Breaking News: Francesco De Vivo joins the Live the Dream Team!

In an unexpected twist, 2008 Italian Championship winner Francesco De Vivo (raffa.de) has been awarded a $100,000 sponsorship with the Everest Poker Live the Dream Team. Francesco was one of the Top 21 finalists in the Live the Dream casting last month in Vienna, where Everest Poker awarded 10 year-long contracts worth $100,000 each. German player Ronny Pickard pulled out of the final selection for personal reasons and Francesco was selected by the jury to be the tenth member.

"Being a poker player, I have learned to accept defeat. But the elimination from Live The Dream was still burning," Francesco says. "Everything was so well organized and the ceremony was so emotional that all I wanted was a place in the Team. With this unexpected change, I’m back on cloud nine and I want to pay off the trust that Everest Poker is showing to me with my results and my work."

Marco Trucco, Everest Poker's Italian PR & Events Coordinator, was thrilled to give Francesco the good news. "Francesco has an outstanding poker career. On top of that, he’s the kind of easy-going and articulated guy to perfectly represent Everest Poker in Italy and abroad."

Two years ago, the 39-year-old Turin resident left his career in real estate to pursue poker full time. He has since become one of the most well-respected and recognized players on the Italian circuit. In 2008, Francesco both won the title of Italian Champion and the overall Italian Championship leaderboard, as well as cashing in his very first WSOP Main Event. As a member of the 2010 Live the Dream Team, Francesco's will compete in even more of the world's biggest tournaments while representing the online poker room he has been a loyal player of since 2006.