Among the many live successes of Italpoker in recent days, one that particularly stands out is Daniele Degennaro’s first place – complete with top bounty – at the Mystery Million Portomaso Grand Opening.
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Degennaro triumphed at a table that was 50% Italian, with Alessandro Furneri, Luigi Curcio, Gianluca Cabitza, and Fabrizio Capillo competing. But the most interesting and peculiar thing is that the €100,000 top bounty was still in play until 3 left!
The protagonist of this interview was able to win both a bounty and the first prize of the same value in a few hands, but as he will tell us, he did not cash out the €225,000 we had estimated. With such a payout, deals prevailed!
Let’s hear from him directly!
Who is Daniele Degennaro, the winner of the Mystery Million Portomaso
Hi Daniele, congratulations on the win! But before we start, would you like to introduce yourself to the Assopoker audience?
Hi! Well, I’m 38 years old, almost 39 this year. I’m originally from Milan, but I’ve been living in Malta for almost 10 years now. In fact, it was a tournament I played at home, and as you’ve seen on Hendon Mob, like all the ones I’ve played. I only have Maltese flags because I’m a huge enthusiast, but it’s not my profession.
I have a job and a business, so I don’t have time to dedicate 100% to poker, although it remains a great passion that has brought me some satisfaction in the past, even online.
So poker is my hobby, and I’m an ex semi-professional footballer, because I played indoor football and played in Italy, Switzerland, and here in Malta.
For work, I work in betting. I worked for an Italian betting company as a trader, as a bookmaker, and now I’m moving to Betsson, a Swedish company based here in Malta; I’ll start in about fifteen days.
In fact, this is the first time in my life I’ve been able to dedicate myself to a tournament in a relaxed way, without having to worry that if I make Day 2, it might coincide with my workday and I’d have to ask for leave. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but I think this mental serenity made a difference.
I’d also like to add that for a few months now, I’ve been getting some coaching from a friend, Alesiena. This has helped me fix some leaks I had, but the coaching journey isn’t over yet. I spoke to him this morning, Ale told me: “We have a lesson to do on the final table, because what better than this can give us material for a lesson?”
Incidentally, Ale was at my table on Day 1. I had a very tough Day 1 because I had a full table of regs: there was me, Ale, Gaspare Sposato, and then more regs, both Italian and foreign, kept showing up. Someone would bust, another reg would arrive. The field on Day 1, I must tell you the truth, looked very good, but our table looked like the EPT table.
So poker is my hobby, and I’m an ex semi-professional footballer, because I played indoor football and played in Italy, Switzerland, and here in Malta.
Daniele Degennaro
The story of the first Days
I see you’re eager to talk about the tournament! So tell us, how did Day 1 go?
Well, I won a big pot against Gaspare. A three-way all-in, the hand that really boosted my chip count on Day 1.
Gaspare opened from the cutoff, I defended from the small blind with 7-7, Big Blind played. Flop 7-8-2 rainbow, I checked, Big Blind checked, Gaspare c-bet, I just called. Big Blind shoved with about 35x and Gaspare re-shoved with the same stack as me. We had a lot, 50x. I snapped: Gaspare had 10-10 and Big Blind had 9-6, so a straight draw. I went with it, of course, and that’s when I soared in the chip count.
I could have finished as chip leader, but then I busted a bit too much at the double bubble. On Day 1, they were offering 25 Main Event tickets of €2,200, so at 26 left, there was the ticket bubble which was more significant than the ITM bubble.
I busted, I gained a lot of chips, and then I also busted at the bubble for the 22 ITMs, but unfortunately, on the very last hand, they caught me in a three-street bluff, and I finished in the average.
Not bad! Then how did the road to victory continue?
Day 2 also went very well, I gained a lot of chips without going to many showdowns. I think I played good poker, honestly.
I don’t remember any particular hands, I took some bounties: I think I got five bounties on Day 2, one for 20, one for 5, and the other three were small. I was already satisfied, then I managed to finish as chip leader by busting a bit too.
The redraw at two tables left went well for me: I had a table with all short stacks, while the other table had more balanced stacks.
At the final table bubble, they tightened up a bit, even though there wasn’t a big pay jump, but reaching the final table always makes a difference and pleases everyone. I thought about it that way, I busted the table a bit, and I managed to finish as chip leader.
The Final Day with the top bounty in play
And we arrive at the juicy part, the Final Day. With the €100,000 top bounty, the same as the first prize, still in play!
Already the night before, I practically didn’t sleep, I think I slept for half an hour because Day 2 ended at 5 AM.
I got home almost at sunrise, thinking mainly about the strategy to face Day 3 because it was a truly paradoxical situation, with the Mystery still in play.
