Kevin Saul, born on May 25, 1980, is an American professional poker player from Chicago, Illinois in the United States of America.
Kevin Saul had been playing home games and casino games in Chicago for almost seven to eight years before making the transition to online poker. He played exceptionally well online under the screen name “BeLOWaBOVe” and was a regular at PokerStars, Bodog, UltimateBet, and GetPWN3D on Full Tilt Poker. Kevin Saul got good recognition while playing online poker and then went on to participate in live tournaments.
Kevin Saul made his entry into the international poker arena by playing at the 36th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). He competed in a field that included 465 other poker players in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event held on June 14, 2005 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and took away $6,570 from a prize pool of $2,190,200. Kevin Saul got a breakthrough during his appearance at the World Poker Tour (WPT) on November 6, 2006 when he participated in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the World Poker Finals/WPT Event Season 5. This event, held at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, had 328 players in the fray and had a prize pool of over half a million dollars. Kevin Saul played brilliantly to finish as the runner-up and walk, away with $100,721, this being his first six-digit cash-in. Three days later, he had another final-table finish in the No-Limit Hold’em event at the same tournament. Among 338 players who competed for the title, Kevin Saul finished fourth earning $55,372.
In 2007 the entire poker world sat up and took notice of this remarkable online player making waves in the tournament arena. In the first few months Kevin Saul cashed over thirty thousand dollars from two tournaments. On June 15, at the 38th Annual World Series of Poker, he competed in a field that consisted of an incredible 1617 other poker players, who were vying for the bracelet in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. From the prize pool of $2,944,760, Kevin Saul managed to take $12,810 by finishing at the thirty-eighth place.
However, the turning point of his career, which is also his biggest success till date, happened on July 15, 2007 at the Bellagio Cup lll. Kevin Saul was one of the 535 competitors, who contributed $5,189,500 to the prize pool in the No-Limit Hold’em Championship and he showcased his impressive skills and reached the final table. He played heads-up with Mike Matusow, also known as "The Mouth", whom he defeated to scoop a whopping $1,342,320 from the prize pool.
Kevin Saul followed it up with a runner-up finish in the No-Limit Hold’em event at the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic/WPT Season 6 tournament. On December 6, 2007, the Bellagio played host to 302 entrants, resulting in a prize pool that went over eight hundred thousand dollars, from which Kevin Saul pocketed $179,195 for his second- place finish. As of 2008, Kevin Saul has $1,778,498 from tournament winnings and 13 cashes.
Apart from playing live poker tournaments, he is also a guest instructor at PokerXFactor.com, an online poker training center headed by professional poker players Cliff Josephy and Eric Haber.
