The Full Tilt Online Poker Series has been a life-changing experience for many PocketFivers and players around the world. With millions of dollars on the line, its events have brought in swarms of players, from the Average Joe to pokerās elite, to the virtual felts of the online poker site. In Event #10 of FTOPS IX, Dave DoubleDave22 DāAlesandro scored $102,000 for third place, the largest payday of the youngsterās online poker career. The $322 buy-in no limit event attracted an enormous field of 4,982 players, each looking to grab their slice of a $1.5 million guarantee. PocketFives.com sat down with DāAlesandro to learn more about this rising poker star.
DāAlesandro is fresh off a $14,616.27 win in the $69 buy-in $35,000 Guarantee on Full Tilt Poker. That win occurred two weeks ago and at the time was his largest cash ever. Now, heās logged a massive $100,000 payday. DāAlesandro commented on his accomplishment: āConsidering my second largest cash was $14,000 and my third largest was $3,900, I am having a hard time wrapping my head around how much money it really is. It feels amazing to have hit a six-figure payday so soon after hitting five-figures.ā
DāAlesandro hails from Wenonah, New Jersey just outside of Philadelphia. He commented on his expectations for his tournament life after reaching the final table: āI didnāt go into the final table short-stacked because the structure was really solid. I knew that even though I wasnāt a big stack, I actually had a legitimate chance. I got a really bad table draw, so I just knew that I had to be patient, especially early on.ā In this case, patience paid off in a big way.
Itās not every day that $102,000 falls into your lap. For DāAlesandro, the money represents a world of possibilities. On how he plans on spending his hard-earned winnings, DāAlesandro quipped, āIāve never been much of a spender. I think Iām going to buy a nice flat screen television for my apartment at school, a new Les Paul electric guitar, and invest a good percentage of it. I am planning on cashing out a large portion of the money, but will leave more on Full Tilt Poker than Iām used to in order to play higher stakes.ā
Like many PocketFivers, DāAlesandro got his start by playing with friends in home games at the height of the poker boom: āMy friends put together a home game and I came to that completely clueless, but also fascinated with the game. Then, I found out about online poker and played Ultimate Bet freerolls for a few months just for fun.ā He is now a junior at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. He discusses his friendsā outlook on his poker game: āMy friends are very supportive, but they don't play. I treat them to dinner when I win money, so they donāt mind me skipping the occasional weeknight party to play. I have made a lot of friends over the years who I discuss hands with online.ā
Tournaments with nearly 5,000 entrants pose a unique set of challenges for an up-and-coming poker player like DāAlesandro. He assesses how he had to adjust his game with a massive field on his heels: āThe biggest challenge was getting used to the play deep in the tournament. At any given table, there were at least two very aggressive players. I am used to mid-stakes tournaments where I try to be the table captain, but that just didnāt seem possible in this tournament.ā
On advice for new poker players, DāAlesandro offers the following: āWork on your game! Some people think that just by playing they will get better. This may be true, but that process is very slow. Join a training site, even if you already have results. Make friends in the poker world and go over bust-outs with them. I canāt stress enough how important it is to study the game; if youāre not willing to do that, you arenāt going to get where you want to be.ā Sites like PocketFives.com have become an important networking tool for rising online poker players looking for hand advice as well as strategies to improve their own games. DāAlesandro noted, āPocketFives has been a great place for me to learn. I post hands from every session I play and try to take criticism to heart.ā
In addition to PocketFivers who have supported him during the āday in the lifeā threads heās made, DāAlesandro sends shout outs to TheGFactor, Cobere32, Jhendricks09, Aaron Hacker, Illnugwichee, Jeffthomas15, Hattrick8810, Nickdodoublegee, JBT449, Highlight11, Gags30, and āmy man who is on a sick heater,ā Ryan Welch. We expect to see big things in the future from Dave DoubleDave22 DāAlesandro.
Visit Full Tilt Poker for a complete FTOPS IX schedule.
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