Let's watch Steve Albini win more than $100,000 at the World Series Of Poker

Steve Albini is many things. He’s a musician, having fronted influential acts like Big Black and Shellac. He’s a legendary producer, one whose influence on modern rock music cannot be overstated. He’s also a hell of a poker player. In a recent mini-doc produced for Poker Central’s “Stories From The Felt” series, Albini details his trip to the World Series Of Poker last year, where he won himself a gold bracelet (oh, and more than $100,000) playing seven-card stud. This is a side of the In Utero producer most fans haven’t seen and, like everything else Albini does, it’s cool as hell.

Albini is characteristically humble and subdued about his victory, which came after years of playing stud poker at his weekly “Tuesday game” in Chicago. He credits his success at the final table, where he bested noted poker greats like Chris Ferguson and Jeff Lisandro, to not making any bone-headed, “bust-yourself mistakes.” The heads-up showdown between him and Lisandro is palpably tense, even when knowing how it’s going to turn out.

“Money is just a tool, like anything else. If you have money then you can do other things and the other things that you’re doing are the important things,” Albini says of his $106,000 win, which will allow him to continue touring and producing records. As for the gold bracelet itself: “It’s really gratifying to have won one. Really unpleasant to wear.”

[via Rolling Stone]