Anthony Spinella wins first ever WSOP Online Bracelet Event for $197k

History was written on the 4^th of July, and I’m not just referring to the celebration of the United States’ Independence Day of 1776. I’m talking about Anthony Spinella, the virtual felt grinder who took down the very first World Series of Poker online bracelet event on Saturday.

Anthony “casedimissed”  Spinella was one of 905 entrants to the epic online bracelet event of the 2015 WSOP. The $1,000 buy-in resulted in an overall prize pool of $859,750. By the time it was all over, the native New Yorker and current resident of Playa del Carmen found himself $197,743 richer.

The recipient of the first ever WSOP online bracelet was elated when he spoke to the press after his exalting win. “It feels good to win this,” said Spinella.  “I’ve been playing for a long time now and always want to win one, so this really feels great.”

Perhaps just as interesting as Anthony Spinella’s historic victory over the weekend is the fact that he almost didn’t even participate in the WSOP online bracelet tournament. He had no intention of playing the event to begin with; that is, until he received a phone call from a friend who was already participating at WSOP.com.

About an hour into the event, Spinella was awoken by the phone call and informed that the field “appeared soft”. He immediately logged onto WSOP.com and deposited enough funds to register for the $1,000 online bracelet event. Three days later, Anthony Spinella earned his place in the WSOP record books.

The American online poker pro has been grinding away at the virtual tables for years now. Originally from New York City, Spinella relocated to Playa del Carmen after the events of Black Friday so that he could continue playing the game he loved over the internet.

Fortunately, despite having no intention of playing in the online bracelet tournament, the American poker player had traveled to Nevada for the 2015 WSOP. Only players physically located in the state were permitted to enter Event #64, $1,000 WSOP.com Online NL Holdem.

Anthony Spinella wins WSOP Online Bracelet

The final 6 exited the virtual realm and made their way to the Thunderdome at the Rio on Saturday to finish out the WSOP online bracelet event in person. The chip counts to start were as follows:

The low stack, David Tuthill was able to hold on long to watch Ryan Franklin finish in 6^th ($33,530) after shipping his stack against Anthony Spinella. Franklin held a beautiful A♠ K♦, but it wasn’t quite as beautiful as the pocket Aces (Ah A♦) of Spinella.

Tuthill was the next to visit the rails in 5^th ($47,286), also at the hands of Spinella, when he ran an uncooperative 9♠ 10♠ straight/flush draw into the A♦ K♥ of the NY native. Next out was Andrew Rose in 4^th ($55,884), whose Q♠ J♠ became the victim of Hunter Cichy’s K♦ Q♥, escalating to a triad of Kings on the turn.

With three remaining, it took close to an hour for Cichy to finish off Craig Varnell. Cichy was ahead with K♣ 9♣ to Varnell’s Q♦ 8♣, but Craig paired 8’s on the flop to take the lead. Hunter reclaimed the position on a K♥ turn and it held up, sending Varnell out in 3^rd ($73,079).

Heads-up play between Cichy and Spinella lasted only 22 minutes, with Anthony leading 7mm to 2mm to start. On the final hand of play, the New Yorker shoved his stack from the button, getting the call from Cichy.

Anthony Spinella: J♠ 7♥
Hunter Cichy: Q♥ 4♥

The 7♣ A♣ A♥ flop put Spinella ahead with two pair, and that’s all it took to finish off the fellow American from Coon Rapids, Minnesota. The K♣ turn and 9♣ river were no help to Cichy, who claimed his fourth 2015 WSOP cash of $116,066 for the 2^nd place finish.

Anthony Spinella collected $197,743 and his first piece of poker jewelry for winning the 2015 WSOP online bracelet event.