Nick Petrangelo

Last Updated on July 14, 2026 by Bala Kumar

Nick Petrangelo is one of modern poker’s most respected high-stakes tournament specialists,  a player who built his reputation not through table talk or television moments, but through relentless, disciplined results across the highest buy-in fields in the world. Known online by his longtime alias “caecilius,” Petrangelo has spent the better part of two decades quietly compiling one of the most efficient résumés in the game, all while becoming one of the sport’s most sought-after strategy coaches.

The Massachusetts-born pro has won two World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelets, including a career-defining $2.9 million score in the 2018 $100,000 High Roller, and has built live tournament earnings exceeding $41.9 million,  placing him among the top 15 highest-earning American poker players of all time. Beyond the felt, he’s a co-founder of the GTO LAB training platform and a lead coach for Doug Polk’s Upswing Poker, where he breaks down elite-level tournament theory for the next generation of players.

Nick Petrangelo Quick Facts

Category	Information
Full Name	Nicholas Petrangelo
Online Alias	“caecilius”
Date of Birth	January 2, 1987
Birthplace	Feeding Hills, Massachusetts
Nationality	American
Residence	Old Westbury, New York
Profession	Professional Poker Player, Coach
Education	B.A. Economics/Finance, Skidmore College
WSOP Bracelets	2
WPT Titles	1 (WPT Online Six-Max Championship)
Total Live Tournament Earnings	$41.9M+ (Hendon Mob, as of May 2026)
Coaching Platforms	GTO LAB (co-founder), Upswing Poker (lead coach)
US All-Time Money List	Top 15

Early Life & Poker Beginnings

Before becoming one of the most respected names in high-stakes tournament poker, Petrangelo grew up in Feeding Hills, a village in Agawam, Massachusetts, where he played golf and hockey rather than cards. He went on to attend Skidmore College in New York, earning a degree in Economics and Finance,  a background that would later show up clearly in his famously analytical, math-driven approach to the game.

After struggling to find steady work in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, Petrangelo turned to online poker to support himself, grinding low and mid-stakes tournaments under the “caecilius” handle. His game sharpened quickly: by December 2012 he had climbed to the top of the PocketFives world rankings, the online game’s most closely watched leaderboard, cementing his reputation as one of the most dangerous multi-table tournament players on the internet. Fellow Massachusetts pro Jonathan Jaffe became an early mentor, backing him for live tournaments and helping him translate his online volume into live consistency,  a transition that trips up many online specialists but one Petrangelo made look seamless.

His live breakthrough came in May 2015, when he won his first WSOP gold bracelet in Event #4, the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout, defeating a stacked 308-entry final table that included actor James Woods and elite pro David Peters. The win, worth $201,812, pushed his year-to-date earnings past the $1 million mark before the WSOP Main Event had even reached its final table.

WSOP Bracelet Wins

Year	Tournament	Prize
2015	$3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout	$201,812
2018	$100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller	$2,910,227

His 2018 High Roller victory, in which he defeated fellow American pro Elio Fox heads-up, remains the single biggest score of his career and cemented his status as one of the sharpest players in the game’s ultra-high-stakes ecosystem.

World Poker Tour (WPT) and Online Success

Petrangelo’s biggest titles haven’t all come on the live scene. He’s built a genuinely dual-threat résumé across live tournaments, WPT events, and online high rollers.

Year	Event	Result	Prize
2015	WPT Alpha8 $100,000 High Roller	Runner-Up (to Fedor Holz)	$1,015,335
2017	WCOOP $25,000 High Roller (online, as “caecilius”)	Champion	$624,677
2017	PokerStars Championship Bahamas $100,000 High Roller	Champion	$740,032
—	WPT Online Six-Max Championship	Champion	$494,550

His online résumé is particularly notable: the 2017 WCOOP High Roller win, captured under his “caecilius” alias, remains one of the most prestigious online titles a modern high-stakes grinder can claim.

Real-Time Poker Earnings (2026)

According to Hendon Mob’s live tournament database, Petrangelo’s recorded live earnings stood at:

$41,940,923+ (as of May 2026, latest recorded cash May 17, 2026)

This places him among:

• Top 15 highest-earning American poker players of all time
• The #1 or #2 highest-earning poker players from Massachusetts (sources vary slightly by database)
• One of the most consistent high-roller performers of the past decade
• A rare player who has translated elite online volume into sustained live success

Note: figures vary slightly by database, CardPlayer’s tracker, which folds in verified online results, lists a combined total closer to $43.3 million, while WSOP.com’s official figure for his WSOP earnings alone sits at roughly $6.9 million across 36 cashes and 2 bracelets.

Biggest Poker Cashes

Event	Finish	Prize
2018 WSOP $100,000 High Roller	1st Place	$2,910,227
WPT Alpha8 $100,000 High Roller	Runner-Up	$1,015,335
2021 Aria $200,000 High Roller	1st Place	~$1.5M
2022 PokerGO Stairway to Millions $100,000	1st Place	~$1.02M
2024 Triton Poker Series Vietnam $100,000 Main Event	3rd Place	$1,150,000
2022 Triton Poker Cyprus $100,000 NLH	4th Place	$1,250,000

With multiple seven-figure scores across live, online, and televised high-roller formats, Petrangelo has established one of the more diversified résumés among his high-stakes peers.