What were you thinking about?
They closed the Day 2 chest with 14 envelopes still inside, so there were 5 envelopes left to draw, 2 of which were mine, and they would have had them drawn before the FT.
So the strategy I was devising at night was twofold, because it changes completely if the €100K envelope is drawn before the final table.
My brain started processing: “How will I approach the table if it’s drawn before? I hope to draw it myself, of course, but I almost hope someone draws it, because otherwise it completely changes the FT strategy. And if it’s not drawn, how do I approach a final table as chip leader, with someone with slightly fewer chips than me, with the top bounty still in play?”
It wasn’t an easy situation. Then I said: “Okay, let’s not even think about it, let’s enjoy the moment and try to play our game.”
The Final Table
And this scenario actually happened: the bounty was still in play. Tell us about the Final Table.
There was that famous cooler against Cabitza, I opened 8 8 from UTG and he three-bet from the big blind, I called. Flop 3 q 8 , I also had the 8 of spades, which doesn’t change much.
He c-bet quite a bit, I re-raised two and a half times, he shoved, and at that point, I heard that in the commentary, someone accused me of slowrolling. I thought about it for about 15 seconds, in fact, if you watch the video, I think it’s really 15 seconds: I know it’s a snap call, but Cabitza makes that move with A-K of spades or with Q-Q.
I said: “If I get Q-Q, I’ll be talking to the walls for the next 10 years, but that’s part of the game and I have to call.” Then he turned over a k , and that hand sent me soaring, if I’m not mistaken, to 65x at 4 left, which was a very fun situation.
The hand that gives confidence
But the hand that truly gave me confidence was when I eliminated the Greek player at 6 left in a BvB situation. I opened a 8 for 3.1x from SB and he almost instant-shoved for 27x. My first thought was to fold, then I remembered the Mystery Bounty of 100k still in play and I thought about it for a moment.
I took a lot of time, I think I tanked for 3-4 minutes because something didn’t convince me. He started talking, projecting confidence; I played a bit on the tell.
He told me: “Take your time, I’ve already lost my flight, I’m not in a hurry, do whatever you want.” He projected confidence, telling me: “I think I’m slightly better than you, just slightly better than you.” This A-8 from the small blind in SB vs BB didn’t seem that weak as a call.
27x is a lot, but I would have been left with 23, I covered him, there was the Mystery Bounty, my brain was processing so many things.
Then I asked him a question I often ask; I usually use it against amateurs, what we call fish: “Will you show me your cards if I fold?”
I know it’s a relative question, because he can answer as he wants, but his snap “Yes, I’ll show you, and you’ll see them in the video anyway” almost convinced me to call.
So five seconds later I called and played at 70% because he had a crazy hand with j 8 . I held, and it gave me a lot of energy, a lot of confidence for the rest of the tournament.
Deal at 3 left with the maxi-bounty
Let’s skip to the final phase, the most peculiar one…
Then at 3 left, before the dinner break, we all finished with practically even stacks, with the 100K bounty still in play and with terrifying pay jump steps.
So we decided to distribute at least the prize pool and we also made a private deal on the Mystery, so the 100K wasn’t fully paid out, let’s say, but we still decided to make this payout adjustment.
We then played with a bit more lightness. Scarpa gained chips immediately, because I think he feels like God right now and everything works out for him. He gained chips, then we leveled out again, then I gained a bit… there weren’t any big hands.
I managed to steal some from his opens, I three-bet him, once I even four-bet him with ace-five. I think I played the three-left phase well too, then obviously I’ll review it with my coach Ale and we’ll see what mistakes I made, maybe in sizing or ranges, we’ll see together.
Well, you played well enough to win! Tell us a bit if anything will change in your future game after this win… and then we’ll leave you space for greetings or whatever you want!
A part will go to the bankroll, but not much will change. I don’t think I’ll ever go to live tournaments, there are so many events here in Malta that I can wait for them to come here!
The EPT was here a few months ago, I played that too, I played two bullets in the EPT Main Event, but both from satellites. Both went badly, but it was a fantastic experience too, and then I also made the final table of a side event, so it was a profitable EPT. I think I finished +4, +5, but nothing major, but not finishing in the negative when playing these events is not bad.
An anecdote is that I had my wife draw a bounty. We are expecting our second child, I kissed her belly, and unfortunately, we drew the €1,000 bounty. Too bad it didn’t materialize, it would have been the video of the year!
Moreover, my wife’s name is Kelly, and that’s the reason for my Kelly jersey from Juve (I’m a Juventus fan) that I wore in heads-up. Many people were wondering, because not even Kelly would ever buy a Kelly jersey!
Cover image: Daniele Degennaro (thanks to Portomaso and Imperium Events)
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