Steve Albini Wins World Series of Poker Event

Steve Albini won his first World Series of Poker tournament late Saturday night as the renowned producer and Big Black rocker finished first in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event.

The producer of albums like Nirvana’s In Utero and Pixies’ Surfer Rosa beat out 309 other players to win the $106,000 prize and a coveted World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet, Pitchfork reports.

“I am ecstatic that a player as mediocre as me can outlast all of these better players and end up with a bracelet. There’s still hope for everybody,” Albini told WSOP following his win. He added that a pair of concurrent events that drew accomplished seven-card stud players aided in his surprising victory.

“This year the stud event occurred simultaneously with the Seniors Event, and simultaneously with the $50K [Poker Players Championship]. So the field for the stud tournament, I think, was kind of historically weak, which allowed a sucker like me to make it to the final table. With some prescient coaching from my friends and a good run of cards – I ran pretty fucking good as well. I hit a lot of hands early in the final table.”

Albini, who according to his WSOP bio “began playing poker in 1969 when he was taught by his great grandmother,” more than doubled his previous WSOP earnings with the win; the Chicago-based recording engineer previously competed in a variety of WSOP events, with his best finish coming with a 12th place in the $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship in 2013.

Albini’s band Shellac had just concluded a European tour when he squeezed in the trip to Las Vegas for the tournament.

Event #31 winner @electricalWSOP pockets $105,629 and a bracelet soon after returning from a European tour with his band, Shellac of North America. https://t.co/TfLv3OvLkh pic.twitter.com/fVCzPiyojN

— WSOP (@WSOP) June 17, 2018