With two WSOP gold bracelets at the age of 20, will he be the next superstar in the poker world?

20-year-old Joseph Olivieri has two WSOP Circuit rings and seven SHRP titles, with $300,000 in prize money. He focuses on mixed games and plans to compete for a WSOP gold bracelet.

Joseph Olivieri has two WSOP Circuit rings and seven SHRP titles, and he is not even old enough to play in most American poker rooms.

At 20 years old, Olivieri has already achieved more than many long-time poker players. He has $300,000 in winnings and continues to climb the ranks in tournaments around the world. But he hasn't followed the traditional path to success—he primarily plays mixed games.

This seemingly promising young poker player said he first encountered poker at a local family game in North Carolina when he was 16. He fell in love with the game in high school.

"I only go to family card games to play with my dad," Olivieri said.

Olivieri played American football and rugby growing up. But he admits that in his later years of high school, he began to focus more on poker than academics. His early high school years coincided with the epicenter of the pandemic, and he wasn't too keen on the online classes he was forced to attend due to COVID lockdowns.

"Once I started playing poker, I really didn't care about school anymore," he admitted.

More focused on poker than academics

After graduating from high school, college was not an option, but he was not forced into the workforce either—he had already developed a set of poker skills that would soon make him money.

The only problem for this rookie is that he has limited places to play poker until he turns 21 next March. He can't play locally in North Carolina, but he's found success in Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida, where the gambling age is 18.

Olivieri has accumulated seven Seminole Hard Rock Poker (SHRP) titles in just 18 months. Even more impressive is the record held by longtime top player Raminder Singh with 21 SHRP titles, after years of playing in South Florida.

Olivieri recently won his second WSOP Circuit ring in Texas, one of the few places in the U.S. where he can compete. He took the #3: Pot Limit Big O event at Austin TCH Social, winning $31,990 and defeating a number of experienced grinders, including his heads-up opponent Yuval Bronshtein, a WSOP bracelet winner with over $4 million in live tournament winnings.

Historically, very few American players under the age of 20 have achieved this level of success in tournament poker. Don't expect him to follow in the footsteps of many other young talents and switch to other professional paths after making money in poker.

"I just want to play this for a long time," Olivieri planned.

What's next for the young poker star?

Olivieri plays poker for more than just a living. He cares about winning titles and wants to make a name for himself in the game. He wants to continue winning tour rings and soon chase after the WSOP gold bracelet—the most coveted piece of jewelry in the poker world.

The battle for the gold bracelet will begin in December at WSOP Paradise, as he is legally allowed to compete in the Bahamas. Like all tour ring winners, he earned a travel and ticket package to the series. He will play in several events, but next summer he will head to Las Vegas, planning to "play the full schedule, mainly mixed events."

Mixed games are his current focus. Olivieri prefers tournaments, mainly because "if I'm playing cash games, I'd like to play mixed games, but there aren't many of those." But he doesn't dislike the most popular poker variant, No-Limit Hold'em. In fact, NLH might be in his future plans.

"I definitely want to start getting involved in Texas Hold'em and play some bigger Texas Hold'em tournaments. But right now my focus is on mixed games," he explained.

Olivieri has achieved success not only in his homeland. The recent WSOPC ring winner, who has three Asian Poker Tour (APT) winnings, including one championship, will be traveling to Taiwan in November to compete in the APT Championship.

Undoubtedly, at this pace, the 20-year-old is on the right track to becoming a poker star. There are some new young stars in the game, including Lucas Jumalon, the second youngest WSOP Main Event champion (at 22). Perhaps Olivieri will surpass Jumalon next summer to become the youngest world champion (if you're wondering, Joe Cada holds the record, winning in 2009 just weeks before his 22nd birthday).

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