Matt Dean '03 is good with numbers. So good, in fact, that the professional math tutor, who plans to teach high school math in the near future, recently won $675,000 at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. "I've never been great at calculus," he confesses, "but I can calculate percentages at a poker table."

Dean placed 7th out of 2,576 players-an impressive showing considering it all started with a $32 online stake. ESPN began airing the tournament in early July. Dean will be featured in the final round with eight other players in late August. "I'm not in a rush to breeze through my winnings, but if my sponsor wants to continue paying for my tournaments, I may make enough money this year to consider playing poker full time."

And what do his parents think about that? "They are very excited for me. At first my parents were a little bit skeptical when I woke them up at four in the morning to tell them I qualified for the World Series of Poker. But they knew it was a dream of mine to play; so once they got over the initial shock, they were thrilled." It was his mother, Heather, who began teaching him the art of poker, beginning at age five.

During his fraternity days at Southwestern, he honed his skills in the Pi Kappa Alpha house, playing for pennies. Poker aside, Dean was an accomplished student at Southwestern, majoring in accounting, earning praise from faculty in the Department of Economics and Business. After leaving Southwestern, he entered law school but quickly lost interest. He returned to his family home in The Woodlands and began tutoring kids in math at Oak Ridge High School.

While the hoopla-and the purse-have convinced Dean to postpone teaching for one year, he remains committed to educating high school students about mathematics. He also still credits Southwestern for developing his intellect and character. "All of the classes at Southwestern really challenged me in different ways. Classes like anthropology and ethics forced me to think about the world differently than I did in high school. I'd like to think that I'm a lot more well-rounded."

Dean recently purchased a home in Houston, but says he plans to get to Georgetown regularly. He enjoys attending major campus events and visiting his brother, Drew, who begins his senior year at Southwestern this fall.