A 27-year-old college dropout-turned-poker pro is the latest winner at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas.

The dropout/pro, Jordan Smith of Tool, Texas, USA, won WSOP Event #36, a no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament that had a buy-in of $2,000, a prize pool of about $3 million, a total of 1,695 entrants and 172 payouts.

The victory earns Smith his first career WSOP championship gold bracelet and more than a half-million bucks–$586,212 to be exact.

Taking second was Ken Lennaard of Stockholm, Sweden, snagging $360,439.

Coming in third was Laurence Grondin of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, collecting $237,537.

Top poker names cashing in at the event include Dustin Dirksen in 61st place, David “Chino” Rheem in 80th, Mike Binger in 98th and Darus Suharto in 138th.

As for Smith, who dropped out of junior college at age 21 to become a professional poker player, he told reporters after the victory: “I play for a living. I play for money. But so far as prestigious things go, winning the gold bracelet is the only goal to have.

“I wanted to win a gold bracelet and make a million-dollar score. I’m past half of that now. This definitely came at the right time. I usually get blessed when I need it the most.

“I guess I am very fortunate. I was not sure if I was going to come. I was pretty much broke. It’s been a rough year or so. I was looking for backers and people turned me down. Now I guess they are not too happy about that.”?

The 2009 WSOP is taking place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and runs until mid-July.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)