“Poker’s Candle In The Wind” BrandiRose Hawbaker Part 2

By Staff

In Part 1 of ‘Poker’s Candle In The Wind’, BrandiRose Hawbaker’s mother Julie shared stories about her extremely bright, talented, and beloved daughter’s childhood, including the special bond she had with her grandparents and protective role she undertook with her kid brother Timothy II.

We learned tragedy entered her young life at the tender age of 13 when a close childhood friend committed suicide at her school resulting in a deep, continued state of depression, diagnosed as Dysthymia, followed by a suicide attempt of her own at 14.

Ms. Hawbaker shared how BrandiRose and her brother Timothy were separated and eventually alienated from her after what she described as an “abusive” marriage resulting in a bitter divorce that left her destitute, and BrandiRose living for years believing her mother didn’t love her, had willingly abandoned her, and perished in an automobile accident.

Part 2

After entering the poker industry the young woman child psychologists had categorized as “highly sensitive” with “empath” personality traits, was bullied relentlessly, harassed, cyber-stalked, and threatened with physical violence, including death threats right up until the time of her reported suicide at age 26.

When BrandiRose ended up in the hospital with high stress levels and malnutrition in 2003, doctors recommended reaching out to additional family members for support after her father, according to Ms. Hawbaker, “wasn’t willing” or able to help in the recovery process.

She explains BrandiRose was able to reconnect with her Grandpa (Ms. Hawbaker’s dad), who had also been alienated from his granddaughter for years. “That is also when she learned that I was still alive and that I wasn’t killed in a car accident, as her father had lied to her about.”

It was also during this time the former Miss Omaha, Teen USA sought counseling and mental health assistance on her own for the first time, after being denied “Court Ordered” care following her Dysthymia diagnosis 6 years prior, in part, due to her family’s financial difficulties.

“BrandiRose would call me up and talk for hours on end and especially right before her therapy sessions with her counselor. She literally would still be on the phone driving to her appointment and getting off of the elevator before she would hang up. I heard from her many times during the Spring and Summer of 2003.”

In December that same year more mental health challenges arose, when her beloved Grandmother passed away. Ms. Hawbaker said BrandiRose was able to reach her by phone the day she died. “She spoke to her as she drew her last breath.”

Ms. Hawbaker never imagined when she reunited with her long lost daughter at her mother’s funeral, it would be the last time she would see her own precious child alive. “We had only 1 day with BrandiRose as she was due back in California for a call back on an audition for a movie.” 

She left with bags under her eyes after “crying non-stop” for days. 

The next time Ms. Hawbaker saw her daughter was in the L.A. County morgue, to identify and claim her decomposing body weeks after being notified of her death. She was given 24-hours to claim the remains, now classified as “Abandoned by Family”, despite her father being notified the morning after she died, and traveling to California to sign the death certificate and take possession of her belongings.

In New Zealand a romance blossomed after a chance meeting with a former high school friend. In mother-daughter conversations, she now relished after being deprived of for half a decade, she shared intimate feelings including her dream of starting a family of her own one day. She gushed about her new “Prince Charming”, convinced he was “The One”, instead, more heartache ensued.

“She brought this young man back home to Omaha to meet her Grandpa and her extended family members” her mother shared. “He was very good looking by the way. But it wasn’t long after that that BrandiRose realized this guy was just using her for money. It totally crushed her.”

An Independent But Fragile BrandiRose Embarks On Poker Career

After extensive traveling including excursions to the UK, and Greece, BrandiRose returned to the U.S., eventually finding her way to Nevada in 2006, where her attention turned to poker.

As explained in Part 1, the Hawbaker family grew up playing ‘Durak’, a traditional Russian card game the elder Hawbaker says BrandiRose excelled at. Despite her abilities, upon learning her daughter had entered the professional poker world, she was devastated, knowing all too well the potential pitfalls of the gambling industry.

“It broke my heart to know that BrandiRose was wasting her life playing poker. My ex-husband had gambled away our home in Greenville, S.C., 2 homes in Columbia, S.C., our ‘Dream Home’ in Broken Arrow, OK, our final home together in Omaha, NE., 14 acres of land (in my name only), every business that we had ever owned, including 6 restaurants, and put us through a bankruptcy in 1993.”

