John Spadavecchia is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional poker

Poker

Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...

 player from Lighthouse Point, Florida

Lighthouse Point, Florida

Lighthouse Point is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city was named for the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse, which is located in nearby Hillsboro Beach. As of the 2010 census, the population of Lighthouse Point was 10,344...

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Spadavecchia has been a regular on the poker tournament

Poker tournament

A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table , and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tables...

 circuit since the 1980s, with his first finish in the money of a World Series of Poker

World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...

 (WSOP) event coming in the 1988 World Series of Poker

1988 World Series of Poker

-Preliminary events:-Final table:-Other High Finishes:NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry....

 in the $10,000 no limit

Betting (poker)

In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing...

 Texas hold 'em

Texas hold 'em

Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...

 main event where he finished 28th, earning him $8,750.

World Series of Poker bracelets

Year	Tournament	Prize (US$)
1991 1991 World Series of Poker -Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 215 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament. This was the first Main Event to offer a top prize of 1 million dollars.-Final table:-Other High Finishes:...	$5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw Draw (poker) A poker player is drawing if they have a hand that is incomplete and needs further cards to become valuable. The hand itself is called a draw or drawing hand. For example, in seven-card stud, if four of a player's first five cards are all spades, but the hand is otherwise weak, they are drawing to...	$58,500

Poker career

Spadavecchia has cashed in a total of three World Series of Poker main events, the first coming in 1988

1988 World Series of Poker

-Preliminary events:-Final table:-Other High Finishes:NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry....

. The second cash was in 1994

1994 World Series of Poker

-Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 268 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament. Since this was the 25th Anniversary of the event, the winner received $1,000,000, plus his/her weight in silver, in celebration of the WSOP's silver anniversary.-Final table:-Other...

 where he made the final table, placing third, earning him $294,000. The third came in 2007

2007 World Series of Poker

The 2007 World Series of Poker began on June 1, 2007. The $10,000 no-limit Texas hold 'em Main Event began on July 6 and was completed on the morning of July 18...

 where he placed 60th, earning him $154,194.

He has cashed in the WSOP events more than two dozen times. Spadavecchia won his bracelet in the 1991 WSOP, defeating three-time bracelet winner Dewey Tomko

Dewey Tomko

Duane "Dewey" Tomko is an American former kindergarten teacher turned professional poker player, based in Winter Haven, Florida....

, to win the title and $58,500 cash prize. He came close to winning a second bracelet in 1995

1995 World Series of Poker

-Preliminary events:-Final table:-Other High Finishes:NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.-External Links:*...

 in the $2,500 Seven Card Stud event, but lost to Dan Robison

Dan Robison

Dan Robison is an American professional poker player and gin rummy player originally from Dayton, Ohio.In 1973 he came to Las Vegas as the partner of Chip Reese. After Robison and Reese won a substantial amount of money from poker in a short period of time they became known as the Golddust Twins...

 in the heads-up play.

He has also cashed in the World Series of Poker Circuit Events a total of seven times, including two first place finishes, for a total of $791,796. That figure puts him third on the all time total WSOP circuit event earnings list. His biggest career win came in the 2005/2006 WSOP Circuit Event - Caesars Palace

Caesars Palace

Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, an unincorporated township in Clark County, Nevada, United States in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Caesars Palace is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp....

 no limit hold 'em $10,000 buy-in Championship. There he placed first, earning him $648,320. That win qualified him to play in the 2006 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions

World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions

The World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions is an invitational freeroll poker event. Wins in this event do not count as official WSOP bracelets, but the winner receives a large trophy in the shape of the official World Series of Poker logo. In 2010, the WSOP Tournament of Champions returned...

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As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $2,500,000. His 26 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,104,613 of those winnings.