Julian Gardner

  There is a saying about an apple and exactly where it falls in relation to the tree. The gist of cliche is that a child is likely to be similar to their parents. Much of this is, of course, complete rubbish. The road of life is littered with the failed careers of kids who tried to follow in the footsteps of their more successful parents. There are those occasional folks who not only reach the level that their parents attained, but manage to eclipse the accomplishments of their gene pool.  Julian truly did follow in the footsteps of his professional card player father, Dave Gardner. In fact, at age 15 he followed those footsteps all the way to the local casino where the junior player started entering and winning tournaments. Before he reached the age of twenty he was a tournament veteran with 10 wins under his belt.  In the year 2000 he made a splash at the World Series of Poker Main Event by becoming the early chip leader. He was unable to convert this into a victory, or even a meaningful final placing. He did the attention of his colleagues though.  In 2002, at the tender age of 22, Julian placed second at a WSOP championship event. He may not have won, but he became the youngest player in history to ever win one million dollars in a poker tournament. He continued to impress by finishing in the money at the WSOP Main Events in 2003 and 2004.  This Manchester, England resident is a bit of a homebody and does not travel to many tournaments. Most of the time he will only attend an event if he has managed to qualify online.  Julian seems intent by adding a third generation of poker players to the family tree. He is currently engaged to poker player Kerry "Pint Size" Clarke. Hopefully the next generation will inherit their parents' skills.