After reporting her ex for identity theft, cited in bankruptcy hearings, Ms. Hawbaker says “He began trashing me all over the Internet calling me crazy” and repeated the claim after she gave two interviews to CBS News (Denver) in 2008 regarding her work in domestic violence, and one about BrandiRose’s suicide, which ran for three months until March 2009.

Despite Ms. Hawbaker’s concerns over BrandiRose’s new career path, her side of the family’s adoration for the “apple of their eye” never waned. “We were the only real support system that she ever knew. We were her biggest fans too!”

BrandiRose’s first reported cash was in the “Spring Pot of Gold Poker Tournament” in May of 2006 in Reno, Nevada. She finished in 9th place out of a field of 118 for $655.

Six months later she entered the $10,000 WPT Festa Al Lago V Championship Event at Bellagio in Las Vegas (October 16-20, 2006).

Almost immediately hate-filled diatribe against a woman who outplayed men was on full display on poker forums in a fashion very similar to what we see today on “Poker Twitter” (X), where posters are free to hurl hate, insults, and scurrilous accusations – incognito.

Her first response to the vitriol took place less than a week after her improbable WPT run, contradicting callous comments made after her suicide suggesting “She brought the bullying on herself when she took advantage of unsuspecting poker pros.”

A creative allegation, considering at the onset of the abuse, she hadn’t even crossed paths with the high-profile poker sharks whose only intention, we’re told, was to help the sexy starlet with her game.

On October 26, 2006, BrandiRose made her first post addressing the abuse.

“I am in bed sick today and decided to finally get online and check all this out. The one thing I can say is that I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. 

A couple days ago, friends were calling me up telling me about all these forums and crap that was being said about me… To be quite honest, I cried. It did not bother me so much that people I have never met were/are trashing me. What bothered me is that my little brother can now go online and be subject to hearing nasty things written about me.

But today, as I am sitting here… coughing up lungs and running a fever, I got online. And cried again… this time though it was because I laughed so hard, tears came out of my eyes.

Honestly, this is hilarious. I never thought my life was so important. I still don’t. Instead of bothering with this crap, why don’t you go play some poker?”

The mostly anonymous posters lambasted poker’s newest star with derogatory comments ranging from her “dog ugly” looks to how horrible a poker player she was.

“Her face was hit with phone books more than once imo” one anonymous poster wrote.

“She looks like a centaur” quipped another.

BrandiRose’s initial responses were respectful and measured despite the personal insults and crassness directed her way, affirming claims she only became confrontational after the non-stop bashing escalated.

“I do NOT think I am the most beautiful woman in the world, or the sexiest, or anything. But I don’t think I am the ugliest either. I have never claimed to be something spectacular. And I DON’T want to be.

Personally, I feel myself to fall somewhere along the middle in EVERY aspect. I’m not the smartest woman in the world, but I’ve got some street smarts. I’m not the most educated woman in the world, but I’ve read and have traveled a lot. I’m not the most coordinated woman in the world, but I can play a lot of sports.

As far as having “meaty” arms, well… that’s a bit extreme. I could probably use some trips to the gym to tone up. Because as you know with poker, most of your time is spent sitting on your ass. Regardless, I am a size 4. 5’7″ 122 pounds. I don’t think anyone could call that FAT!”

Living With Depression While Dealing With Online Abuse

When someone mocked her for a rash they noticed on her skin, she again responded humbly to an uncomfortable topic millions of Americans deal with daily, and no doubt would have been an additional stress point for an aspiring model in the spotlight.

“For those of you who have seen my skin ~ mostly my arms, I have psoriasis. All my money over the past few months has gone to poker and grinding it out… I have not had the extra money to pay for the topical creams or the shots I need to clear it up. They are very expensive. 

The shots alone are painful and cost $2400. Clobetasol Propionate ~ which is the lesser expensive of my medicines ~ and Dovonex are both a couple hundred every month. 

It is not a fun condition to have. I could go tanning to clear it up a bit, but I would rather have nice young looking skin in thirty years than look like a leather shoe.”

As the drama progressed, posters circulated rumors the low-stakes poker newbie struggling for buy-ins was a long time prostitute. Questionable accusations to say the least, considering sex industry workers with model looks in “Sin City” were raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year at the time.

Members on the popular ‘Two Plus Two Poker Forum’ (2+2) however, feasted on the juicy gossip, posting comments that pushed the limits of acceptable free speech and exposed the site’s seemingly non existent “community standards” policy.     

