Matt Marafioti  

Matt Marafioti is a Canadian professional poker player who made his first live-event cash in 2007. In the first 5 years, Matt cashed 25 times, made 11 final tables, won an Empire State Hold\\\\\\\’em Championship, made the money in 7 WSOP events, and earned over $1.8 million.

Matt was born on February 27, 1988. He was raised in Hillcrest, the eldest of two boys. His parents both worked in the medical industry, and provided a comfortable and privileged home life for their children. Matt attended De La Salle, a private Catholic high school where he played football, and endless video games. He started playing online poker when he was 17, and was instantly addicted after depositing $50 and playing for 24 hours straight.  His parents, however, were not happy with their son’s new hobby and installed firewalls on the computers, blocking him from poker sites.

While studying business at Queen’s University and living in the dorm, Matt borrowed $18 from a friend to play online. After playing around the clock for a week, he had built his bankroll up to $48,000. Playing on PokerStars as “ADZ124” since 2008, he earned over $300,000 in tournaments, including taking down a $5,200 Winner-Take-All event for $100,000. But it was in high-limit cash games of up to $200-$400 that he became known as one of the best high-stakes cash-game players online.

In 2009, Matt wanted a free ticket to the EPT, which required Supernova Elite status on PokerStars. He did the math and realized he needed to earn a million points, which would require him to play 15,000 hands a day. For the whole month of December, he played up to 35 tables at a time, amounting to more than 1,000 hands an hour. Sleeping only six hours a day, he reached his goal and became the newest Supernova Elite VIP.

When Matt was 19, he made his first live-event cash at the 2007 Empire State Hold’em Championship when he won the $5,000 NLHE Championship event for $198,473. His next cash was in 2009, when he finished 9th in the €500 NLHE at the EPT to earn €4,205. Since he was now 21, he attended his first WSOP where he cashed twice, finishing 12th in the $40,000 NLHE 40th Anniversary event to earn $172,120. To finish the year, he was runner-up for $165,985 in the $5,000 NLHE at the Bellagio Cup, and took 8th in the WPT Championship Event at the Legends of Poker to earn $52,320.

In 2010, Matt rented a 5,500-square-foot suite in Panorama Towers, which is a popular address with professional poker players in Las Vegas. His first 3 cashes of the year were at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), including a 10th-place finish for $27,160 in the $5,000 NLHE, and a 7th-place finish in the NAPT $25,000 NLHE High Roller to earn $87,465. After cashing at the Deep Stack Extravaganza and EPT San Remo, Matt was back at the WSOP where he made the made the money twice and finished runner-up in the $10,000 PLHE Championship for $381,507. He then cashed at the Borgata Poker Open, took 6th for £76,500 in the £20,000 NLHE High Roller event at EPT London, and was runner-up in the $3,000 NLHE for $27,645 at NAPT Los Angeles.

Matt cashed 8 times in 2011, starting with a 7th-place finish in the $25,000 NLHE High Roller Event at the PCA to earn $166,480. At the L.A. Poker Classic, he took 17th for $50,340 in the Championship Event, then made the money in 3 WSOP events, including a 5th-place finish in the $25,000 NLHE Heads-Up Championship for $138,852. To end the year, Matt cashed 3 times at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, which included a runner-up finish for $90,068 in the $5,000 NLHE, and earning $39,806 for finishing 15th in the WPT event.

To start 2012, for the 3rd year in a row, Matt made his first cash of the year at the PCA. In the $25,000 NLHE 8-Max High Roller event, he finished 11th to take home $72,520.

Matt is well known in the live-event arena not only for his success at the tables, but also for his wild prop bets with players like Tom Dwan, and for being brutally outspoken with his opponents. Even if his outbursts garner penalties, he takes it in stride, feeling that it is part of the price he pays for saying what he feels.

Dividing his time between Las Vegas and his new townhouse in Toronto where he can legally play online, Matt lives the luxurious life of a young millionaire. He drives an Aston Martin Vanquish which he purchased with his PokerStars Frequent Player Points. Last year Matt bought his father Sam, who also serves as his business manager, a $9,000 gold and silver Zegna fountain pen for Fathers Day.

Matt has said he lives too much in the moment to really think about the future much, but says if he decides to quit poker, he may get into real estate or make poker instructional videos. When he is away from poker, Matt enjoys shopping, eating at good restaurants, working out in the gym, and spending time with girlfriend and professional player Lauren Kling.