DE TOFFOLI AND POKER
I "discovered" modern poker in 1998 in London, at the second edition of the Mind Sports Olympiad.
It was an accidental encounter, with the Omaha even before Texas.
Love at first sight: at once I understood that I would have had to deal with this game for a long time... and it was true. And, who knows, maybe it is just a question of imprinting, but Omaha is still my favourite version of the game.
At that time in Italy everybody was mixing up poker with the old little italian style card game with the five cards, and only very few people knew the new styles.
I immediately started to divulge these new versions of the game, writing articles, teaching them to friends, organizing small tournaments during events such as "Giocatore dell'Anno" [Player of the Year]. As time was passing, things became more serious. Together with Lorenzo Laganà and Claudio Pagano I was in the "Piccadilly circle", one of the few and first italian experiences of this area.
And then the books arrived: starting from the pioneeristic Giocare e vincere a poker, published in 2002 by Stampa Alternativa, until the great success Il grande libro del poker published in 2007 by Sperling & Kupfer, that already has been reprinted more than 12 times.
Finally the flush. The legal online poker has arrived and the number of players registered in the italian poker rooms is more than a million and a half.
Today my commitment with poker becomes stronger through the collaboration with Gioco Digitale, the first legal italian Poker room.
It was an accidental encounter, with the Omaha even before Texas.
Love at first sight: at once I understood that I would have had to deal with this game for a long time... and it was true. And, who knows, maybe it is just a question of imprinting, but Omaha is still my favourite version of the game.
At that time in Italy everybody was mixing up poker with the old little italian style card game with the five cards, and only very few people knew the new styles.
I immediately started to divulge these new versions of the game, writing articles, teaching them to friends, organizing small tournaments during events such as "Giocatore dell'Anno" [Player of the Year]. As time was passing, things became more serious. Together with Lorenzo Laganà and Claudio Pagano I was in the "Piccadilly circle", one of the few and first italian experiences of this area.
And then the books arrived: starting from the pioneeristic Giocare e vincere a poker, published in 2002 by Stampa Alternativa, until the great success Il grande libro del poker published in 2007 by Sperling & Kupfer, that already has been reprinted more than 12 times.
Finally the flush. The legal online poker has arrived and the number of players registered in the italian poker rooms is more than a million and a half.
Today my commitment with poker becomes stronger through the collaboration with Gioco Digitale, the first legal italian Poker room.
My last book, Giocare e vincere a poker online, has been written together with Max Pescatori, the best italian poker player, and captain of the Gioco Digitale team. It has been published by Sperling & Kupfer together with Gioco Digitale.
Many also the collaborations with the press (La Stampa) e periodici (Jokonline, Poker Sportivo).
From the competitive point of view I still didn't have the chance to play as much as I wished. My best upshots were the ones in London, at the Mind Sports Olympiad, where I actually first met this game.
The Mind Sports Olympiad is an amateur competition (no money prizes!) that offers competitions in about seventy different ludic disciplines; a concept that I love, but unfortunately an event that is not very successfull. But I am still very proud of my medals for Omaha, Texas and 7-card Stud.
Many also the collaborations with the press (La Stampa) e periodici (Jokonline, Poker Sportivo).
From the competitive point of view I still didn't have the chance to play as much as I wished. My best upshots were the ones in London, at the Mind Sports Olympiad, where I actually first met this game.
The Mind Sports Olympiad is an amateur competition (no money prizes!) that offers competitions in about seventy different ludic disciplines; a concept that I love, but unfortunately an event that is not very successfull. But I am still very proud of my medals for Omaha, Texas and 7-card Stud.
Dario De Toffoli