The Shadow of Chad Brown’s Smile

Late last night, Chad Brown passed away in New York City, the place of his birth.  He died at the excruciatingly unjust age of 52.  I was asked to write a tribute to Chad, which appears HERE at WSOP.com.  Writing that narrative reminded me of an afternoon with him earlier this year.  I had the opportunity to visit Chad here in Las Vegas.  At the time, he was staying with Vanessa Rousso.  Although the pair had already been divorced for a few years by then, they remained very close and were good friends until the very end of his life.  Accompanying me on that day was Rich Korbin, the longtime marketing executive at PokerStars.com.  This is the story of that special time and place.