At the PokerStars Open Campione 2026, one of the most anticipated events has kicked off: the €2,200 High Roller. Many familiar faces were present, including regulars and some welcome returns like Filippo Candio. The Italian presence is also massive: 30 out of the 69 players who qualified for Day 2 are Italian.
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PokerStars Open Campione 2026: High Roller for 189, five Italians in the top 10 and 30 on Day 2!
After the initial warm-up days, the PokerStars Open Campione has started with its first truly significant event: the €2,200 buy-in High Roller. About 11 months ago, Icelander Arni Gunnarsson was the winner, and he has returned, performing well again. The Icelandic player, who is also a bartender by profession, finished in 18th place with 106,500 chips.
The starting stack was 30,000 chips with 40-minute levels, starting from 100/200/200. Ten levels were played on Day 1, which saw 189 paying players and 69 qualifiers. However, these are not final figures, as late registration – including any re-entries – closes at the start of Day 2. Those who opt for a last-minute entry will have a stack of 20 big blinds (play resumes at level 11, 1,000/1,500/1,500).
For now, we have a clear chip leader in the Englishman Luis Alessandro Biasillo, who has accumulated approximately 344,000 chips, equivalent to well over 200 big blinds at the restart.
However, the best of our players is not far behind, as Mauro Luciano Guastamacchia is in second place with 267,500. And in third place is Dario Quattrucci, winner of a significant prize at the last EPT Prague. A crucial hand for him involved hitting a set on the flop with 66 and getting paid off by an opponent holding AA, finishing with 229,000 chips.
Salvucci, Arduini, and Agnoletto are also doing well, the other three Italians present in the top 10, which you can see in detail below:
| POSITION | PLAYER | NATION | STACK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luis Alessandro Biasillo | United Kingdom | 344,000 |
| 2 | Mauro Luciano Guastamacchia | Italy | 267,500 |
| 3 | Dario Quattrucci | Italy | 229,000 |
| 4 | Jakub Sterba | Czech Republic | 190,500 |
| 5 | Samuele Salvucci | Italy | 181,000 |
| 6 | Gaetan Julien Raymond Balleur | France | 174,000 |
| 7 | Lorenzo Arduini | Italy | 164,500 |
| 8 | Andrea Maria Agnoletto | Italy | 159,000 |
| 9 | Danail Balkanski | Bulgaria | 155,500 |
| 10 | Tobias Peters | Netherlands | 154,500 |
The other Italians
Just outside the top 10, we find several of our players, with William Mancini needing two re-entries but ultimately bagging a very competitive stack. Manuel Ferrari, Davide Suriano, Claudio Di Giacomo, and a revived Filippo Candio are also doing well. The former “November Nine” player will have exactly 60 big blinds to manage on Day 2.
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Here are the details of the Italian players qualified for Day 2 of the PokerStars Open Campione High Roller, excluding those already in the top 10:
| POSITION | PLAYER | STACK |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Chengzhou Zhou | 146,000 |
| 13 | William Mancini | 135,000 |
| 16 | Manuel Ferrari | 112,500 |
| 17 | Davide Suriano | 107,000 |
| 22 | Filippo Candio | 90,000 |
| 23 | Claudio Di Giacomo | 90,000 |
| 29 | Pietro Nicastro | 76,000 |
| 35 | Andrea Salamone | 62,500 |
| 36 | Angelo Benazzi | 57,000 |
| 38 | Igor Saia | 55,500 |
| 41 | Mirco De Martini | 48,500 |
| 42 | Giorgio Donzelli | 48,000 |
| 43 | Luca Delrio | 46,000 |
| 44 | Vincenzo Salvatore Lapenna | 46,000 |
| 50 | Alessandro Righetti | 38,000 |
| 51 | Umberto Ruggeri | 37,500 |
| 52 | Edoardo Accornero | 36,500 |
| 53 | Pellegrino Sallustro | 35,500 |
| 56 | Stefano Rege | 32,000 |
| 59 | Karim Radani | 28,000 |
| 60 | Marcello Miniucchi | 27,500 |
| 65 | Eros Zappacosta | 20,500 |
| 66 | Andrea Dal Bo | 14,000 |
| 68 | Giovanni Salvatore | 11,500 |
| 69 | Niccolò Messeri | 4,900 |
Andrea Dal Bo, Niccolò Messeri, and Giannino “Kart” Salvatore are very short, but he hasn’t lost his smile.
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Among the best of Day 1 in this High Roller is also the Czech player Jakub Sterba, who holds a unique record: in 2025, he finished in sixth place in both this tournament and the Main Event. Our on-site reporters Davide De Luca, Giorgio Sigon, and Marco Varrone caught him in one of the hands that significantly increased his stack.
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PokerStars Open Campione 2026, the schedule for January 28th
Today, the PokerStars Live Room in Campione d’Italia opens its doors with Day 2 of the High Roller, scheduled to start at 1:00 PM. At the same time, the €1,100 Main Event with a €1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool begins, undoubtedly the most anticipated tournament of this festival.
The action-packed Wednesday afternoon also includes a €220 PLO event, while at 2:00 PM, the women’s tournament starts. In the late afternoon, there’s another satellite for the Main Event, which will then have its Day 1B starting at 8:00 PM. The difference between Day 1A and Day 1B will be in the duration of the levels: 60 minutes for the former and 30 minutes for the one starting in the evening.
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The detailed schedule:
| DATE AND TIME | EVENT | BUY-IN | LATE REGISTRATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28/01/2026 13:00 | Event #11 – PokerStars Open High Roller – Final | €2,200 | Until 12:50 PM |
| 28/01/2026 13:00 | Event #13 – Main Event Day 1/A – 60 min levels – €1M GTD | €1,100 | Until 30/01/2026 12:50 PM |
| 28/01/2026 13:00 | Event #14 – PL Omaha – Unlimited Re-Entry | €220 | Until 5:20 PM |
| 28/01/2026 14:00 | Event #15 – Womens Event – Unlimited Re-Entry | €220 | Until 7:05 PM |
| 28/01/2026 18:00 | Event #16 – Qualifier to Main Event – Win Your Seat @ 70K chips | €185 | Until 8:55 PM |
| 28/01/2026 20:00 | Event #13 – Main Event Day 1/B – 30 min levels – €1M GTD | €1,100 | Until 30/01/2026 12:50 PM |
Cover image: Dario Quattrucci (Manuel Kovsca & RHL)
