the season-six Grand Final. He has gone on to cash six times during season seven, and now has accumulated €460,000 at EPT events. His first tournament win came when he defeated Rob Hollink heads up in a €10,000 buy-in event in Vienna, for €90,000, on Halloween. Earlier in October, he finished sixth, for £145,000, in the main event at the EPT London.
He captured another tournament victory at the EPT Prague, in a no-limit hold’em turbo preliminary event. He then threw in a 32nd-place cash in the Prague main event for good measure. Brito has cashed at four of the past six EPT tournament series.
In addition to the EPT events, where he has achieved the bulk of his success, Brito plays regularly on the Latin American Poker Tour. He made a side-event final table in Florianopolis, in Brazil, last August.
Brito is currently considering retiring from business in order to play more tournaments around the world. If he does, the poker community will have to look out for this rising-star rookie at events in Europe and South America, as well as at this summer’s World Series of Poker. Brito made his first trip to the Series in 2010, and cashed in a $2,500 no-limit hold’em event on the Fourth of July. ♠