Player Focus: Luca Pagano

Luca Pagano is Italian poker’s pin-up boy. He rivals Dario Minieri as the greatest online exponent to emerge from the Peninsula over the last couple of years.

The 26-year-old is one of the most successful players on PokerStars, with conservative estimates suggesting he has cashed out more than $500,000 over the past couple of years alone. Pagano himself says he has made seven figures from playing online poker.

Pagano has also successfully made the transition from online to live play, claiming several top finishes at major events over the past couple of years. He came third at the EPT Barcelona Open in 2004 and eighth at the EPT French Open in February 2005. He is a regular face on the EPT circuit.

Like so many of the world’s top online players, Pagano wasn’t a poker player until he came across the game on the internet. But having learned the ropes, he has used a hugely disciplined approach to rise to the top of his art.

“Personally, I always refuse an impulsive and emotive approach in online games. It could be a question of temper or just nerve, but when I feel I’m not superior to my opponents I stay out of that game.

”That’s my professional approach to online poker. Right or wrong, this attitude has helped me very much improve my own approach to the game and my mindset. I basically play to win.”

Pagano stresses the importance of taking your time before choosing a table.

”Selection of the game is a particularly important factor. I don’t play just because I can’t find a proper game. Browsing for hours through tables without playing can be frustrating sometimes, but in the long run the reward is a full-size one.

“Think about how many times you have sat at a table without even knowing if it was a passive or aggressive one. Then, after 20-30 minutes play, you’re $1,000 under. What do you do then? You immediately open another table (again a random one) because you feel the need to win back your losses straightaway.

"The time of day when you choose to sit down at a table is also important, says Pagano.

”I almost always play in the late morning, around 11am GMT. In the USA that’s 3am on the West coast and 6am on the East coast.

“This gives you an easy chance of finding some super loose-aggressive players trying to recover the past night’s losses, or simply drunk ones and dead tired ones. All of this means action, and that’s exactly what I am looking for.”

Given his meticulous preparation it’s ittle wonder that Pagano – who lists his hobbies as soccer, financial markets and blonde girls – has collected so much money over the years. He is a member of Team PokerStars and looks set to be a star on the circuit for many years to come.

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