Alec Michael Torelli (born March 24, 1987), also known by his moniker Traheho, is a professional poker player from Orange County, California who specializes in live high stakes cash games.[1][2] Torelli was formerly sponsored by Doyles Room.[3]
Poker career
Torelli began playing poker in 2004 after a friend invited him to a home game of poker, where he won $12. His first live poker event was in the Bahamas in January 2006. After turning 21, Torelli moved to Las Vegas. During his first World Series of Poker (WSOP), he finished second in the $10,000 Heads Up event. Later that fall, Torelli won back-to-back events at the Bellagio. The next summer, he placed sixth in the commemorative $40,000, 40-year anniversary WSOP event, and fourth in the World Poker Tour at the Bellagio.[citation needed]
As of 2023, Torelli has amassed over $2,200,000 in poker tournament winnings.[4]
Controversy
In 2017, members of the 2+2 forum initiated a debate on whether or not Alec Torelli engaged in angle shooting during a hand played in the fourth episode of the fifth season of Poker Night in America,[5][6] that aired on CBS Sports Network the previous year.
Torelli was first accused of engaging in angle shooting during a televised episode of Poker Night in America by members on the 2+2 forum. Later, professional poker player Doug Polk released a video questioning the ethics of the hand played during the episode.[7][8]
During the hand, larger denomination chips totaling $10,000 were placed behind smaller denomination chips in Torelli's stack of poker chips. Poker etiquette and rules in casinos require that larger denomination chips have to be in plain view. This influenced Torelli's isolated opponent in the hand, Daniel Wolf, who ended up losing $10,000 more than he believed was at stake.[9]
Following the hand, Torelli stated that he used his opponent's surprise at the discovery of the high-value chips as a "read" to determine that his opponent's hand was mediocre. Later, Torelli posted a video on YouTube faulting his opponent for not knowing his chip stack size.[10]
A year after the hand took place, professional poker player Doug Polk released a video questioning the ethics of the hand,[11] provoking a backlash on social media.
Torelli responded on his YouTube channel[12] and in an interview on the “Nick Vertucci Show”.[6] Torelli was defended by poker professionals Daniel Negreanu,[13]Brian Rast[14] and Charlie Carrel,[15] who deemed the controversy to be disproportionate and unfair.