Recently, a thread appeared on PocketFives.com entitled “HOF sunday for mr. grippolio.” Buffalo Grove, Illinois native gittindrunk started the discussion, which focused on one profitable weekend day for Nick Grip Grippo (pictured). Nick walked away with three final tables and over $100,000 in earnings following the most successful Sunday of his career at the online poker tables. The largest score of his Sunday was a win in the Full Tilt Poker $150 rebuy for $54,000. PocketFives.com caught up with Grippo to rehash his monumental performance.

What’s the key to stringing together three top six finishes and banking more than $100,000 in a single afternoon? Grippo told PocketFives.com, “Play well and run even better. It was literally just one of those days I was in the zone. Everything I was doing was working. My 4bets were on point every time. They don’t come along often, but when they do, you have to take advantage of them.”

On the same day as his $150 rebuy win on Full Tilt, Grippo final tabled the PokerStars Sunday Million, bowing out in sixth place for $48,000. On how he balanced the two events, which ran simultaneously, Grippo recalled, “I had a huge stack in the $150 rebuy and was going deep in the Million at the same. My #1 priority was the $150 rebuy. For some reason, I always seem to close that tournament pretty well. It’s pretty absurd that I’ve won it four times and at this point I’m not really sure if it’s coincidence or not. It’s deep-stacked and has a good structure; I guess it just fits my skill set well.”

In April 2009, Grippo finished second to PokerStars player confused28 in the Sunday Warm-Up for $95,000, his largest online poker cash to date. This year, he was blanked from the money in the World Series of Poker (WSOP), so coming back strong was critical to his psyche: “It’s definitely vindicating to be able to do well online when the WSOP is going badly. If I were losing online too, my spirits would probably be way lower, but to be able to gain those buy-ins back online and still end up making money this summer while getting crushed live feels really good.” Grippo coughed up buy-ins for about 20 tournaments at the Rio.

A throng of solid poker talent congratulated Grippo on his epic Sunday, including JLizard (pictured), Scott SCTrojans Freeman, JMaster130, and Alex ArgentinaBoy Queen. He’s surrounded himself with top minds: “Being able to talk hand histories with some of the best players online is key. I’d never be where I’m at today if I weren’t able to bounce ideas off of everyone I’ve met through poker.” This author has mentioned Grippo’s name in feature articles at least a couple of dozen times, showcasing his vast network of peers.

Grippo shot up to #54 in the Online Poker Player Rankings as a result of his continued success on the virtual felts. He was up 30 spots to #64 worldwide and then ascended another 12 places when the Rankings were recalculated in July 21st. He noted that the Pro Poll, not the overall Rankings, is his primary focus: “The Rankings, while it feels great to be able to climb up the ladder, don’t really matter all that much to me. I’d say my Pro Poll is something that intrigues me more. Just having the respect of my peers is all I really need and I don’t put in as much volume as most of those guys.” Grippo is 50th in the Pro Poll.

The stellar day also featured a third place finish in the PokerStars $200 rebuy for $18,000. Among Grippo’s major influences has been Mark dipthrong Herm (pictured): “He opened my eyes to so much stuff that I had no idea was going on. My game completely evolved just by chatting poker with him and I haven’t looked back since.” Also playing a major role in his success and development were brothers Ryan RJules12 Julius and Kyle KJulius10 Julius.

Check out the thread in Poker Discussion for more reaction.