A Reality Check: The Triton Grind

Not every number in Petrangelo’s career points straight up. Independent tournament-database analysis of Triton Poker Series results, a circuit where buy-ins routinely run into six figures and nearly every player re-enters multiple times, has flagged Petrangelo among the field’s negative gross-P&L players on that specific tour, alongside other well-known pros and coaches. It’s an important nuance: gross tournament math on a circuit like Triton counts every re-entry bullet against total winnings, and most players there sell off pieces of their action to backers, so the figure says nothing definitive about personal profit or skill. But it’s a useful reminder that even elite, decades-long winners face real variance at the game’s highest buy-in levels,  success in poker is rarely a straight line, even for the players teaching everyone else how to play.

2026 Season Snapshot

Live tournament databases update after every cash, so here’s where Petrangelo’s numbers actually stand right now, mid-way through 2026:

Metric	Current Figure	Source
Total Live Earnings	$41,940,923	Hendon Mob (updated through May 17, 2026 cash)
Combined Earnings (live + verified online)	$43,316,564	CardPlayer
Career Tournament Wins	22	CardPlayer
Total Career Cashes	210–213	Hendon Mob / CardPlayer
2026 Card Player Player of the Year Rank	414th (of 1,028 ranked players)	CardPlayer
Latest Recorded Cash	$92,000, May 17, 2026	Hendon Mob
WSOP Career Totals	2 bracelets, 36 cashes, 8 final tables, $6.9M+	WSOP.com

Petrangelo’s most recent notable live action came at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro (May 13–28, 2026), an 18-event nosebleed festival at the Maestral Resort & Casino that paid out more than $100 million across the series. He was among the field at the $40,000 NLH Mystery Bounty during that stop, continuing his now-familiar pattern of heavy Triton volume, a tour where, as noted above, he’s shown up on both the leaderboard and, per independent gross-P&L tracking, among the field’s re-entry-adjusted underwater players. That combination,  deep, consistent volume at the game’s highest stakes, with real variance to show for it,  is a fair summary of where his 2026 season stands.

Poker Strategy

Elite High-Stakes Tournament Mastery

Petrangelo’s game is built on:

• Deep game-theory optimal (GTO) fluency
• Disciplined bankroll and stake selection across live and online formats
• Strong ICM (Independent Chip Model) awareness in final-table situations
• A quietly analytical, low-variance approach relative to many high-stakes peers

A Coach’s Mindset at the Table

As a co-founder of GTO LAB and lead coach at Upswing Poker, Petrangelo has built training content around:

• Postflop play out of position
• Blind-vs-blind 3-bet pot strategy
• Final table ICM decision-making
• Chip-EV and solver-based training tools

His teaching material draws directly from his own tournament experience, particularly deep runs and final tables at the WSOP and Triton Poker Series.

Long-Term Consistency

Sustaining relevance across a poker career that now spans nearly two decades has required:

• Adapting from pure online volume to live tournament consistency
• Building a genuine coaching brand alongside active play
• Maintaining a heavy Triton and PGT high-roller travel schedule
• Balancing solo tournament grinding with structured content creation

GTO LAB & Upswing Poker Coaching Career

Petrangelo has become one of poker’s most credible training voices, a notable shift from the traditionally showman-driven ambassador roles many top pros take on.

Coaching & Content Highlights:

• Co-founder, GTO LAB (with Daniel Dvoress)
• Co-creator, Tournament Savagery ICM masterclass
• Creator, 26-Day Training Plan structured study program
• Lead coach, Upswing Poker

2026 Poker Activity

As of mid-2026, Petrangelo remains active at the top of the game.

Current Activity Includes:

• Regular appearances on the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series
• Continued high-roller travel across PGT events at Aria Las Vegas
• Ongoing coaching content production for GTO LAB and Upswing Poker
• Active pursuit of a third career WSOP bracelet

Personal Life

Marriage & Residence

Petrangelo currently resides in Old Westbury, New York, having grown up in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. Public details about his personal life remain limited, consistent with his generally low-key, non-showman public profile compared to many of his high-stakes peers.

Lifestyle & Interests

Outside poker, he is known for:

• A strong athletic background (competitive golf and hockey growing up)
• An analytical, finance-informed approach to bankroll and career management
• A preference for letting results speak over media presence
• Active involvement in poker strategy education

Net Worth (2026)

Given his live tournament earnings, online results, and coaching income, third-party estimates place his net worth in a broad range, though, as with most professional players,  a meaningful share of his gross tournament winnings reflects solid action and staking arrangements rather than pure personal profit.

Main Income Sources:

• Live poker tournament winnings
• Online high-roller tournament winnings
• GTO LAB coaching platform revenue
• Upswing Poker coaching content
• Poker strategy course sales

Why Nick Petrangelo Is One of the Best High-Stakes Players of His Era

Career Achievements:

• 2 WSOP gold bracelets, including a $2.9M High Roller win
• $41.9M+ in verified live tournament earnings
• Former #1 ranked player on PocketFives
• Co-founder of a respected GTO training platform
• Sustained relevance across live, online, and televised formats for nearly two decades
• Deep runs across the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series

Very few players have managed Petrangelo’s combination of longevity, analytical rigor, and crossover credibility as both an elite competitor and a trusted coach.

Final Thoughts

Nick Petrangelo’s career reflects a different kind of poker greatness than the sport’s more famous personalities,  built on quiet consistency, disciplined bankroll management, and a genuinely analytical mind rather than table talk or television moments. From his breakout 2015 bracelet win to his career-defining $2.9 million High Roller title in 2018, and now into his role as one of the game’s most respected coaches, Petrangelo’s influence on modern tournament strategy may ultimately outlast even his impressive earnings record.

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