Athanasios Polychronopoulos

Athanasios Polychronopoulos was born in 1984 in Southampton, New York, and resides in Springs, New York. His parents are Greek, and he worked as a restaurateur before turning to professional poker. He plays under the nickname 'Athanasios 9' on Full Tilt Poker. Notably, his full name contains 26 letters, making it the longest of any World Series of Poker bracelet winner as of 2013.

Polychronopoulos has two WSOP bracelets. His first came in 2011 in Event 48: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em, where he defeated a field of 2,713 entrants and a final table featuring Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Pius Heinz, earning $650,223. His second bracelet was won in 2013 in Event 17: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em against 2,105 players, besting a final table that included Joe Cada and David 'Bakes' Baker for $518,755. According to Poker News Daily, he is the first player to win two large-field $1,500-or-less buy-in events (with over 2,000 entrants each). Overall, he has 31 WSOP money finishes and 3 final tables, with his best Main Event finish being 572nd in 2016.

Beyond live events, Polychronopoulos has excelled online. In the 2010 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) $1,050 No Limit Hold'em Main Event, he was among three players who agreed to a chop, netting $418,500 for a third-place finish. On Full Tilt Poker, he won the 'Full Tilt 1K Monday' on September 13, 2010, defeating 395 players for $98,750. Earlier that year, he won the $500+$35 Friday Night Fight No-limit Hold'em Bounty event on January 29, 2010, for $56,000.

Polychronopoulos is known for an aggressive playing style, frequently leveraging position and applying chip pressure both preflop and postflop. He combines this aggression with strong hand-reading skills, allowing him to adapt in high-stakes cash games. His total live tournament earnings exceed $2.77 million, and he is recognized as a prominent figure in the Greek-American poker community. The Greek national anthem was played during his WSOP bracelet victories, reflecting his heritage.