The final player standing from the PartyPoker stable in 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, Gianni DiRenzo is stepping into previously unknown territory in the world of poker.
DiRenzo, who was one of two Italians remaining in the 2010 WSOP Main Event with 30 players to go – the other is Filippo Candio – entered Day 7 in the middle of the pack with 2.28 million in chips. He stayed under the radar for much of the day before getting involved in a big hand against the President of the Slovak Poker Sport Federation, Dag Palovic, that drove him into position to become one of the contenders for the next November Nine.
In early position, Gianni opened up the pot for a 350,000 bet, only to find Palovic move all-in over the top. After a few moments of thought, DiRenzo made the call and tabled a strong pair of kings. Palovic could only muster a pair of queens to go to war and, once the flop came with a king, Palovic was left waiting for both queens to come to save the day. The turn didn’t bring any assistance to Palovic and, soon after, the father of Slovak poker was eliminated in 37th place. DiRenzo battled his way to a chip stack of 2.55 million as a result of that defeat. He took 29th for $255,000.
DiRenzo has no accredited success in tournament poker, but what a breakthrough to make your original statement on the poker world!