Ross "BlueTang" Gottlieb Looking For a Taste of WSOP Gold

Columbus, Ohio's Ross "BlueTang" Gottlieb recorded four cashes in last year's WSOP.com Online Bracelet Series, but it was one huge run that defined his series, and brought him agonizingly close to earning his first career WSOP Gold Bracelet.

In Event #8: $500 NLH Freezeout, Gottlieb found himself at a final table of absolute crushers, including Robert "bustinballs" Kuhn, Scott "miamicane" Davies, and Randy "StayAlive" Ohel among others. Gottlieb was on the shorter side of the counts at the start of the final table, but took the majority of Kuhn's chips with queens to take a commanding lead with five players remaining.

When heads-up play commenced, Gottlieb was back in a 2:1 deficit against Alan "GladiusIII" Goehring, but looked poised to take back command of the battle when the final hand of the tournament took place. Gottlieb, holding king-nine, flopped a king-high straight, while Goehring held ace-three of clubs for a higher straight draw and a flush draw. Gottlieb went from retaking the chip lead to out in one card when the turn was a club, and Gottlieb was forced to settle for $73,942 for a second-place run.

Gottlieb, who describes himself on his Twitter bio as a "full time veterinarian, part time button clicker", is back in action for this year's series, and looks to have a full schedule of events to play in his quest to finish one spot higher in an event this year, and lay claim to a WSOP Gold Bracelet.