Tony Cavezza “Bagels“

Hometown
Huntington Station, NY

Birthday
December 10

Total Winnings
$382,044

Tony Cavezza is his parents' son. Before he was old enough to drive, he was watching his mother and father play poker. It was a game that intrigued him but didn't deter him from an innate sense for business. He got into the entrepreneurial world at the early age of 18 and bought his first business when he was 21. Before long, he was able to sell that venture and open his own bagel shop. Within three years, he was able to buy his own home, answer to the nickname "Bagels," and start making his way in the poker world.

Although he'd never been to Las Vegas, Cavezza discovered he had the ability to be a champion without ever leaving the East Coast. While he rarely watched poker on TV and never picked up a poker book, he immersed himself in the game and played regular games on Long Island with several other tough players, one of whom had actually made a WPT final table himself. While the players played against each other five nights a week like there was a championship on the line, they shared a camaraderie that only native New Yorkers know.

In the run-up to the 2007 Foxwoods Poker Classic, Cavezza took $1,000 and entered a satellite into the event. Success there led him into the big event. The next thing Cavezza knew, he was sitting at the final table. Since then, he's managed to take first place in a Bellagio Cup event and continue his dreams of becoming a poker millionaire. As the bagel store entrepreneur once said, "That's a lot of bagels."