ShareMichael Addamo is one of the in-form high stakes players currently crushing the live tournament scene. Over the last few years he has been on an incredible run that has rarely been matched in poker history and recently he gave fans a glimpse into how it all started and how he approaches the game in an interview with PokerNews.
How Michael Addamo Got into Poker
Chess was Michael Addamo’s first love, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that he crossed over to poker in the same way as many other successful players who realised that the skill set was similar. Dan Smith is another high stakes crusher who followed the same path.“I was enticed by the in-depth strategy and intricacies of each spot, and I loved observing the patterns and exploiting my opponent's mistakes. I had a lot of self-belief I could do extremely well at the game, and ultimately make it to the high stakes, nothing would stop me.“
In the end, it was the “enthralling” aspect of putting his own “hard-earned” money on the line for his decisions that made him cross over entirely.
When asked what makes him one of the most difficult players to face on the high-stakes circuit, he explains that his propensity to use big bet sizings helps him “to extract both maximum value and to garner folds from the weaker parts” of his opponent's holdings.
He also makes it clear that he is a master of being able to detach himself completely from the money at stake when it comes to pulling the trigger.
“...if I think it is the optimal spot to do so, I have no issues being able to pull the trigger in those big spots. “
Michael Addamo’s Incredible 2021 Run
Michael Addamo’s amazing run at the end of 2021 remains one of the best we will ever see. His PokerGO Tour record over 41 days included four wins, and a second and third place. This was topped off with a pair of victories in the World Series of Poker in Event #38: $50,000 High Roller and Event #87: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em.We can assure you that nobody saw that coming. These nine cashes amounted to an eye-watering $9,418,837.
“That fall I achieved incredible tournament success, something I could not have imagined I would have come close to attaining. Obviously, there is quite a lot of luck involved in a run like that, but I also felt at the top of my game and in tune with each spot and was able to reach a level of hyper-focus throughout that series.”
People might not be aware that Michael Addamo didn’t even start his poker career until after Black Friday in 2011.
There was no easy ride during the poker boom to build his skills up; he was straight into the melting pot undeterred.
At the time of writing, Addamo has $22,042,799 in live tournament winnings and we be confident he will soon be challenging for the top spots on the all time winners list.
