Winning the $150 rebuy on Full Tilt Poker is great. Taking home $88,000 is even better. Capping it all off with a week-long vacation to the Outer Banks is what they call “the nuts.” For Anthony holdplz Spinella, the trio of activities highlighted last week on the virtual felts of the world’s second largest online poker site. The $150 rebuy marked Spinella’s fourth largest online poker cash ever. Don’t forget that in July of 2008, he was in the winner’s circle of the Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed. Fresh off his vacation in Kitty Hawk, the birthplace of aviation, Spinella sat down with PocketFives.com to recap his win.Although his memory was blurred by a week of catching rays in the Outer Banks, Spinella gave his take on the $150 rebuy: “It's usually a fairly tough field, one of the tougher tournaments on Sunday.” On his keys to success in the high-stakes rebuy event that boasts a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool, the 41st player in the Online Poker Rankings noted, “Other than running well, it takes a solid combination of certain skills. Playing your best certainly helps and, in a tournament like that, knowing how to play post-flop is a huge key.” Past accolades have included runner-up efforts in the PokerStars Sunday Million for $96,000 and the Full Tilt $1K Monday for $61,000.
Spinella came out of the rebuy period with a small stack of just 5,000 chips. Then, he poured it on, setting himself up for success down the stretch. At the same time that he was busy rebuying in the $150 tournament, Spinella was also deep in the $256 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Knockout Six-Max tournament held during the 13th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). He wound up finishing in 90th place in the contest for just under $1,000. All told, he piled up $113,000 in tournaments that are tracked for the Rankings over the first 12 days of August.
Following the win in the $150 rebuy was a semi-planned trip to the Outer Banks (pictured at left). Spinella and company could be found camped out in a beach house in Kitty Hawk. On his mindset following his big win compared to other top-tier finishes he’s had, Spinella commented, “There is nothing like the first time you have that big score. Every one after that is just as great or better, but definitely not as exciting. This one, though, was fairly exciting. I've been getting deep in a lot of tournaments lately and everything would just go up in flames with a couple of tables left, so it was great to finally close one out.”He leapt from #66 worldwide in the Rankings to #41. He holds the 26th best Pro Poll score, firmly establishing himself as one of the best around. On the Rankings, which helped put PocketFives.com on the map, he commented, “The Rankings don't mean all that much to me, but I peaked at #11 in the past and would have liked to break the Top 10, so if I start getting closer, I'll put in a little more effort.” He added that, between the end of the inaugural PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) in April and the end of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in July, he put in very little volume online.
Last winter, Spinella, a former lacrosse player, took up snowboarding. He’s now looking forward to cold weather returning to North Carolina and explained, “I'm still learning and it's really just a hobby. The first week or so learning how to ride, combined with how out of shape I am, was definitely the hardest and most painful part about it. From there on, snowboarding is just like poker: put in volume, analyze yourself, and get better.”While not falling on the slopes, he’s focused squarely on the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). He forecasted, “After the WCOOP, I may start playing live again, putting in volume around the live circuit now that I'm 21, but we'll see. If I win a bunch in the upcoming months, I may just slow down a bit and relax for awhile.” The 2009 WCOOP kicks off on September 3rd, wrapping up 17 days later with a $5,200 buy-in Main Event featuring at least $10 million up for grabs.
Congratulations to Anthony holdplz Spinella for taking down the $150 rebuy on Full Tilt Poker.
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