Matt "ADZ124" Marafioti is back with the much-anticipated second installment of his poker story. In Part 1 we heard about massive online heaters and personal life experiences.
Part 2 doesn't disappoint with big swings and even bigger wins from the times when high-stakes online poker was still in its infancy. Read on for the whole story and click through here to get up to speed with Part 1.
I came home from school before my finals had even begun, and was already playing in underground games in Toronto at the time. I was being hustled and angle-shot and it made me a better player in the long run.
At one point two guys from the underground game offered me a ride to Turningstone Casino, the one real casino I was old enough to play in at the time. At the last minute I decided to go and I actually ended up winning the tournament outright, with both other players I went with also coming in the top nine.
It was an incredible feeling and it gave me confidence. In the months that followed, I went on to run my $350,000 bankroll into over $1.7 million dollars (none of which I had to pay taxes on in Canada).
It was a dream, I could not believe it. I went from being a student to picking up 40 grand in cash from underground games, sending the money to gangsters online and playing them for it with Brian Hastings on Full Tilt and beating them.
It was a win-win situation. I went to the Bahamas that year and had never had $800k online before. I decided to lend $40k to a guy we’d been playing a lot with since he was great action for the games. That $40k then became $80k, and $80k somehow became $155,000!
He promised me the money back in 3 months but it never happened. It’s been 3 years and I only have $90,000 CAD back and remember, we’re talking US here when the exchange rate was .71, so he owes me another 90 and has not given me a penny for over a year.
I ran so bad at the PCA that year. I called a guy on a string raise and ended up losing my main event when I squeezed in that pot with a nut flush draw versus kings and aces. I lost two pots totaling well over $120,000 with top two pair all-in before the river on both occasions, one to bottom pair flush draw and one to bottom two-pair verse my top two-pair and flush draw.
I played the $3k side event and I was already down over $200k on the trip. With 20 people left I raised AQ in the cut off and got shoved on by Danny Wong in the small blind. I tanked with my AQ and called him. He had AJ and it ran out K98710. I was on life tilt.
I went home from the PCA and before unpacking my bags I played Lars Luzak my friend Sami, heads-up 200/400 on full tilt and lost $98,000 in the first 30 minutes of being home.
I got it in super bad the first hand, with 6♠ 8♠ on a Q-10-9ss flop against AJss. The next pot we got it in again on the flop for $88,000 in a 3bet pot. I had 22 on J-9-2 rainbow and he had K♣ J♣ and hit running clubs.
It sucked, but not as much as the one outer I took the next day from justthenuts on full tilt for $98,000. We got all-in on A-J-6-4 with two spades and I had A♠ Q♠ and he held K♣ K♥. Yes he rivered the Kd. It sucked
We went on a family trip to Aruba where I was 40-tabling on life tilt, timing out Jacks on 8-4-3 boards at 25/50 when someone led the flop because I was playing 200/400 and 25/50 PLO not knowing how to play (calling bets for 4k on the river with the As in my hand thinking I had a flush).
I was young, reckless, and I had no idea how hard some people work to make that kind of money.
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