Alec Torelli, is very much the pro of the life hack generation, a regular high stakes cash game player, occasional tournementista, poker coach, self-help guru, Instagram traveller, blogger, vlogger, Tweeter, writer and self-marketer.
A regular on cash game programs like Poker Night in America and Live At The Bike, Torelli is a recognisable face in the poker world. This high profile has put him in the firing line a couple of times, most notably chipgate in which $10,000 in large chips weren’t front and centre during a hand, leading to accusations of angle-shooting from poker pundit Doug Polk among others.
An Early Start
Alec Torelli started playing poker when he was 16, finding that the boom triggered by Moneymaker’s first place in the WSOP served his young self well. By the time he was nineteen he was a multi-tabling cash pro, mixing in the odd tournament to keep things crunchy.
One of those tourneys was his big break, satelliting him into the $5,000 UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic. Taking eighth in Aruba event in September 2006 gave him $39,730 and the confidence to take his name to the next level.
Nowadays as well as his regular TV appearances, Torelli spends a lot of time playing cash in Macau, in the sort of high stakes poker games that stirred up many a Tom Dwan/Triad rumour.
Along the way he’s picked up three tournament titles and $1,517,086 in winnings. Of that $336,896 was for a second place finish in the $10,000 Heads Up Poker Championship in the 2008 World Series of Poker.
The Internet Star
In 2013 he started vlogging his adventures, along with hand analyses and short tutorials on poker, good living and in particular productivity. With 28.5k followers and a long back catalogue – he vlogged most weeks for the last four and a half years – he was well positioned to take advantage when Andrew Neeme kicked off the poker vlogging boom in 2016.
Torelli also sells coaching and courses from his website, selling his expertise and time as a low-variance side-hustle to go with the high-stakes poker playing.
