Cristiano Blanco

Cristiano Blanco exploded onto the European poker scene in March 2007 with a second place finish at the EPT Dortmund, cashing in with €380,000.

“It was like a fairy tale,” says Cristiano, who qualified for the event online at Everest Poker. “I went to the EPT because I wanted the experience of testing my poker skills against the pros. It was like magic! At that time, it was the best EPT finish of any Italian player.”

Cristiano signed with Team Everest after his stunning finish in Dortmund. For him, playing for Everest was an easy decision. “I’m an old-fashioned boy and Everest was just so nice to me. They were so attentive…they treated me so well. It was the only room I wanted to sign with.”

Known as the Italian Stallion, Cristiano’s good looks and affable presence have made him one of the best-known and most popular players in Italy’s burgeoning poker scene.

“When I started six years ago, few Italians played Holdem. Now everyone wants to play,” says Cristiano. “So it is very good for me.”

Like most Italians, Cristiano’s first foray into poker was Five Card Draw, played mainly in the homes of friends. The first time he played online Holdem, he went in without knowing the rules and won a $5000 Guaranteed tournament only a few hours later.

Of course, he is also the first to admit beginner’s luck can only get a player so far. “After one year of playing, I was down. I was still learning the rules and gaining the experience.”

Before he made poker a career, Cristiano was a popular broadcast journalist in Rome, working extensively in radio and then as a reporter for a much-watched Sunday evening football program, Goal Di Notte.

Although he has been a full-time poker pro for the past several years, Cristiano credits his previous career for getting him to where he is now.

“I like to discover things. I want to really see things. When I was an investigative reporter, I once had to visit the scene of where a school had fallen down in southern Italy. It was horrible, but as a journalist, you have to report not just the situation, but also the feelings of witnesses or family members.”

“It really helped me grow up a lot.” 

He says this real-world experience has not only helped his skills at reading other players, but also in giving him a grounded, more realistic perspective to the game than many of his competitors who began playing full-time as young adults.

“I wonder what they would do if all of this ended tomorrow. How would they make a living? I know what it is like to work a normal job. And I am thankful for this for so many reasons…and it has also made me more responsible with my bankroll.”