Dario Sammartino
About Dario Sammartino
| Current Residence | Nova Gorica, Slovenia |
| Born | April 5, 1987 |
| Birth Place | Naples, Italy |
| Total Winnings | $15,833,550 |
Dario Sammartino Trivia
- Runner-up World Series of Poker Main Event in 2019.
- Pokerstars nickname ‘Madgenius87’, but then changed it to ‘Secred_M0d3’.
- Owns a company that loans out Ferrari’s.
- Currently #1 on Italians All-Time money list.
| PLAYER SCORE | 8,2/10 |
|---|---|
| Aggressiveness | 8 |
| Looseness | 8 |
| Limit | 7 |
| No-limit | 8 |
| Side Games | 9 |
| Steam Control | 9 |
| Against Strong Players | 8 |
| Against Weak Players | 9 |
| Tournaments | 9 |
| Short-Handed | 7 |
Dario Sammartino is one of Italy’s most well-known professional poker players. He plays the highest limits both live as online and is already in the poker circuit for almost 15 years in a row. Most likely, Dario is one of the few players with over $15 Million in cashes, without a single big 1st place. Although a healthy 2nd place during 2019’s World Series of Poker Main Event for $6,000,000 he just does not mind that much not having a trophy. Online however, he has one several major tournaments, including SCOOP and WCOOP titles on PokerStars for respectively $718,217 and $371,187. With close to $6 Million dollars in winnings is doing well for himself online.
Mixed Games Specialist
Dario Sammartino learned how to play poker from his father, after his grandfather sadly passed away. The game he was thought was 5-Card Draw poker, a game he excels at, showing the results in mixed games overall. He has several major cashes in games such as Omaha (H/L), 2-7 Lowball Draw and H.O.R.S.E.
Born and raised in Italy, he also took note of the ‘MoneyMaker boom’, a moment which gave Dario the drive to master another game in poker, No-Limit Hold’em. The first times he played live poker it would be in local newly poker clubs back in Italy. As it is still the most common variant of poker, Dario had no other choice than to start learning Hold’em, and later in his career he would not have wanted it any different way.
Online Poker Machine
The online poker world came to know Dario first as ‘Madgenius87’ on PokerStars, which later turned into a new nickname called ‘Secret_m0d3’. He managed to win three Spring Championship of Online Poker events, including his biggest ever online win during the $21,000 High Roller, eventually collecting more than $700K.
He also has a WCOOP title behind his name, and a ton of notable finishes. Also on GGPoker he is doing well for himself, resulting a very recent 2nd place finish during The Super MILLION$ High Roller Event, cashing for $375,726. Until the day of today, he is crushing it at the online felts of all poker operators.
Recent Cashes for ‘Secret_m0d3’
| Ended | Tournament | Buy-In + Fee | Rank | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/14/2016 | SCOOP-24-H: $21,000 NLHE [8-Max, High Roller], $500K GTD | $20,500+$500 | 1/113 | $718,217.50 |
| 09/19/2019 | WCOOP-57-H: $10,300 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller], $1,000,000 GTD | $10,000+$300 | 1/116 | $371,187.13 |
| 04/15/2021 | SCOOP-53-H: $10,300 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller], $1,000,000 GTD | $10,000+$300 | 2/93 | $207,866.43 |
| 05/17/2017 | SCOOP-41-H: 5,200 NLHE [8-Max], $1,000,000 GTD | $5,000+$200 | 2/259 | $187,775.00 |
| 03/20/2018 | High Rollers 07: $10,300 NLHE [8-Max], $1,000,000 GTD | $10,000+$300 | 4/79 | $125,391.11 |
Runner-up Dario
Dario’s first ever runner-up result in a major tournament date back to October 2013, losing heads-up from fellow Italian Federico Piroddi. During the European Poker Tour in London in 2014, losing the last battle from Tom Middleton in a 2K side-event. After some other 2nd and 3rd place finishes in big tournaments, he would become 3rd in one of the biggest tournaments of the world, The High Roller for one Drop during the WSOP. He eventually took home $1,6 Million in the most expensive buy-in tournament to date for him, but the likes of Bertrand ‘Elky’ Grospellier, and Doug Polk, walked away with all glory.
After becoming runner-up in 2018 during at the European Poker Tour Nationals in Monte Carlo, he noted another big cash in the 2K High Roller. It would not be until 2019 where his biggest ever live cash would appear.
World Series of Poker 2019
The World Series of Poker 2019 Main Event would have 8,569 players, resulting in a massive prize pool of $80,548,600! Dario was one of the ‘November Niners’ and came on stage as everybody knows him. Classy, Italian, in a suit and with a bowtie, and sunglasses. Unfortunately for him, his runner-up history would not let him down this time as he finished again as runner-up in the biggest final table of his career.
German poker professional Hossein Ensan would walk away with the victory and the first prize of $10,000,000, where Sammartino collected his biggest cash all-time for $6,000,000. For sure the money would make a lot of things good, but sadly for him he never got what he would truly deserve, a win and the trophy.
High Scores
| Date | Tournament Name | Buy-In | Place | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct/13 | Italian Poker Tour, San-Remo | € 700 | 2nd | $ 130.849 |
| Apr/15 | EPT High Roller Grand Final, Monte Carlo | € 100.000 | 4th | $ 782.465 |
| Apr/15 | EPT High Roller Grand Final, Monte Carlo | € 25.500 | 6th | $ 286.902 |
| Jan/16 | WSOP #32 NLHE 6-max, Las Vegas | $ 5.000 | 4th | $ 163.604 |
| Apr/16 | PCA High Roller, Paradise Island | $ 25.500 | 3rd | $ 542.160 |
| Jan/17 | PCA High Roller, Paradise Island | $ 25.500 | 2nd | $ 354.424 |
| May/17 | EPT High Roller, Monte Carlo | € 25.750 | 4th | $ 419.374 |
| Jun/17 | WSOP #6 HR for One Drop, Las Vegas | $ 111.111 | 3rd | $ 1.608.295 |
| Jul/17 | WSOP #67 Pot Limit Omaha | $ 25.000 | 6th | $ 197.007 |
| Apr/18 | EPT National HR, Monte Carlo | € 2.200 | 2nd | $ 132.416 |
| Jun/18 | WSOP #23 2-7 Lowball Draw, Las Vegas | $ 10.000 | 3rd | $ 114.023 |
| Jun/19 | WSOP #29 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, Las Vegas | $ 10.000 | 3rd | $ 184.854 |
| Jul/19 | WSOP Main Event, Las Vegas | $ 10.000 | 2nd | $ 6.000.000 |
| Oct/19 | WSOPE Main Event | € 10.350 | 4th | $ 380.053 |
| Aug/22 | EPT Barcelona High Roller | € 25.000 | 4th | $ 237.707 |
You want to follow Dario Sammartino and his poker career? Make sure to follow him on one of his socials:
www.instagram.com/dario_sammartino/ (14K followers)
Image Credit: reddit.com
