Seat 6: Marco Gambini, Italy – 9,525,000 (PokerStars Qualifier)
Marco Gambini was a professional sommelier at the turn of the century, now he owns a shop specializing in energy systems and aggregation. He's also pretty good at poker, which he picked up 15 years ago. Gambini, who lives on the Adriatic coast, has won a TCOOP event at PokerStars.it.
Now, trying to take the live scene by storm, Gambini still uses online poker as a gateway to live events. He's qualified for multiple tournaments around the world and won packages for both FPS and EPT Main Events here. "Monte Carlo is the place to be," he says.
It's been a fantastic trip for the 49-year-old. An avid salsa dancer, Gambini waltzed through the FPS field thanks to a few desirable runouts. On the last two tables, he spiked a three on the river to eliminate two opponents and vaulted into chip lead at the time. "I've been lucky to get here," he said, saying the stars have seem to be aligned for him so far.