WORLD SERIES OF POKER | TODD ICKOW

LAS VEGAS | Walking into the doors of the Rio Hotel & Casino, there is a giant picture of Texas Hold 'Em legend Doyle Brunson. There is no telling if Todd Ickow noticed the picture when he walked in, but he certainly had the privilege of showing Brunson the door in the Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo event at the 2007 World Series of Poker this past weekend.

Ickow, the voice of the Valparaiso University men's basketball and football teams, as well as the manager of Buffalouie's in Valparaiso, busted out the Living Legend on Friday night on his way to a 39th place finish and a cash of $3,890.

"It's always neat to eliminate a big-name player, but truthfully, I wasn't even thinking that much about it at the time," Ickow said. "More importantly, I was thinking about accumulating a big number of chips and making it to the final table."

Ickow fell short of his goal, but has put together a profitable World Series and has three career cashes under his belt. He won just over $2,000 in 2004 when he took 30th in an Omaha Hi-Lo event. In 2005, he took 15th in a Hold 'Em event to earn $3,143. This year, Ickow has not only cashed in the Stud Event, but has also had several successful cash games sessions.

"I'm up for the trip and that makes it a success," Ickow said. "In any tournament, my goal is to make the money and to do that you have to outlast over 90 percent of the field in most cases.

"Anytime you can do that, you're going to feel satisfied."

Ickow has been playing some form of poker for as long as he can remember. Whether it was playing in the outfield of Comiskey Park when he was a 16-year-old hot dog vendor, or if it's playing online poker in the comfort of his home, Ickow is seasoned in a variety of poker games.

"Poker is a pretty large priority because I find it a great challenge," Ickow said. "The World Series is the greatest challenge because you're going against the best players in the world."

Ickow's next challenge is the S.H.O.E. (Stud, Hold 'Em, Omaha, Stud 8) event, a tournament which tests players in multiple poker games. The tournament, which is run for the first time as a World Series event, is expected to finish this evening.

"I feel that the Hi-Lo games are my strongest games and that Hold 'Em is definitely my weakest," Ickow said. "Now everybody plays Hold 'Em and in the S.H.O.E. event, they'll be trying to survive the other games while I will be looking to take advantage."