Benjamin Spindler

Online poker fans and players know him as Towelie or toweliestar, or possibly psychobenny. And live poker players are starting to see the power of Benny Spindler, as the young face on the tournament scene is chalking up big finishes across the globe.

Born in 1986, Benjamin Spindler hails from Darmstadt, Germany. In his youth, he fed his competitive needs by playing StarCraft, eventually becoming a C+ ranked player. But it wasn’t until his secondary education was completed that he took up the game of poker.

With online poker at his disposal and opportunities to play in some cash games, Spindler quickly took to the game and focused on building a bankroll. He moved from low stakes to higher ones, eventually becoming a feared player at the online cash and tournament tables.

When he first ventured to the live tournament scene in 2007, he found some minor success. His first cash came in the Austrian Classics in Vienna with a tenth place finish in a €300 NLHE event. Less than a week later, he made the final table of a €100 NLHE event and finished sixth. He also made a final table at the Vienna Spring Poker Festival in 2008.

But his breakout year was 2009. Spindler traveled to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where he took everyone by surprise with his live poker skills and finished third in the $10,000 NLHE Main Event for $1.1 million. His online monikers had a face and a pretty good live game.

His first tournament victory came back in Vienna at the Spring Poker Festival, where he won a €200 NLHE event for €18,140. He then traveled to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and cashed in one event before hitting the European Poker Tour London stop, where he finished in 12th place in the £5,000 NLHE Main Event for £28,000.

On to Marrakech for the World Poker Tour event there, Spindler made the final table of the €4,500 NLHE Main Event there, finishing sixth for €56,028.

Since then, Spindler has cashed in more EPT events, including final tables in side events at the 2010 EPT Vienna and EPT Berlin. And he finished second at the 2011 EPT Grand Final €25,000 High Roller event in Madrid for €316,000. In September 2011, Spindler picked up his first major tournament victory by defeating Steve O\’Dwyer in the EPT London Main Event. He collect £750,000 for the title and boosted his career tournament earnings to over $2,000,000.

The young newcomer to the live tournament scene resides in Frankfurt but travels the world in search of the type of live poker success that he found online. With his penchant for high stakes and his online reputation alongside him everywhere he goes, players are beginning to fear Benny Spindler.