Player Interview: Dario Sammartino
At the beginning of Day 5, Dario Sammartino started with a stack of 1,769,000. Heading back from the second break of the day, he nearly doubled to 3,450,000, good for a top-15 stack.
Sammartino is sitting at the table with former November Niner Kenny Hallaert, and the two have been sparring all day. Earlier in the day, Hallaert ran a bluff against Sammartino that didn't get through and sent an additional million in chips to Sammartino's stack.
PokerNews caught up with Sammartino to talk about his day and how he found the nerve to call Hallaert's bluff with ace high.
Sammartino: Obviously, calling someone with ace high is not standard. When he three-bet me in that spot preflop, I had the feeling he didn't have a lot. I called preflop to trap and also it's not good to go all in for 80 bigs preflop with ace-king against a good player. I think Kenny's a good player. So the best option was to call preflop.
The texture of the board on the river and the way the hand played out means he can only bet with jacks and hearts. At this point, I think he either has king-queen of hearts, jacks, or nothing. I just don't think he plays aces, kings, or queens that way.
I chose to call because most of the time I have the best hand. His range against my range is not really strong in that spot.
PokerNews: With seven cashes this summer, including a third-place finish in the One Drop High Roller, do you feel like you are playing some of your best poker?
Sammartino: In some of the tournaments, I feel I've played my best, but I make some mistakes. Sometimes I am very focused, and I play good. I always want to get better. I will work hard to improve my game even over the next few days. I hope, and I try because this is what I want to do.
PokerNews: Watching you play during the last level and all summer long, it's obvious you like to play a lot of pots. Is there ever a time when you slow down?
Sammartino: Slow down? Sure sometimes. But it depends. I don't care about whether the table is tough or easy. It's important, but I always play with really tough players. This table is not an easy table, but it's not that tough either. If I can play my game, I feel good and then I will do good. I want to try to do my best and win.
PokerNews: What's the plan to ensure you take a healthy stack into Day 6?
Sammartino: I change my play a lot. I change based on the table, the stack, the player. A lot of things help me decide how to play. I don't have one basic strategy, and that is good. I change all the time and play my opponents differently. I hope it makes it hard for people to know how to play against me.