Ryan Dreyer
Ryan Dreyer: New Game, Still Winning
Let’s get the basics out of the way for this poker professional from South Africa. He is in his late 30s and didn’t start to focus on poker as anoccupation until 2004. He started playing the game long before that but pursued a career as a professional golfer for quite awhile.
Something pushed this Johannesburg resident toward the game of poker (and away from following in Ernie Els’ footsteps. He made about $2,500 in his first “cash” but has followed that with win totals that have a few more figures. Some industry observers believe that Dreyer is the heir-apparent to poker veteran Raymond Rahme.
He took home the equivalent of $650,000 from the 2008 Sun City Millions held in South Africa. That accomplishment may indeed be enough to push him to the top of the poker celebrity list. Rahme, Scandinavian pro Patrik Antonius and other pros were in the field at the Sun City Millions.
He has some help with name recognition due to his work as a commentator on All-Africa poker and as South Africa editor of Bluff magazine. But in a relatively short time, Dreyer is capturing the attention of opponents and poker fans alike. Rahme still leads the money list for South African players with more than $3 million. (Rahme won most of his poker bankroll with a high finish in the World Series of Poker main event.)
Dreyer, whose favourite game is 7-card stud hi/lo, plays online at Full Tilt Poker. He is a member of Team Full Tilt. He began his poker career playing that game for low stakes and then tried Hold ‘Em. He had some success in local tournaments and decided to try his hand at tournaments with larger entry fees. He took home some cash in 2007, with solid finishes in the Million Dollar Sun City tournament and in the Poker Ace tournament at Gold Reef. He also reached the cash level in the 2008 WSOP 7-card stud hi/lo event.
After 11 years as a professional golfer, primarily on the South African tour, he changed his game, literally. He played as an amateur on 2009 and won the South African Amateur Championship that year. He won cash in more than 100 tournaments while playing as a professional.
His poker-tournament record includes: 2007 Sun City Million Dollar Poker Tournament – 6th; 2007 Poker Ace Tournament – 2nd; 2008 Carousel Poker Tournament – 4th; 2008 World Series 7-card stud hi/lo – 55th; 2008 Sun City Million Dollar tournament – 1st; 2009 South African Poker Open – 3rd.
