Yukon Brad is a Good Ole B.C. Boy

When you think of great poker players, the names Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson are names that come up and there are some good Canadians too like Daniel Negreanu.

But just like Steve Nash to the NBA, British Columbia has made a contribution to the game of poker.

Brad "Yukon" Booth is a regular on television poker appearing on the Game Show Network's High Stakes and NBC Poker After Dark's second season.

Currently, Booth is taking part in the Coast to Coast Poker Championship at the River Rock Casino.

Here is an abridged version of Booth's poker origins:

Beyond Robson: "How did you get started playing poker?"

Brad Booth: "When I was a kid my father used to take me to my grandpa's, who was a barber. He said, 'Play on your own,' so they'd give me some cards and chips and I'd be off in the corner when my grandpa had customers."

"I learned how to shuffle and chip tricks and I learned the basic probability of poker."

BR: "How does a guy from B.C. get the nickname Yukon?"

BB: "I moved up to the Yukon and was living there for nine years and every time I would go down to Calgary, Regina or Vancouver they would call me Yukon. I guess it originated in Alberta at the Elbow River Casino, I walked into the room and they called me Yukon."

"I guess it just stuck. I was down in Vegas one day and I was on the list for Brad and one of the guys from Calgary came up and said 'Hey Yukon!' So they decided to put me down as Yukon."

On top of being a poker tournament, the Coast to Coast tourney will pit the East against the West with Yukon representing the Leftcoast.

The Texas Hold'em Main Event final table will go on Mother's Day and the tournament will close on May 13.