Paul Matteo

Birthplace
New Britain, CT

Hometown
Plainvile, CT

Total Winnings
$643,275

It's easy to joke about a guy from back East who tells folks he is in the waste management business. It's even easier when the guy comes from the streets, boasts an Italian-Irish background, and walks around with a name like Matteo. However, the jokes all end when he sits down at the poker table. Matteo started playing poker in his late teens. He and his buddies would hustle up whatever money they could in the streets and use it for their youthful purposes. Back then, it was all cash games, literally. They kids played with cash, not chips. However, as youth turned into responsibility, Matteo gave up the hustle and went into business. Before long, he was involved in just about every kind of business you can imagine. From waste management, to real estate, to cattle breeding, Matteo had a hand in it. Finally, as he entered his sixties, Matteo started looking for a way to relax. Living not too far from Foxwoods, Matteo took up poker. In just his fourth World Poker Tour event ever, Matteo made the final table of the WPT Foxwood's Poker Classic. He sat alongside Raj Patel, remarkably one of his waste management clients for the past ten years. Because he's already had a full life and even more full business career, the money involved in poker means little to the one-time hustler. He said he plans to donate half of whatever he wins in poker tournaments to cancer research.