Quick Turnaround: Second Bullet Decision Proves Lucrative for Jorge Confesor

By Sean Chaffin

It looked like an early trip back home to Providence, Rhode Island, for Jorge Confesor (pictured). He’d played a few hands poorly in Day 1 action of the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open and hit the rail not long after. It wasn’t a good feeling heading out the door so quickly. As he headed toward his car, Confesor thought about the drive ahead of him and a cash machine nearby seemed to be calling his name.

“I said to myself when I came here that I was only going to fire one bullet,” he says. “I walked by an ATM machine and I said, ‘You know what, traffic is bad right now. I’m out here already, let me give it one more shot.’”

That second bullet seemed to do the trick and the 41-year-old sits among the chip leaders here in Atlantic City on Day 4. Mostly a cash game player back at Twin River Casino back in Rhode Island, Confesor owns his own IT staffing firm but plays in a cash game almost everyday.

That doesn’t mean he hasn’t found some tournament success along the way and plays about four a year. In total Confesor has $36,245 in live tournament winnings in a limited number of events. His best tournament score came last summer at the World Series of Poker where he finished 58th in the $1,000 Little One for Once Drop – not bad considering it was an event with 6,248 entries. 

Most of his tournaments are in the $500 range, and this is actually his first WPT event ever. With 19 players remaining, the BWPO now becomes the biggest cash of his career.

“I really don’t play many tournaments, at least those of this caliber with this level of competition,” he says. “I consider myself a cash game crusher.”

What made him head to the Borgata this week for the WPT? His play of late in both cash games and tournaments has given him a confidence boost.

“The last few months, my poker game has just been on another level, so I felt like the next big tournament that I played in I would crush it,” he says. “And here I am.”

A final table appearance in Las Vegas at the HyperX Esports Arena would be a dream come true for this Rhode Islander.

“This isn’t something that I do, as far as tournaments,” he says. “Just playing here and being one of the final 22 is almost like a surreal moment for me and I’m just trying to stay focused and keep playing my game. All these guys are playing poker at a high level, and I hope I just continue to play mine and continue achieving success.”

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.