Born in Cessaniti in 1965, it wasn’t until his forties that Italian Salvatore Bonavena got into poker. He had previously worked as a real estate agent but traded houses for cards around 2006. Since then, he has established himself as one of the most successful Italian tournament players to date thanks to a collection of major scores.
It was in 2008 that Bonavena rose to fame in the poker world thanks to his victory at 2008 EPT Prague Main Event. The win earned him $992,893 and made him the first Italian to ever pick up a major EPT title. What was so impressive about Salvatore’s achievement was that it happened less than three years after his entrance to the poker world. To seize the title, he outlasted players much more experienced than him such as Finland’s Juha Helppi and Italian’s own Dario Manieri who was already known for his extensive grinding at the online tables.
2010 saw Salvatore win another main event – the IPT €2,000 No Limit Hold’em tourney on home soil in Venice. In a field packed with Italian talent, Bonavena’s first-place finish solidified his reputation as one of the strongest players to ever come out of his country.
Just a few months later, Salvatore was on the brink of the most prestigious accomplishment in poker – winning a WSOP bracelet. He made it down to the final table of the $2,500 NLH event after outlasting talented pros like Benjamin Pollak and EPT success David Vamplew. Unfortunately, Bonavena exited in fourth but still picked up a huge $254,777 for the deep run.
Now Bonavena boasts over $3,100,000 in live tournament earnings and continues to grind the circuit today.
Wikipedia
Salvatore BonavenaWorld Series Of Poker
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