Brandi Hawbaker: Controversial Poker Hottie

With so many names like Brandi Hawbaker, Brandi Rose, Naami Dea her life and the events surrounding it were like a movie. A never ending cycle of men, shags, drugs, money, poker, people getting hurt, and despair. These events were only heightened by the Internet and forums willing to discuss and debate these events at every possible opportunity. Brandi Hawbaker became somewhat of a cult personality, loved by some, and hated by many.

Full Tilt cover girl Brandi Hawbaker is more known for her exploits off the poker table onto the scene in 2006, when she finished 35th in the Festa Al Lago WPT main event. Poker hottie Brandi Hawbaker was seemingly constantly in the news after this, becoming entangled in public feuds with numerous different personalities in the poker world.


Brandi Hawbaker Skyrocketed Poker Career

Poker hottie Brandi Hawbaker has stated that she spent six years backpacking around the world doing odd jobs in exchange for a place to stay and food to eat. She returned to the United States in 2005 after spending a summer in Guyana and worked as a project coordinator for a company for a while before somehow, somewhere, someday, she found herself playing poker .

It looks like Brandi Hawbaker has won $30k plus recently in a tournament and has been making waves on the circuit as an up and coming player. It was her deep run at the World Poker Tour Festa Al Lago event, she finished 35th winning over $20,000 in the process and her subsequent photo of a online poker site logo covering her bared breast that catapulted her into the poker world.

She became something of a cult figure in the online poker world and on the pro poker circuit. I didn’t know her personally but like many other online poker players and bloggers followed the roller coaster of her life with some interest.


Brandi Hawbaker Tragic Contoversy

Brandi Hawbaker was often a controversial and seemingly complex character but was best known for her over the top publicity stunts and exhibitionism. Perhaps the most infamous woman in poker took her own life. Brandi Hawbaker more known for her exploits off the poker table than at them, was found dead in Los Angeles.

She was in a relationship with a somewhat unknown person named Brandon who posted in January that Brandi had taken all of his things out of his house and sold them and taken off. Most recently, her former boyfriend posted a thread on 2+2 detailing their sordid relationship. Since then, rumors floated around that Brandi had left Las Vegas and relocated to Southern California where she converted to Islam and changed her name. She was reportedly seen playing cash games in L.A. based casinos.

Brandi Hawbaker wiped out one of his online poker accounts to the tune of approximately $30,000. What exactly happened is a he said, she said. In a bit of eerie foreshadowing, Brandi Hawbaker locked herself in the bathroom, smashed a bottle of wine, and cut herself.

Brandi Hawbaker’s poker career included only $40,000 in tournament winnings but she was better known as a central figure in a number of drama-filled episodes on various internet forums. It's a sad ending to a sad story.

Brandi Hawbaker Photos