Bill Edler plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

It's taken Bill Edler many years to become an overnight success in the poker world.

Bill first began playing poker while putting himself through law school at the University of California Berkley. By the time he graduated, Bill says, the game had so captured his attention that he never even bothered sitting for his bar exam. Instead, Bill grabbed a regular seat at the Casino San Pablo near San Francisco and honed his game while working as a prop player.

Eventually, both Bill's game and his position at the casino improved and he worked his way up to become the casino’s poker room manager. It was during this time that Bill developed his friendship with Team Full Tilt’s Erick Lindgren, who he hired to fill his old position as the poker room’s prop player.

In 2005, Bill began focusing more on his tournament play and his results soon began piling up. That year, he went deep in both the WSOP’s $2,500 Limit Hold ‘em and $5K Pot-Limit Hold ‘em tournaments, and posted a strong finish at the WPT’s $10K Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship at Bellagio. He cashed in numerous tournaments over the next year and then made his first WSOP final table appearance at the 2006 $1K 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo event where he finished fifth.

In 2007, Bill recorded his best year ever. He kicked things off by winning the $10K No-Limit Hold ‘em Championships in February and then posted back-to-back WPT final table appearances at the LA Poker Classic and the Bay 101 Shooting Stars events, finishing in seventh place and sixth place, respectively.

In June 2007, Bill earned his first-ever WSOP bracelet and pocketed more than $900K after winning the $5K No-Limit Hold ‘em Short-Handed event. A week later, he earned another $333K after finishing 23rd in the WSOP’s Main Event. He finished the year on another strong note after collecting his first WPT Championship and another $747K at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship in Biloxi.

Away from live events, Bill spends his time with his wife and family at their Las Vegas home, and can often be found playing at ring game and tournament tables on Full Tilt Poker.