A year ago, Daniel Sepiol had won just under $1 million in six years of playing ranking poker tournaments after grinding his way into professional poker from the smallest stakes in his teenage years. As f this publication, the reigning WPT World Champion has ticked past $8 million in live earnings alone, won his first WSOP bracelet and is widely considered to be among the most consistent poker players in the world.
How does your life change when your dreams turn into your life? We caught with the Indiana man to find out.
Playing the Rush
“I started playing online SnGs, playing all the micro stakes.”
To say that Daniel Sepiol is playing the rush would be an understatement. His game has become the rush. Winning at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) in Florida for $204k, he went on to become the WPT World Championship winner for $5.2 million in December 2023. Just a month ago, he locked up his first WSOP bracelet when he took down the infamous ‘Shootout’ for a little over $305k. Life is good for the Bloomington native… and hectic.
“Life is really busy right now,” Sepiol admits. “I play every day, whatever tournament I want to play, where I want to go… and get some sleep later!”
Life has never been busier for Sepiol, whose victory earlier this World Series thrilled his friends in the game and family watching at home or on the rail. Sepiol admits that it was a surreal moment.
“It was pretty incredible,” he says. “I was staying in the moment and playing my cards, trying to make the best decisions that I could make. It was a really fun tournament. I started playing online Sit ‘n’ Gos back in the day and that’s the format in the Shootout. I started playing online SnGs, playing all the micro stakes.”
Sepiol is typically modest about winning four nine-player tables back-to-back against some tough players to win his first WSOP gold bracelet and $305,849.
“I ran really well when I needed to, and it felt really good. I had a handful of buddies and my girlfriend on the rail. My Dad was watching back in Tampa in Florida and my Mom was watching back in Indiana, I had a good little support group. The first call [to my parents] was a little touching… it was emotional. It was a great call to make.”
On Becoming the WPT World Champion
His recent bracelet victory notwithstanding, there’s one signpost win that Sepiol may never top in terms of a first prize. The $5.2m he received for winning the 2023 WPT World Championship Main Event remains the biggest score of his career six months on where virtually no tournament has come along – certainly one with such a moderate entry fee – with a bigger prize. A year before his victory in the event, Sepiol finished 52nd and admits that getting close to the title helped spur him on to achieve his dream last year and mentally lay the groundwork for success.
“It prepared me subconsciously, getting in the reps and not letting [my] nerves overtake me, so that I could make the right decisions. Blocking out the money and just playing poker.”
Getting his name on the WPT trophy means everything to Sepiol, with the young player sharing an innate link with the man whose name adorns the trophy in perpetuity.
“The WPT Mike Sexton Champions Cup is really special. Mike was from Indiana, and so am I. I heard a few interviews with Mike he had some great stories for sure. I think younger people like me can underestimate how much he did for poker. He’s a huge reason that the WPT have the brand name they do and got so big.”
READ MORE: Mike Sexton Interview
Sepiol’s love for the WPT doesn’t stop at Sexton’s immense personal legacy.
“The WPT do everything right, they run great tournaments at the Wynn; everything is the best there and players enjoy playing at the venue the most.”
Winning Big in the Alpha8 Trifecta
“It’s a dream come true to play $25k events with the best players in the world.”
In getting his name on the Mike Sexton Champions Cup and taking down the second of three Trifecta Alpha8 events at the Wynn the other day for over $670,000, Sepiol has claimed two of the biggest trophies ever created in poker. He admits that the Alpha8 trophy in particular is a good workout to lift for the cameras.
“It’s pretty big… and heavy! It’s probably between 40-50lbs. The original Alpha8 series was a little before my time. I think they had one in South Africa when I was starting out. It’s really a dream come true to play $25k events with some of the best players in the world.”
Becoming a WPT Main Event hasn’t changed Sepiol at all. It has, however, changed how he is perceived at the poker table and he’s made adjustments to combat that.
“I definitely get recognized a little more at the tables and in poker rooms, especially in Las Vegas in the summer. But there are also plenty of people who don’t know me and are just here to play poker like me.”
When it comes to his fellow high rollers, things are very different from a $500-$1,000 buy-in multi-table tournament.
“It’s a weird meta game against people I do know; it’s tough and I have to be a little more aware of my image and what I can go for or not. It really depends what tournament; if it’s a $1k at the WSOP then I’m playing a lot more hands a little more aggressively. If I’m playing a $25k Alpha8 at the Wynn, I might be a little quieter until later in the tournament when I’ve got a few more chips. It’s cool how WPT is giving a little back for the high rollers in the form of eight $10,400 WPT Championships seats. I haven’t thought about going back as champion… but we’ll see in December.”
Sepiol claimed one of those eight seats for having finished in second place on the leaderboard across the three Alpha8 tournaments. Also winning seats were David Coleman, Nikita Kuznetcov, Brock Wilson, Jonathan Cohen, Seth Gottlieb, Martin Raus, and Mikita Badziakouski.
When Daniel Sepiol’s Grind Became a Profession
“He’d talk about how we’d both end up being millionaires.”
Reflecting back on his illustrious career to date, Sepiol, who house-shared with fellow crusher Jesse Lonis for years in Las Vegas, can’t identify the single moment he went from micro grinder to playing $1,000-entry live events on a regular basis.
“I don’t think there was a point in my career that I’ve thought, ‘Now I’m bankrolled for $5k tournaments or even $1k tournaments’. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career so far, but I’ve always had confidence in my game.”
Sepiol freely admits that even as recently as a year ago, there was as much chance of finding him in a $500 tournament at the Venetian as there was a $5,000 buy-in major poker event. Divorcing himself from the real-life feelings of money has been an education, but Sepiol says it’s crucial if you’re to make the step up to playing $25,000 buy-in events.
“I’m kinda sick!”, he laughs. “You have to disengage yourself from the money. One of my good buddies is Jesse Lonis and he’s probably the best at that. I’ve lived in Vegas for coming up four years and in our old house, Jesse and I lived near each other. I didn’t have a car my first year and most days he’d pick me up, we’d go play a tournament and he’d talk about how we’d both end up being millionaires winning a bunch of tournaments. He definitely manifested it.”
Sepiol (right) successfully battles for the ‘heaviest trophy in poker’ heads up at Wynn Las Vegas.
Going for the Crown
“Everyone’s saying it. I’m going to try it.”
Daniel Sepiol aims to ‘try to keep getting better and put in volume’ over the next year of his career. He enjoys travelling to play live poker festivals and will be on a plane directly after his WSOP schedule in Las Vegas ends. Then he’s heading to Europe on a mission.
“I’m going to head to Florida to play on the World Poker Tour then I’m going to go to Barcelona for the first time (to play the EPT) in August.”
Could the reason Sepiol is travelling to the Catalan capital of culture so that he can add a European Poker Tour victory to his recent major titles… and win the ‘Triple Crown’?
“Everyone’s saying it,” he laughs. “I’m going to try it. I’m going to go there a few days early to experience the city.”
Now just one step away from becoming only the 11th player in poker history to win the ‘Triple Crown’ of a WPT, WSOP and EPT title, could Daniel Sepiol achieve what many poker players fail to do in a lifetime inside 12 months?
After the last year Daniel Sepiol has had in poker, nothing is beyond the man who kept his cool in the micro streets and keeps getting hotter.
Image credits: WPT Flickr
