Italian Dario Sammartino Keeps the Ball Rolling with Another Big Result at the WSOP
Just about two weeks ago, we highlighted the continued success of Italian rising star Dario Sammartino. After a truly breakout performance from the European Poker Tour Grand Final, Sammartino has rode the wave of momentum into the World Series of Poker. Well, that wave got a bit bigger on Wednesday night.
Before we get into what Sammartino has put together thus far at the 2015 WSOP, let's look back on his breakout in Monaco. There, Sammartino placed fourth in the €100,000 Super High Roller for €709,500, took 17th in the €10,600 Main Event for €51,350, and then he finished sixth in the €25,500 High Roller for €257,400.
Over in Las Vegas, he reached the final table of the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship right out of the gate and took home $60,545 for a sixth-place finish. That field was as stacked full of talent as any other you'd see, and the final table included Shaun Deeb, Paul Volpe, Jason Les, Sam Stein, Greg Merson, Kristijonas Andrulis, Ismael Bojang, and Jason Koon.
Deeb went on to win that event for his first gold bracelet and $318,857 in prize money.
Fast forward another week and a half to find Sammartino in the mix in another elite event at the World Series, the $5,000 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em tournament. A big field of 550 entries turned out, making for plenty of money to be won. Sammartino was one of those to reach the money, but he didn't stop there, working his way all the way to the final table. In the end, his run ended in fourth place, but it came with a hefty consolidation prize of $163,604.
With those two big buy-in final table results, Sammartino should have enough Global Poker Index WSOP Player of the Year points to move into the top 30 of the race. While his nearly 700 points will still be well shy of the leaders in the race, a few more big buy-in final tables could vault Sammartino right into the thick of it all.
Sammartino has shown over the past two months that he has what it takes to knock on the door of some major titles, and closing the deal may just be a matter of his hands holding up. In the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship event, Sammartino's final hand saw his pocket kings get cracked by Deeb's pocket fours after the money went in preflop.
On this most recent final table, Sammartino's final hand also saw him lose out with the best of it going in. This time he was short stacked and got it in with the K♥6♦ against Jason Mercier's 10♣9♦. The flop destroyed Sammartino when the J♠8♠7♥ flop delivered Mercier with a straight, and then the turn and river came the 10♠ and 6♥ to seal the deal. Once again, Sammartino was on the wrong side of luck, but it feels like only a matter of time before things go his way.
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