Choosing to have gambling as your profession can often be a rather harrowing thing. Your whole lifestyle can change in the blink of an eye, for better or for worse, in this profession. Things are great when you’re winning, but the moment you start losing, things just go into a downward spiral. One minute you’re on top of the world, and the next, you could be jumping off bridges, which is exactly what Matthew Casterella, 29-year old poker pro, did – though the circumstances behind the incident are still largely unknown.

Matthew Casterella’s Story

Matthew Casterella is a 29-year old poker pro from White Plains in New York. His first cash at poker was when he attended the 2005 New England Poker Classic where he managed to take second place and win himself a spiffy $342,000. In 2007, he joined the Borgata Winter Open and, in what was his most notable run, won first place and took home $375,000. All in all, he managed to win $1,700,000 from various cashes in several different tournaments. However, after that last win, things started to go downhill for Casterella.

For two years, he has been battling an insane bout of bad luck. In fact, his last win was at a local poker tournament, where he only took home a meager $4,000. This kind of luck usually spells disaster for professional gamblers, who usually rely on big wins which are few and sometimes far between. It is usually during this low point in life that disasters happen, and for Matthew Casterella, it was possibly enough to make him jump off a bridge.

The Incident

According to some eye witnesses, Casterella was driving in his 2007 Acura when he pulled up at the middle of the Tappan Zee. He stepped out of his car and simply climbed over the railing. Before anyone could do anything, he was already in the water. Thankfully, however, he was rescued by the fire department’s boats. They say that Casterella was still conscious and alert when he was fished out of the water and that he was actually swimming against the current.

Matt Manza, a police investigator, made a comment on how lucky Casterella was to ‘land the right way’. He had a few bumps and bruises in his person, but none that were truly serious. The police are still investigating the circumstances that led to his jump.

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