Seat 7: Andrea Dato, 44, Italy - 2,875,000
Andrea Dato has a long history with PokerStars events, from the Italian Poker Tour to the European Poker Tour. He cashed his first in 2010 on the IPT and was in the money in the last EPT Barcelona Main Event in August, finishing 60th. He has set a new mark with his final table appearance here in Cyprus.
Dato came to poker via Magic: The Gathering and gave up a career as an engineer to focus on poker more than 15 years ago. Since then, he has become one of the best-known Italian players, earning more than $1.8 million in live tournament earnings.
Having formerly played mostly cash games, Dato, a poker coach, says, “Nowadays, I consider myself a live tournament specialist. He was the tournament chip leader at the beginning of Day 5 and sits in sixth place heading into the final day. He aims to outperform his previous best, a fourth place at EPT Barcelona in 2014, earning him €362,000.
“I've gained a lot of experience since that EPT final table,” he says, stating that he has played at almost every EPT stop since then. “But the game has changed so much in 10 years, particularly with solvers. Before, poker was played with instinct and ego; that's less the case today – but live events are still beatable. I've been here before and like Cyprus, the location and the field.”