With a Baby On the Way, Kevin Saul Looks To Get Back On the Scoreboard

Before Black Friday, Kevin Saul was regarded as one of the best tournament poker players on the planet. Playing under the screen name “BelowAbove,” he amassed millions in earnings without having to move from his computer screen. He made himself a force in the live arena in 2007 with a win in the Season VI WPT $10,000 Bellagio Cup for more than $1.3 million.

After Black Friday, his live results tapered off. He’s in the money of the Season XVI WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship, however, and a deep run would put him back in the spotlight. Something he would like for his own confidence and to support the upcoming developments in his personal life.

“I just want to get back on the board,” said Saul during his break. “I feel like I had a defining win 10 years ago, but that was 10 years ago. That’s in the past. I got my first child on the way in April and now I’m just, that’s what I’m out here for. I’m out here for my wife and our children. For the future, hopefully.”

Saul and his wife reside in the greater Chicago area and are in the process of buying their first house. They expect to close on the house next month in lieu of the birth of their baby girl. At the time of writing, Saul is guaranteed a cash of at least $7,247, which will definitely help out with a down payment for their new residence.

The $651,928 first-place money would obviously put a much bigger dent in the mortgage payment.

“We are closing on a house next month,” said the 37-year-old veteran of the poker world. “Hopefully we can just pay cash. There are a lot of changes on the way.”

Regardless of how much he takes home, he’s going to let his wife sort out the finances.

“My wife gets the money,” said Saul. “My wife gets it. She’s way better with it than I am.”

During the early days of his poker career, Saul was one of the more aggressive players on the tournament circuit, a predictable result as being one of the early online wizards. As Saul matured in his personal life, his style changed.

The prospects of having to support a wife, a child, and the upcoming mortgage make it a little tougher to fire that third and final river shell with air.

“I’m way nittier,” said Saul with a laugh. “You think more about running a bluff and what not. In the past, it was just myself I had to worry about. Now, I got other people that I got to worry about, so, you know, you’re just more careful.”

Aside from the change to his poker game, his newfound family life is going to affect his schedule. This is likely the last time the WPT will see Saul for a little while.

“It’s going to cut into my ability for traveling and what not,” said Saul. “This will probably be the last place that I go, as far as flying anywhere, until I have the baby.”

When Level 19 starts, Saul returns to a comfortable 525,000-chip stack, which is more than triple the amount that he started the day with.

“It’s been real smooth,” said Saul of his day so far. “I came in with like 150,000 and I’ve got like 525,000. No real swings. No real bumps. It was just pretty smooth so far.”

Despite his lack of massive, seven-figure live scores, Saul quietly amassed more than $3 million in career winnings. It just took him a little longer to do it than the others in that class of poker player.

“It took me a long time,” joked Saul. “All these other guys, that’s like a weekend for them. A good month.”

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