“A friend of mine hit it for a G and she was OK” chirped one member still in good standing to this day, to which another responded, “wow! no way in hell would i ever pay $1000 for that skank – brandi, hope you’re reading this.” 

“I don’t think she is ugly” replied another, “She is girl-next-door cute on the verge of showing the road miles of being a hard-ridden stripper/whore.”

Another mused, “She’s a mentally ill, drugged out, gambling fiend, con-artist whore?”

Tens of thousands of hateful comments on poker’s most popular forums, enriching “wide-eyed” site owners, were circulated, regurgitating the salacious smears right up to the day she died… and beyond.

The reality is, forums like 2+2 thrive on negative comments and controversy, especially when it involves women. One of the sites owners, David Sklansky, who became embroiled in the drama himself, estimated the revenue generated from posts about BrandiRose to be around $50,000 (while ongoing). He left the door open to the possibility the controversial threads could garner millions, leaving one to speculate just how serious owners and moderators were about curtailing abuse in “highly viewed” threads.

BrandiRose isn’t the only female poker pro who suffered abuse at the hands of members on 2+2. In 2012 Annette Obrestad, who won the World Series of Poker Main Event in London at the age of 18, revealed she quit poker after being bullied on 2+2 over her appearance. 

“I wasn’t happy with the way I was treated in the poker community because I was overweight. I got a lot of hate for it. I got a lot of sh*t on forums for how I looked.”

Tellingly, in a post just a month prior to BrandiRose’s suicide, a 2+2 moderator apologized for not seeing a hateful thread directed at Annette.  

“I never saw the thread in question. If I saw those derogatory remarks I would have complained in the mod forum and tried to get those remarks or threads removed. I prefer to have all posters and persons treated in a civil manner on these forums.”

The member who brought up the complaint on Annette’s behalf wasn’t buying it.

“I find it odd that MM (2+2 owner Mason Malmuth) et al claim to have not realized threads such as the Annette one were pretty common place, considering they were some of the most highly viewed threads in one of, if not most, highly viewed forums on 2+2. For a company that prides itself on intelligent discourse, the logic of this entire situation is hard to follow.”

Following news of BrandiRose’s suicide, a poster on another forum, ‘Liquid Poker’, under the account “Baalim”, listed as an “Ex-PokerStars Team Pro Online”, mocked her death with an image of a hanging banana and the caption “The pics are out.”

Responding to trolls suggesting she was looking for handouts and would eagerly exchange sex for staking she responded, “I HAVE spent about six years traveling around the world, during which time I have had a lot of odd and end jobs. I have worked my ass off. 

At one time, I had three jobs and slept less than two hours per night. (I was a waitress at Applebees. I decorated cakes on a graveyard shift at a grocery store. I worked as a receptionist at my modeling agency. And I also took the occasional commercial print or modeling job.) I feel lucky and blessed right now to be doing what I love to do.

Right now, I am just trying to grind it out and come up with a bankroll so that I can play Indiana and Foxwoods. At this point in time, no one is staking me. 

For those of you who have offered support, I would like to say “thank you”. Please wish me good luck. I can only pray that God will continue to bless my life as he has over the past few weeks.”

Controversies With Powerful Men In Poker

On a ‘Two Plus Two’ post titled “Never Trust Anyone”, since deleted, but copied and shared on numerous forums, BrandiRose accused veteran poker player Tom Franklin of not returning a large part of her poker bankroll, Franklin insisted she hand over for “safekeeping.” She also accused the WSOP bracelet winner of making unwanted sexual advances toward her.

Franklin vehemently denied the allegations. No charges were ever filed.

In the post, BrandiRose said she had numerous backing offers after her WPT run, before being approached by Franklin.

“After Festa Al Lago, I was approached by various people who wanted to back me. Some of them wanted two-year deals, which I did not want to take. Others were complete sleaze bags who wanted to put me in tournaments as long as I slept with them ~ I’m not that sort of girl. Then, I was approached by Captain Tom Franklin…

He immediately duped me in with every word he spoke. He said that he wanted to help me. That he enjoys helping young people. And when they do well, he feels good about himself. He even gave me some names of top pros whom he has coached. 

He also said that we were going to have set times to meet so that it was all going to be very professional and that people would not get the wrong idea.

