Filippo Candio is the last European player standing in the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event and has made the prestigious November Nine. The 25-year-old Italian poker player hails from Cagliari, Italy and is known as both a live tournament player and an online cash game player. He previous won the Italian Pro Championship in San Remo for €140,000.
A key hand during the final day of play when players were nearly down to 9 came between Candio and John Racener. Candio 4bet all-in pre-flop with pocket Aces and Racener looked him up with A-K suited. Although Racener hit a King on the flop, he didn’t improve from there and gave Candio a critical double up which he was able to parlay into an appearance into the November Nine.
When play resumes, Candio will have the fifth largest chip stack at 16.4 million and is very close with Matthew Jarvis in terms of chips at the table. His previous best at the World Series also came in this year’s series where he cashed in Event 11, a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament that had a huge field. He finished in 157th place, good enough for approximately $2,000. According to various online databases, Candio has about $250,000 in career live tournament earnings, although his cash game profits are unknown. Previous to the Main Event he was sponsored by PokerStars, but during the event switched allegiances over to Full Tilt Poker during his run to the final table.
During the interview, Candio talks about why Italians make for good poker players and life on the road with his huge group of friends. He talks about his strategies against players like Joseph Cheong and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and how his “secret plays” will help him combat these more experienced players on an even level.