Look Out: Andrew Frankenberger

Andrew Frankenberger is a former derivatives trader who lives in New York City. Since the financial collapse, he has begun trading independently and focusing more and more on one of his hobbies. He said, “I still trade on my own, so poker is just a hobby for me, but I take it pretty seriously. A lot of traders in New York play cash games in the city.”

Frankenberger has played in live cash games for six years now, but it was just two years ago when he got his first taste of big-time tournament poker. A broker in New York put together a tournament for 100 people in which everyone chipped in $100 and the winner went to the World Series of Poker main event. Frankenberger won the seat, took his stake, and caught a flight to Vegas to play in the main event. “I had the time of my life, so each year since then, I have returned to play in the main event,” he said.

He did not cash in that first main event, but subsequent Vegas trips have been more successful for the young player. This year, he scored his first WSOP cash in a $5,000 no-limit hold’em event, taking 34th place, which was good for $20,845. One week later, he won his first live tournament at the Venetian Deep-Stack Extravaganza III. He took home $162,110 and 840 Card Player 2010 Player of the Year (POY) points for the win.

Frankenberger’s confidence was riding high heading into the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker $5,000 main event in August, even if he wasn’t ready for the increased media attention that awaited him. He stated, “The stakes are bigger here; there are a lot more players I recognize. A lot more camera crews are here. I feel comfortable at the tables, though; in front of the cameras, less so [laughing].”

He found that the bright lights of the camera only intensified when he made a deep run in the tournament to the final table. “My immediate goal was not to do anything stupid on television. It’s a whole different game when you have that pocket cam. It’s just a completely different experience. I’m used to being the only one who is ever going to know what I was doing,” said Frankenberger.

He took a big chip lead during the play-down period to the final table, and even eliminated the last big-name professional remaining in the tournament — Jonathan Little, in 12th place. The final table was a bigger test for Frankenberger. He lost some ground and went into the heads-up battle with Kyle Wilson almost even in chips. “What was really tough for me to deal with was that I was the chip leader for so long in the tournament that I had to completely shift gears and play defense,” said Frankenberger.

He eventually won the tournament and added $750,000 to his winnings. He also garnered 1,920 POY points, which gives him 2,760 overall. He currently sits in 19th place on the leader board, and he doesn’t plan on sitting on his laurels to end the year, so he will be someone to look out for during the homestretch in 2010.

Frankenberger commented, “This gives me the confidence to keep playing cards more regularly. I have a little skill at this game. I’m at a point in my life where I’m trying to decide how much time I want to devote to poker and how much I want to devote to some other opportunities that I have. It means that I’m definitely not giving up on it, so you’ll be seeing a lot of me.” ♠