World Poker Tour

Arnold Spee

Hometown
Chicago, IL

Birthday
April 22

Total Winnings
$769,808

Arnold Spee is a professional poker player who lives in Thousand Oaks, California. A Chicago native, Arnold quit a good job in marketing and to devote himself to his dream job, poker. He began playing daily tournaments in Los Angeles card rooms and in three years drastically improved his skills.

In March 2004, Arnold placed fourth in a No Limit event in Los Angeles and was able to cash in on his first five-figure payday with a $21,600 prize. Arnold then began playing consistently on the World Poker Tour. His persistence paid off, just one year later Arnold won the WPT Reno Hilton event and took home a whopping $663,380. The next month, Arnold finished 21st in the Season Three WPT Championship for another $56,615.

The only thing Arnold ever considered as an alternate career was that of police detective, predominantly due to a love of solving puzzles. Similar to his prime poker attribute, the ability to tell if his opponent is lying or telling the truth. Arnold also benefits from a firm resolve at the table, not just emotional, but as far as focus. He relies on the information he gathers from hand to hand to inform him of hwat he needs to know to make the best hdecisions he can at later points in the game. This type of dedication seats more players at final tables than any other. It's easy to see Arnold at the table due to his 6' frame, but its even easier when there's only a few players remaining in the large tournament he had entered, and he has most of the chips.