When he won his first bracelet at the 2,713-entrant $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 2011 World Series of Poker Event 48, Polychronopoulos defeated a final table that included Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Pius Heinz.[1] When he won the 2,105-entrant $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 2013 World Series of Poker Event 17, he defeated a final table that included Joe Cada and David "Bakes" Baker.[2] According to Poker News Daily, he is the first player to win two large field $1,500 or less buy-in events (2,713 entrants in 2010 and 2,105 in 2013).[3] British professional Praz Bansi can make a similar claim over slightly smaller fields with victories over 1,100 entrants in 2006 and 2,092 in 2010.[4][5][6]
At the 2010 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker $1,050 No Limit Hold'em Main Event – M, Polychronopoulos was among the final three players who brokered a chop yielding him $418,500 when he finished third.[7] In addition to his WSOP success, he has won some major online tournaments online at Full Tilt Poker. On September 13, 2010, he won the "Full Tilt 1K Monday" for a $98,750 prize in the $1,000+$60 buy-in event against a field of 395 contestants.[8] He had previously won the 560-person $500 + $35 January 29, 2010, Friday Night Fight No-limit Hold'em Bounty event on Full Tilt for a prize of $56,000.[9]
Background
Polychronopoulos was born in Southampton, New York and resides in Springs, New York, but his parents come from Greece.[10] Polychronopoulos is a former restaurateur.[3] When he won World Series of Poker bracelets, the Greek National Anthem was played.[10] Athanasios, which is Greek, translates to either "immortal" or "eternal life".[11] As of July 7, 2013[update], the twenty-six letters in his full name make it the longest of anyone to ever win a World Series of Poker bracelet.[12]
