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 It
seems that the modern poker world is breeding geniuses at an alarming rate. Gone are the days of paying one’s dues for years, before being
on par with the best in the world. The days of grinding it out on the green felt have been traded for the virtual felt, and the young pros
emerging from online poker are taking over. One star who has proven himself as a force to be reckoned with is Matt Hawrilenko, a Limit
Hold’em specialist who caught everyone’s eye playing high stakes online cash games and then continuing to tear it up at the 2009 World Series of Poker.
Originally from Hanover, Massachusetts, just outside Boston, Hawrilenko didn’t discover poker until 2003 when the then 21 year
old was interning for the summer in Washington, DC. He was immediately drawn to the game and became a full time player after only two
years. Before going pro, Hawrilenko was employed by the Susquehanna Financial Group, where he worked as an options trader. Perhaps not
so coincidentally, the Group previously employed several World Series of Poker bracelet winners such as Bill Chen, Jay Sipelstein,
Eric Brooks, Jerrod Ankenman, Matt Glanz and Rep Porter.
Sharing his foundation with some of the world’s best players, Hawrilenko was determined to rise to the occasion and join his fellow
former traders in the world of high stakes poker. He first started playing $.10/$.25 No-Limit Hold’em ring games online, but quickly
decided that Limit Hold’em was more his speed. Hawrilenko worked his way up, and soon became feared in the world of online poker,
using his strong mathematical skills to frequently crush the heads up games. Once establishing himself as one of the world’s best
Limit Hold’em players, Hawrilenko was signed by Full Tilt, and began playing $2,000/$4,000 Limit regularly.
While making a name for himself online, Hawrilenko hit the felt at the World Series of Poker, managing to cash an impressive four
times in 2005. Proving that his skills in poker run deeper than just Limit Hold’em, Hawrilenko cashed in a Pot Limit Hold’em event and
two No Limit events that year (including the Main Event) – but not surprisingly made his first WSOP final table in the $3,000 Limit
Hold’em event, in which he took home over $67,000 for his fifth place finish. Hawrilenko followed his first WSOP year with another
final table in 2006, proving he was a skilled all-around player when won more than $16,000 for his 8th place finish in the $1,500 buy-in
Seven Card Stud event. 2007 and 2008 brought Hawrilenko more WSOP successes with three more cashes, but it was in 2009 that this math
prodigy broke out with an explosive year in Las Vegas. Kicking off the Series with a 19th place finish in the $10,000 World
Championship Mixed Event, Hawrilenko final tabled the $3,000 HORSE event just five days later, earning him over $32,000. Later that
month, he finished 5th in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em event. His second final table appearance of 2009 left him over a hundred grand
richer, but the score felt bittersweet. “That was just heartbreaking,” said Hawrilenko in an interview following the event. “That was
the one I really wanted, cause that’s kind of my bread and butter game.” Luckily, the disappointment didn’t linger long and Hawrilenko
kept searching for the elusive gold bracelet. After yet another cash (this time in a $2,500 Razz event), the 27 year old pro hit pay
dirt on June 30th when he won the last WSOP event of the summer before the Main Event. It was the prestigious $5,000 Six Handed No
Limit Hold’em event that made Hawrilenko over a million dollars and finally earned him the bracelet he so badly wanted. When asked
what he was feeling going into his third final table of the Series, Hawrilenko replied, “Honestly, I was like, ‘Oh my God, if I make
another final table and don’t win, I’m gonna cry.’” The biggest cash of his career came as Hawrilenko’s first ever tournament win
(live or online), and was his 13th time landing in the money at the WSOP.
Hawrilenko has said that he prefers to play both No Limit and Limit Hold’em shorthanded, declaring full ring “kind of a bastardized
version of the game. Shorthanded, you get to play so many more hands, and it’s so much more interesting cause people’s ranges are
wider….and if you’re a good player, which I hope I am, you quantify your edge in the amount of decisions you make better than the
other guy. Shorthanded poker is a great way to do that - it’s a great form of poker.”
Off the felt, Hawrilenko is an accomplished athlete. He has earned a black belt in Kung-Fu and is a former wrestler who now works as a
trainer for his old high school team. He recently took up Jujitsu with fellow poker player and friend Terrence Chan.
Matt Hawrilenko plays online under the screen name “Hoss_TBF” or "Matt Hawrilenko."
Photo courtesy of Flipchip at Las Vegas Vegas. |
