An Italian by blood but a New Yorker by birth, Frank Cieri is a family man who values his loved ones and his career as a funeral director. The funeral home is a family business that had been passed down from generation to generation, one that he has been around since the age of ten and now runs with his nephew. Now, as the president of the company, he has some freedom to enjoy his pastime of poker.

Frank has been playing poker for more than 30 years, mostly with friends in home games. While his games used to be seven-card or five-card stud, the World Poker Tour changed all that. Not only did it change the home games and those he played in local card rooms to Texas hold’em, but it caused him to begin playing tournaments. Watching each episode of the WPT carefully and learning from them, he found about a tournament several years ago from his son-in-law. He won it and decided to try some casino tournaments. A few cashes inspired him to play more, so when the World Poker Tour came to Foxwoods in early 2008, he was there to give it a shot.

During his trip to Foxwoods, he played a $2,000 buy-in preliminary event as part of the Foxwoods Poker Classic and finished in 11th place. His success there inspired him to play a satellite for the main event for $250, which he also won. He moved up the satellite ladder and secured a seat in the WPT main event. In the end, he finished in fourth place for more than $200,000, and while the money was very important, it was the dream of a lifetime to simply play on the WPT stage.