While Team PokerStars Blog was a little sad that Team Pro Luca Pagano busted in 12th for €8,200, we're very happy to see that fellow Team Pro Salvatore Bonavena has made the final table of IPT Nova Gorica. Not only that, but he's second in chips! The final eight players,...more

He's such a force on the European Poker Tour that it's been a surprise that Luca Pagano, the Team PokerStars Pro, has not done so well on the Italian Poker Tour. That may be about to change. Pagano is chip leader with 36 left at PokerStars IPT Nova Gorica, and...more

The PokerStars Italian Poker Tour continues to generate big prize pools, with the winner in Nova Gorica taking home €190,000. 222 players signed up for yesterday's Day 1B, and together with the Day 1A field that made a total of 384 players and a prize pool of €744,960. Impressive stuff....more

If something is good, you may as well repeat it. Scrub that; let's do it four times... Good thing No. 1: This week sees the conclusion of the record-breaking PokerStars WCOOP series Good thing No. 2: The PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final is now under way in Rosario,...more

While you might expect PokerStars Italian Poker Tour events to be packed full of locals, recent tournaments have been happy hunting grounds for players from elsewhere in Europe. But IPT San Remo was a little different - all eight finalists were from the home country. No surprise, then, that an...more

As you probably know we like to follow Salvatore Bonavena here on the PokerStars Blog. The Italian Team PokerStars Pro became a firm favorite after taking down EPT Prague two years ago, and we've loved his pink jumpers ever since. We're therefore a little sad that he did not make...more

While the remaining 31 players at IPT San Remo are already guaranteed €3,100, it's the €200,000 for the winner that they're all after.. As they prepare for today's Day 3, the man leading the chase for first is Alberto Di Vilio on 721,500. Not far behind is Sergio Castelluccio with...more

They say a week is a long time in politics - just ask the Australians who are going to the polls today for one of the tightest elections in years. But the poker world packs a lot into seven days, too: PokerStars has crowned the first champion of EPT Season...more

First San Marino, then Venice and now San Remo - idyllic locations, great venues and fine food. No wonder the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour is so popular. San Remo is like a second home for the IPT, and the latest stop this week for IPT Season 2 saw Nicola D'Alessio...more

It had already been a successful 12 months for Hungarian player Tamas Lendvai. Healthy cashes at EPT London last October ($27,000), then at this year's PCA ($87,500) and WSOP ($21,300) had sent his career earnings up to $180,000. Now those are dwarfed by his victory in Italy yesterday where he...more

With a record-breaking field for a PokerStars Italian Poker Tour event, IPT Venice was always going to be a success. But for the remaining eight players, 'success' will be determined by just how much they get paid when the final table plays out today. While they're already guaranteed at least...more

They're all guaranteed a payday of at least €4,100, but the 43 remaining players in PokerStars IPT Venice have a much bigger figure in mind... ...€235,000 That's the monies on offer for the winner, thanks to a €979,700 prize pool generated by a huge field of 505 in Venice, a...more

OK, so here on Team PokerStars Blog we are known to get a little excited by all things poker. So when we described earlier this week how the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour had become one of the most important events in the European poker calendar, some may have chortled and...more

There are few better places in Europe to play poker than Venice. Character, history, beauty, water (plenty of that) and the weather make it very pleasant. One man who enjoyed poker in the city more than anyone yesterday was PokerStars qualifier Loccarini Giacomo, chipleader of Day 1A of IPT Venice,...more

It's hard to believe we're already well in to season two of the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour. This series has surpassed all expectations and is now one of the most hotly-contested events in the European poker calendar. Tomorrow sees the start of IPT Venice, a €2,000 (+ €200) buy-in tournament...more

The Italian Poker Tour's second season has found its first champion. Luigi Pignataro, a 25-year-old Italian, spent two hours in head-up battle to claim the title. After moving out to a serious lead over opponent Aldo Zambruno, Pignataro was in a position where he could call Zambruno's all-in with any...more

by Matteo Viola 00.25am: Pignataro is the IPT San Marino Champion! Luigi Pignataro is the winner of the first stop of the IPT Season 2 in San Marino. Aldo Zambruno was short-stacked and moved all-in with A♥Q♣. Pignataro made the call for 180,000 chips with 3♥8♠ - and the board...more

by Matteo Viola 7.12pm: end of level 27 We are now at level 28 with blinds up to 30,000-60,000 and 5,000 ante. 7.05pm: Blinds war - Demontis pushes over Donato Donato opens for 125,000 from the small blind and Demontis makes it 650,000 from the big blind. Donato folds. 6.58pm:...more

by Matteo Viola It has been a great show at 'Centro Congressi' San Marino. After about 30 hours of poker and high emotion we are now down to the final table. Here are the player profiles: Giacomo Fundaro Giacomo plays at PokerStars under the UserID 'xBusmaker86x'. He is a student...more

Another day, another fantastic PokerStars event kicking off somewhere in the world. Today, it's the turn of Italy with Season 2 of the popular Italian Poker Tour starting off in San Marino. It's the first time the tour has been there, and 152 players from all over Europe arrived for...more