A PORT Macquarie man with the perfect poker face is heading to Las Vegas.
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Andrew Caltabiano will be the first person from the town to compete in the world’s biggest poker tournament, the World Series of Poker.
Even better, he’s doing it for free.
Mr Caltabiano won a free trip to the United States by taking out a qualifying tournament in Sydney.
His prize included flights, accommodation and the $10,500 buy-in he needs to play.
The father-of-two will be playing for about $70 million in prizes, with about $8 million for the winner.
And to get his hands on the cash, he will have to outlast more than 7000 other players.
It’s a long way from his Port Macquarie poker tables to the casinos of Las Vegas, but Mr Caltabiano is not ruling himself out.
“I just think I’ve got as good a shot an anybody else really,” he said.
He wants to follow in the footsteps of Joe Hachem, the only Australian to win the World Series of Poker.
Hachem took home more than $7 million from the event in 2005.
Mr Caltabiano and his wife Cherie own a hairdressing business in Port Macquarie.
She runs the business while he looks after the children, Andre and Sarah.
When he’s not doing that, Mr Caltabiano plays poker.
He can often be spotted at games organised by the Port Macquarie franchise of the Australian Poker League (APL).
“I’ve won a fair few in Port over the years,” he said.
He sometimes travels to Sydney to play.
“I bought myself a little van, actually, and I jump in it and go play a poker game.
“So if I need to stay overnight, I just jump in the back of that and sleep for a few hours.”
Mr Caltabiano has a reputation as one of the best poker players in Port Macquarie.
APL’s Port Macquarie tournament director Trevor Hawley said Mr Caltabiano was “one of the best players around Port”.
He said Mr Caltabiano would join around 40 other
players from TeamAPL at the international tournament.
The team leaves in early July.
