By
Dan |
Published
Aug 12 2008, 10:31 PM
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 poker’s elite, to the virtual felts of the online poker site. In Event #10 of FTOPS IX, Dave DoubleDave22 D’Alesandro scored $102,000 for third place, the largest payday of the youngster’s 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 D’Alesandro to learn more about this rising poker star.
D’Alesandro 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, he’s logged a massive $100,000 payday. D’Alesandro commented on his accomplishment: “Considering 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.”
D’Alesandro hails from Wenonah, New Jersey just outside of Philadelphia. He commented on his expectations for his tournament life after reaching the final table: “I didn’t go into the final table short-stacked because the structure was really solid. I knew that even though I wasn’t 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.” In this case, patience paid off in a big way.
It’s not every day that $102,000 falls into your lap. For D’Alesandro, the money represents a world of possibilities. On how he plans on spending his hard-earned winnings, D’Alesandro quipped, “I’ve never been much of a spender. I think I’m 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 I’m used to in order to play higher stakes.”
Like many PocketFivers, D’Alesandro got his start by playing with friends in home games at the height of the poker boom: “My 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.” He is now a junior at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. He discusses his friends’ outlook on his poker game: “My friends are very supportive, but they don't play. I treat them to dinner when I win money, so they don’t 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.”
Tournaments with nearly 5,000 entrants pose a unique set of challenges for an up-and-coming poker player like D’Alesandro. He assesses how he had to adjust his game with a massive field on his heels: “The 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 didn’t seem possible in this tournament.”
On advice for new poker players, D’Alesandro offers the following: “Work 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 can’t stress enough how important it is to study the game; if you’re not willing to do that, you aren’t going to get where you want to be.” 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. D’Alesandro noted, “PocketFives has been a great place for me to learn. I post hands from every session I play and try to take criticism to heart.”
In addition to PocketFivers who have supported him during the “day in the life” threads he’s made, D’Alesandro sends shout outs to TheGFactor, Cobere32, Jhendricks09, Aaron Hacker, Illnugwichee, Jeffthomas15, Hattrick8810, Nickdodoublegee, JBT449, Highlight11, Gags30, and “my man who is on a sick heater,” Ryan Welch. We expect to see big things in the future from Dave DoubleDave22 D’Alesandro.
Visit Full Tilt Poker for a complete FTOPS IX schedule.