Southwest Florida Symphony double bass player and personnel manager Alex Albanese exemplifies that two very different worlds can come together.

Albanese was born in Pittsburgh and moved to Ohio at a young age. He picked up the instrument after a high school friend wanted to drop playing bass, for guitar. He remembers sneaking into bars to play jam sessions and later joined the school choir.

A graduate of Miami University of Ohio, Albanese studied for three years under the direction of Paul Nader, and later joined the Cincinnati Conservatory for one year before coming to work at the Southwest Florida Symphony.
 
   

“Symphony is the most complex and involving of musics,” Albanese says. “You can’t play a work of Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Brahms, or Stravinsky without being fascinated, engaged and finding something new.”

On stage, Albanese is a poised bass player interested in an honest performance. His favorite musicians are Miles and Stravinsky “because of the sheer volume and variety of their work, but Beethoven’s passion is awesome,” the musician says.

Revved up by the excitement the music exemplifies, this bass player claims his instrument of choice is fundametal to nearly every piece of music ever written, and besides “it’s cool.” He loves the stage and feels quite at ease there, but his “trade” of choice is one that takes him to completely different stages.

You see, Albanese is not only a musician. He’s also a Professional Poker Player.
   
Photo Courtesy: Lasting Impressions

“Poker is a vocation,” he says. “The income is even more sporadic then in music, but I started when I was 12 or so. Later, I worked with bands on cruise ships and played with the gang from casinos after they closed. I found out I was better than most of them.”

On the poker stage, Albanese is known as “Manimal42,” a name given to him by a rock band in Saint Petersburg years ago and Douglas Adams number. He explains he started as a cash player and later got into tournaments. Now, he splits his time between both.

“I’ve been to Las Vegas for three longish trips now for the WSOP and it’s a blast,” he adds. “I can’t play much between Halloween and Mother’s day since the Symphony is in season, but I make up for it in the summer and have won two entries to the Main Event of the World Series.”

Albanese goes on to say that thankfully he’s won more than he’s lost. He has had setbacks, but in order to hit the right note in poker “Manimal42” practices the Kelly Criterion, a game theory that pushes players to keep working, in order to stay ahead of the curve. And one can say that this musician/professional poker player uses this theory in all aspects of his life.

“Total involvement and paying attention to what goes on around you is key to both performing as a musician and as a poker player,” Albanese says. “In one instance, I remember having a very small chip stack in a tournament at the Venetian. I started listening to all the up tempo Beethoven I had on my IPOD and got to the final table. I like to think the indomitable sprit of Beethoven got me there.”

Many can say Albanese is your typical, everyday guy with nothing less than a fairy tale lifestyle. But it’s obvious that this man is “ALL-IN”-to what life has to offer.