Though Pagano has been a professional poker player since taking third at EPT Barcelona in 2004, this is his first major win on home soil. In between those big finishes, Pagano has cashed in 18 EPT events (including six final tables) and put up two cashes at the 2006 WSOP.

Pagano beat out a field 426 players in San Remo in the fight for the lion's share of the €826,440 prize pool.

Heads up agains Romania's Dan Murariu, Pagano's [ad][qh] stayed way ahead of Murariu's [qc][9d] on a final board of [2c][8h][7c][jh][3h].

The next stop in the second Season of IPT is in Nova Gorica, September 1-5.

Congratulations once again to Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano for an outstanding performance.

Once a computer programming student, Pagano bought into the online poker boom just a few years ago. The deposit was small (less than $100). In the amount of time it takes most people of his age to start a career, Pagano has climbed to the top of his. A long-time member of Team PokerStars Pro, Pagano as developed, refined, and re-refined his game over his time on the live poker circuit. In the past several years, Pagano has made two European Poker Tour final tables and amassed 20 live tournament cashes.

Most recently, Pagano has been seen playing a dual role as both player and tournament organizer. He and his father hosted the EPT event in San Remo last week. Now, here at the EPT Grand Final, Luca has jumped out to an early Day 2 lead. He sits with more than 170,000 chips.

It's clear Luca's father, Claudio, has more than accepted Luca's role in the game. He's joined him. Claudio Pagano started today with a better-than-average stack.

Luca Pagano's fortune here at the Grand Final is still in flux. However, if his life to this point is any indication, the smiling young Italian may just be in for something good here this week.