Bryan Piccioli

28-year old New York state pro Bryan Piccioli is a former online crusher turned live tournament pro after Black Friday hit the poker world, with almost $2million in lifetime live earnings, which are set to be at least doubled after he reached the final table of the 2017 WSOP Main Event.

Piccioli, who now lives in San Diego, studied at the University of Buffalo before realising that his future lay in poker, getting into the game at the height of its ‘Moneymaker Effect’ boom, his $6million+ in online winnings validating his choice of career.

His first really big live score came when he took down the AUS$1100 buy-in Accumulator event at the 2013 WSOP Asia-Pacific (APAC) in Melbourne, winning a bracelet and US$221,419.

It would be another 18 months before his next big success, scooping the WPT 5 Diamond Classic $5k event in Las Vegas, and $166,047 in the bank. His biggest live success, financially, came last year (2016) when he finished 3rd in the WPT Bay101 Shooting Star event in San Jose - $493,350 adding to a very successful first half of the year.

His deep run in this year’s Main Event has already secured him $1million, and he entered the final table 4th in chips, and as one of the pros at the table he would be seeking the bracelet and the $8.15million which go with it.