Halls of Fame are always elite clubs, representing the absolute best of the best of the best in their respective industries. Most readers will know about the Poker Hall of Fame, which is currently accepting nominations for the 2013 class, but most probably do not realize that PokerStars, the largest online poker room in the world, has its own Hall of Fame. The PokerStars VIP Club Hall of Fame is a veritable “Who’s Who” of online poker, including the likes of Bertrand “ElkY” Grospelier, Randy “nanonoko” Lew, and George “Jorj95” Lind. Now it has a new member: Anthony “TPirahna” Pirone.
The VIP HOF consists of players who have earned one million VIP Player Points (VPPs) in their lifetime. In that sense, Pirone was already a member, but now he has advanced to the next rung, reserved for those with five million lifetime VPPs. The five million level is a bit more special because the players have short bios listed on PokerStars’ site; essentially, these players are highlighted more than those on the one million VPP level. Pirone becomes the 22nd player to reach 5 million VPPs and the 21st player in the 5 million VPP section of the PokerStars HOF. One player, George Lind, is above everyone, having achieved the 10 million VPP mark.
For his accomplishment, Pirone will receive a TAG Heuer watch, which will be presented to him a live PokerStars event, as well as direct support from a senior member of the PokerStars staff via instant messenger.
On his blog, Pirone wrote, “According to the [PokerStars] site, I’m the first exclusively fixed limit player to make it and the twenty-second player overall to earn at least five million VPPs. It’s one of my biggest accomplishments as a poker player, a reflection of all my hard work and dedication, and something I’m very proud of.”
According to records he published on said blog, Pirone has played over 2.9 million hands on PokerStars and has earned over $1.95 million on PokerStars in his career. He has played as low as $5/$10 Fixed-Limit Hold’em and as high as $200/$400. The vast majority of his hands have come somewhere in between, with the most, almost a million, coming at $30/$60. Those $30/$60 tables are also where he has won the most money, about $770,000.
His graph is spectacular looking, almost a straight 45-degree upwards slope. Of course, with so many hands, the downswings are hidden a bit in the graph. As he wrote, “Looking at these results it looks like it’s been a walk in the park but the reality is that nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve experienced countless 300-900 BB and 50K-100K downswings. The graphs don’t come close to doing justice to just how wild of a roller coaster ride it’s been.”
Even now, as such a successful player, Pirone says he feels “lost at the tables” and is having difficulty focusing this month. If history is any indication, though, he should recover just fine as he continues to rack up the VPPs.