I asked what the wrong idea was and he said “Younger girl, older man” ~ and that he didn’t want people to assume that he was sleeping with me when that was not the case.

He used Doyle Brunson’s name ~ the fact that he is on the site (DoylesRoom) ~ and his own credentials to reel me in. Being who he was, and based on what he said, I believed him…

Things started off well while we were in Canada. We discussed hands, and he shared some basic information with me. I had no idea at that time of what was about to happen to me. 

He said that I should turn over my bankroll to him so that he could help manage my money. He talked about how much attention I was getting from guys and how easy it would be for me to be robbed.

Since he had been nothing but a respectable man who was helping me with my game, I did it. In a way, I guess I had looked up to him like a grandfather. And considering that he is famous, I didn’t expect for him to do anything shady. Still again, I was nowhere near prepared for the incidents that were about to take place…

I arrived in Indiana with a friend of mine. He took my friend out while I played satellites for the ME (main event). This is where things started to go bad… My friend came back that night completely trashed and stumbling, but she said she had fun. 

The next day Tom tried to turn my friend and I against each other. I know that he manipulated her into drinking so much. He had done that to me while I was in Canada. We had taken a break for the night and he kept buying me shots of whiskey even though I told him that I would not drink anymore and even gave the shots away. 

He told me my friend was an alcoholic and had run up a big tab. He said that I needed to get rid of her. What he really wanted was to have me alone for his own intentions…

The next night, he crawled into bed with me naked. His p*nis on my back, frightened me, and woke me in the middle of the night. 

I freaked out and spent the rest of the night in the bathroom. I crawled to sleep on the floor and used the towels as blankets. I was traumatized… I couldn’t understand why since I was a girl, I had to pay the fiddler. Obviously, the other people he backed and mentored weren’t expected to suck his d**k or do anything sexual with him. Why me?”

After hearing gossip circulating over the alleged incident, BrandiRose says Franklin reached out. 

“We met and he said that ‘What are you doing talking to people about this? Why do you think I am a bad guy? If I were a really bad guy, I would have raped you that night when I had the chance!’ … I said all I want is my money back. He gave me $500, claiming that was all he had on him and told me that he would give me the rest later… 

A few people were talking about how funny it was he was playing ($2-$5) and that he was obviously broke. I grew pissed. I wanted my money back right then and there. He started changing his story and saying instead that he did not owe me anything. We stopped talking.”

After a mediator failed to work out a reconciliation, the coaching arrangement ended. According to BrandiRose only $3,500 of the $12,000 she handed over to Franklin was ever paid back, leaving her broke and in a state of panic. 

Expenses such as travel, food, and lodging incurred on trips to Indiana, Canada, and Foxwoods called into question the exact total of the reported shortchange. 

The decision to share a room with the ravishing twenty-something was dismissed as a “cost saving” measure by fans of the grizzled reg, apparently now more concerned with saving a few bucks than people “getting the wrong idea.” 

To others it was obvious the ‘DOYLES ROOM’ pro had plotted for “alone time” from the moment he set eyes on the fresh mark.        

The anxiety brought on by the events, including Franklin’s “gloating” over his wily maneuvering, and little to no support from the “poker community”, led to an elevated state of depression for BrandiRose, and what some viewed as a “call for help” suicide attempt she referenced in her blog.  

“I was in tears the entire time I was in Foxwoods. I even tried to OD there and someone put their finger down my throat until I was able to throw everything up. I was miserable. Here I had trusted someone and was left stranded on the other side of the country with not even ten cents to my name.”

After Mark Newhouse, fresh off a $1.5M WPT win, took pity on poker’s latest “Bad Girl”, and paid for her flight home with the stipulation she pay him back, it was still evident BrandiRose remained in a dark, lonely place after the recent turn of events that left her penniless, just weeks after her own life-changing score. 

“I’ve been incredibly upset lately. And perhaps I have been acting crazy. Every day I want to die. I have no money. I have no car. I don’t know where I am going to live in two weeks ~ since I can’t pay rent. I don’t know what I am going to do for work ~ and NO I’m not going to [censored] strip! sorry.

