Bodog Poker has been in damage control after having lost several poker pros over the years, with only three remaining by 2010: Evelyn Ng, Justin Bonomo and David Williams. Bonomo announced his retirement from Bodog Poker this January. Williams followed suit after winning the $25,500 buy-in WPT Championship. It was only Ng who remained loyal to Bodog.
In the past few weeks, Bodog Poker has been scouting new recruits with an unusual technique: making the most of the social networks by opening up nominations for the new slot to fans on Facebook and Twitter. This is how they came across Amanda Musumeci, a young and talented online tournament pro.
The 24 years old Pennsylvanian lady started playing poker at the age of 19 and used her winnings to pay her way through college. After getting a taste for easy cash, Amanda decided to make a career out of it, moving to Las Vegas and registering to several online poker rooms under the alias ’manderbutt’. Her focus has been set around tournaments and SNGs. Her best results came at a Full Tilt Poker online tournament, where she placed third and won $26,806 in a $150,000 guaranteed tourney. These days she lives in Las Vegas. According to OfficialPokerRankings, her PokerStars net profit is $19,586, while on Full Tilt Poker she made a total profit of $46,043. OfficialPokerRankings do not track Bodog Poker at the moment.
These were Amanda’s words when questioned about her career:
"In the beginning, it was Matt “All In At 420” Stout. He took my game from being very basic to being intermediate. There are so many essential things you realize you’ve been missing when you make that jump and it motivated me more to take my game to the next level. That was in October 2007.
I went on PocketFives.com and looked at who were the top 10 players in the Online Poker Rankings for each state around me and then Private Messaged them for help. Steve “gboro780” Gross, Kenny “Kenny Rap” Weinstein, and Matt “Plattsburgh” Vengrin were all friends with Matt, so I’d always go over to his house and they’d all be grinding. That was a huge step for me."
Although Amanda is a talented poker player, she also admits that it hasn’t just been her skills that have got her this far, saying:
"A great deal of online poker experience, good connections with other poker pros, intelligence, youth, charisma, and, of course, the fact that I’m pretty has played a large role".
Musumeci also says that women are starting to play a more and more important role in today’s poker and Bodog has made the right decision to sign a girl. Her future prospects are to form a deadly alliance with Ng and bring the poker world to its knees as the angels of Bodog.
Here a few photos of Musumeci and Ng. Is it more confidence than looks? Decide for yourself…
For more personal photos check Amanda’s P5s profile.
