Alec Torelli
| Alec Torelli | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | traheho |
| Born | March 24, 1987 Orange County, California, U.S. |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | 2 |
| Money finish(es) | 4 |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | 2 |
| Money finish(es) | 3 |
| European Poker Tour | |
| Money finish(es) | 2 |
Alec Michael Torelli (born March 24, 1987), also known by his moniker Traheho, is a professional poker player from Orange County, California who specializes in live high stakes cash games.[1][2] Torelli was formerly sponsored by Doyles Room.[3]
Poker career
[edit]Torelli began playing poker in 2004 after a friend invited him to a home game of poker, where he won $12. His first live poker event was in the Bahamas in January 2006. After turning 21, Torelli moved to Las Vegas. During his first World Series of Poker (WSOP), he finished second in the $10,000 Heads Up event. Later that fall, Torelli won back-to-back events at the Bellagio. The next summer, he placed sixth in the commemorative $40,000, 40-year anniversary WSOP event, and fourth in the World Poker Tour at the Bellagio.[citation needed]
As of 2023, Torelli has amassed over $2,200,000 in poker tournament winnings.[4]
Controversy
[edit]In 2017, members of the 2+2 forum initiated a debate on whether or not Alec Torelli engaged in angle shooting during a hand played in the fourth episode of the fifth season of Poker Night in America,[5][6] that aired on CBS Sports Network the previous year. Torelli was first accused of engaging in angle shooting during a televised episode of Poker Night in America by members on the 2+2 forum. Later, professional poker player Doug Polk released a video questioning the ethics of the hand played during the episode.[7][8] During the hand, larger denomination chips totaling $10,000 were placed behind smaller denomination chips in Torelli's stack of poker chips. Poker etiquette and rules in casinos require that larger denomination chips have to be in plain view. This influenced Torelli's isolated opponent in the hand, Daniel Wolf, who ended up losing $10,000 more than he believed was at stake.[9] Following the hand, Torelli stated that he used his opponent's surprise at the discovery of the high-value chips as a "read" to determine that his opponent's hand was mediocre. Later, Torelli posted a video on YouTube faulting his opponent for not knowing his chip stack size.[10] A year after the hand took place, professional poker player Doug Polk released a video questioning the ethics of the hand,[11] provoking a backlash on social media. Torelli responded on his YouTube channel[12] and in an interview on the “Nick Vertucci Show”.[6] Torelli was defended by poker professionals Daniel Negreanu,[13] Brian Rast[14] and Charlie Carrel,[15] who deemed the controversy to be disproportionate and unfair.
References
[edit]- ^ Arnett, Kristy (November 26, 2013). "Strategy with Kristy: Alec Torelli Talks How to Decide If You Should Go Play Poker". PokerNews Global. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ^ "Hellmuth, Elias, Shak Confirmed for This Weekend's Poker Night in America SugarHouse". PokerNews.com. April 22, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ^ Murphy, Stephen A. (August 18, 2009). "'The Brunson 10' Hopes to Take DoylesRoom to New Heights". CardPlayer. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ^ "Alec Torelli's profile on The Hendon Mob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
- ^ "Twitch". Twitch.
- ^ a b "THE NICK VERTUCCI SHOW "ALEC TORELLI DISCUSSES 'THE HAND'! " #040". February 27, 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ Burnett, Andrew. "Doug Polk Calls Out Alec Torelli Over Poker Night In America Angleshoot". PokerTube. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
- ^ Burnett, Andrew (July 8, 2017). "Torelli Releases Unedited Footage Of The Alleged Angle Shoot Incident & Fires Back At Polk". PokerTube. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
- ^ Sofen, Jon (July 4, 2017). "Alec Torelli (Finally) Responds to Doug Polk's Angle Shooting Accusation". Cardschat. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
- ^ "New Detailed Video Analysis of Alec Torelli "Chip hiding" Scandal Emerges". HighstakesDB. July 13, 2017. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
- ^ "Did Alec Torelli ANGLESHOOT An Amateur On Television?". June 1, 2017. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Alec Torelli Response to Doug Polk: The REAL & UNEDITED STORY (Torelli vs. Wolf - PNIA)". July 3, 2017. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ @RealKidPoker (July 26, 2018). "Still boggles my mind that somehow people have been tricked and convinced that Alec Torelli was shooting an angle trying to play a massive pot with ACE QUEEN. Truly shameful to pin him as an angle shooter for that silliness. Absurd". x.com.
- ^ @tsarrast (April 6, 2023). "I never watched the hand originally. After watching the full in-edited hand, really don't see how this is angling ever. Crazy this was a thing. Obviously a shitty spot, and people should always keep big chips out - but fwiw this happens regularly in cash games for various reasons and it usually isn't angling. Many people instinctively keep their big chips somewhere safe - which often isn't clearly visible to the entire table. You should always ask someone for a count before moving them all-in if you're not 100% sure more or less how much they have. Lesson learned the hard way for this guy". x.com.
- ^ @Charlie_Carrel (April 6, 2023). "Most people I speak to about it don't think @AlecTorelli intentionally hid his chips in the infamous hand. Looking at the footage, it's not even close whether it was intentional. The amount of hate from the hand is wildly disproportionate and stupid". x.com.