To be honest, I don’t know what’s going to happen to me or where I’m going to go. What I need right now is some support and compassion and mercy. I need a gift from God and a miracle. Because of this situation, I’m now at a place where I feel as though I’m hanging to life by a shoestring. If you’ve seen me and I’ve acted a little strange, now you know why… I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

It’s not known who reached out first, or if BrandiRose was able to pay back the fresh millionaire for travel fair, but the next ‘Poker Tabloid’ news cycle had the model with sultry looks sharing a hotel room in L.A. with the frumpy 21-year-old poker champ.

According to Newhouse, it didn’t take long for the damsel in distress he rescued just weeks prior, to bite the hand that fed her. 

In a blistering post on 2+2, shared on multiple platforms, Newhouse, using the screen name ‘newhizzle’, accused the wide eyed rookie he had generously taken under his wing, of ripping him off.

As the poker prodigy explained it, while he was getting “buried” downstairs at the Commerce Casino in cash games, BrandiRose was up in their hotel room draining his online account. 

(Actual text): “the nigth that this happened, i was playing 4/8, stuck like 40 or 50k or so, and i was texting her while playing to check up on how she was doing, she told me that she was winningat first she was just supposed to be playing sitngoes, one of the nigths before, she got stuck a lot and started playing 15/30 and got stuck more, she has a way of making people feel really bad for her, so i didnt really get mad, but i told her not to play that big anymore and to stick to sitngoes while i wasnt around, and that some time i would teach her limit, but id prefer she didnt play 15/30 because she basically had no limit experience, another night, she started playing 5/10 NL without asking me first and she said she was winning,  but  i  told  her  id rather she play lower and she said shed stick to 3/6, what nigth different [censored] happened is kind of a blur, i was in a total frenzy for the whole trip, dealing with a lot of [censored] from her and losing a lot of money, defiantely playing badthe nigth she busted it… she was texting me and said she was doing very well, i was getting burried and definately not thinking clearly and for some reason i gave her permission to play 10/20 NL, but on the condition that she was very careful and that she only played if it was a very good game…” 

Newhouse, who ironically revealed he carelessly burned through his entire $1.5M bankroll over the next year and a half playing in “bad” games at high stakes, continued: 

“…really, i was in a frenzy, im [censored] stupid for telling her she could play anywhere near that big… when i got done playing, i went up and she was still playing, and she ended up playing a very long session, i was exausted, so i was like whatever...”

In the rant that went viral, Newhouse claimed BrandiRose ultimately lost the winnings she initially built up, plus the remaining money he had left in his account, “somewhere between 25 and $30k”, although he wasn’t certain.

The 21-year-old, who like many young pros at the time, spent years isolated in his “basement” playing online poker and card games like “Magic”, had a hard time adapting to a wild, jet-setting social life that included invites to glitzy VIP parties attended by the likes of Paris Hilton and James Woods.

While he masked a lack of social skills publicly, with alcohol and drugs, in his “basement” he lashed out. While most accepted his version of alleged larceny at the hands of the young, beautiful women in his life, his own words depict a scorned lover “drunk” on fame.

“i really shouldnt let myself get emotionally attached to any bitches…” 

BrandiRose disputed Newhouse’s version of events, including the amount lost, insisting it was closer to $5K, while pointing out he clearly gave her permission to play and was present at times, raising serious questions as to the motivation behind his tirade. 

Regardless of the glaring inconsistencies in Newhouse’s story, a blood thirdty mob was convinced BrandiRose was making a habit of using her sexy looks to take advantage of some of the game’s best and brightest stars. 

To be continued

Most of the threads on popular poker forums targeting BrandiRose were scrubbed from the internet following her death. Some were deleted while the scandal was ongoing. Despite this, much of what was posted was captured and reposted on private blogs, and is still accessible today. During our research we gathered information from multiple sources including “screenshots” and reposted threads, as well as the ‘Wayback Machine’, which is described by Wikipedia as a “digital archive” of the World Wide Web that allows users to go “back in time” to see what was displayed on a site on specific dates. *Due to the fact errors or a deliberate altering of text could have occurred when posts were transcribed to private blogs or shared, we make no claim with regard to the accuracy of the posts we share. In some of the posted emails allegedly sent to BrandiRose and shared by others, it’s pointed out (by posters themselves), the email addresses were deliberately altered. **We took the liberty of correcting spelling errors found in some posts, in order to provide a more pleasant reading experience. Some may also have been overlooked or left “as is”. None of the adjustments had an effect on the context of the posts. Links to original posts are provided in the online version of this article when available.