Born in Sante Fe Springs, California in 1983, Daniel Alaei has kept a relatively low profile despite boasting an immensely successful career.
Prior to 2004, Alaei was mainly a cash game player, often found playing $50-$100 both live and online, where he’s known as “steamraise.” Perhaps fueled by his $35K cash for 59th in his first ever World Series of Poker Main Event, Daniel started making more time for tournaments. In 2005, he once again cashed in the WSOP Main Event, this time taking $55K for the 140th place. At the 2007 WSOP, he cashed in five events, one of them a first place finish in the $5K No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball for $430K. A year later, he added five more WSOP cashes, including his third and best finish in the Main Event, a very respectable 25th which made him $333K.
In addition to his 18 WSOP cashes, Alaei also has six World Poker Tour money finishes to his credit. In 2008, he had two top 20 finishes, finishing 20th in the Bellagio Cup IV for $51K and an even better 15th in the Festa Al Lago Classic for $53K. Recently, he finally struck WPT gold in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2009, winning the event for a staggering $1.4 million. All told, Alaei has made $3.7 in live tournament earnings.
Currently living in Las Vegas, Daniel Alaei has appeared on GSN’s High Stakes Poker with the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Sam Farha, and Phil Ivey. In spite of his solid achievements, he garners significantly less media attention than many other players of similar caliber. Within the poker community, however, Daniel Alaei is regarded as an extremely nice guy and a player who deserves the utmost respect, both for his skill on the tables and his pleasant demeanor.
