Andy Frankenberger lit the poker world on fire in 2010 during his first year as a poker pro and won the World Poker Tour Player of the Year title. He won the Legends of Poker event in Los Angeles for $750,000 and eight weeks later he final tabled the Festa Al Lago event at the Bellagio.
“In my first year, I won everything before I even took it that seriously,” said Frankenberger. “Life is about experiences, and I really wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. It’s been an amazing ride.”
Frankenberger is among the hopefuls in Day 1B of the $3,500 WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Championship. As a busy father of two, he took advantage of the holiday to play cards.
Sneaking away for poker
He has family visiting in New York City and let them take over for a few days. “This is just a one-off tournament for me to play,” he said. “It’s tough for me to get away and it’s all that much more fun when I can play.”
To date, he has $3.5 million in tournament earnings and two World Series of Poker bracelets to go along with his POY trophy. But Frankenberger walked away from it all to return to Wall Street for a career in finance.
Along the way, he got married, has a nine-year-old and a five-month-old baby, and only plays poker as a hobby.
“I know this is going to rub people the wrong way, but I think poker is best as a hobby,” said Frankenberger. “You can absolutely enjoy the experience – win or lose. When it’s your livelihood and things don’t go your way, the pain is real.”
"It’s not just out there having fun – you’re trying to produce,” he added. “It’s a grind, especially for a tournament player. I think the key to being happy when playing poker is enjoying the experience whether you win or lose. Which is where I’m at right now. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer to win.”
A whole new world
A lot has changed in the poker world since Frankenberger played for a living. “For one thing, there’s no more soft spots,” he said. “The guys that would have been soft are talking about blockers, working with solvers, and have coaching sites. Players are a lot better than they used to be.”
“My biggest gripe with the industry now is all of the multiple entries,” said Frankenberger. “I had almost all of my success in freezeouts and with freezeouts, you have a very level playing field.”
“In today’s formats, it’s not a question of whether you make it to Day 2 or not, it’s how many bullets you fire,” he added. “For someone playing on their own dime, you prefer not to fire many bullets. I can apply a lot of pressure when it’s one-and-done, you can’t really pressure someone who has infinite bullets in their pocket.”
Poker taking a new role in life
But Frankenberger isn’t only an old man yelling clouds, there’s plenty he still enjoys about the game. He spent most of his playing days single and misses the camaraderie with players. “I think about that phase in my life and it’s so different from having two kids,” he said. “I can come to a tournament and still see the guys I want to see.”
“Poker is something I can do forever,” Frankenberger said. “I enjoy it more now that I don’t have to worry about winning to make my career. My (Wall Street) career was enhanced by poker with the networking involved.”
He plays in the city when he can and participates in charity events. He recently partnered with Hank Azaria to raise $400,000 for a school in NYC. He said, “Poker has done a lot of good in my life and the universe.”
All photos courtesy of World Poker Tour.
