John Armbrust, also known as “TexDuke”, is a teacher by profession with a passion for live tournament poker. Originally from Atlanta, Armbrust now teaches in Los Angeles and strives to improve the quality of public education, not only in America, but abroad as well. He sees his poker earnings as a way to fund the building of a girl’s school in Pakistan; a project he has been passionately involved in, and has raised upwards of $75,000 for this mission to be realized.
Armbrust has been playing poker for over a decade and he entered the 2006 World Series of Poker, but finished a disappointing 907th out of the 8,733 participants, just 30 spots away from the money. He returned to Vegas in 2007 for the 38th Annual World Series of Poker, where he put in an impressive display. Participating in the No-Limit Texas Hold'em event with 6,357 other entrants, John Armbrust finished 18th, taking home an impressive $381,302 for his efforts. Armbrust singles out an occasion when he bluffed poker pro Gus Hansen on live television as the best moment of this tournament.
John Armbrust participated in two other tournaments in 2007 – The Legends of Poker on the World Poker Tour circuit, and the Big Poker Oktober tournament. In the former, Armbrust entered the No Limit Hold'em event and finished 18th and earned himself $3,220. In S.H.O.E. event at the Big Poker Oktober, he finished 4th out of 81 entrants, taking home $1,650.
In January 2008, John Armbrust participated in the L.A. Poker Classic’s No Limit Hold'em event. Competing in a field of 550 entrants and a with a prize pool of $266,750 to play for, Armbrust finished the $500 buy-in event in a disappointing 53rd place, earning a modest $1,170. The highlight of John Armbrust’s poker career however remains his impressive 2007 WSOP performance, a major contributor to his total earnings of $387,342.