He is Neapolitan, 37 years old and born in Vomero. Dario Sammartino has become the winningest Italian player in history, and on the night of June 27 he won his first bracelet at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, after 12 years of trying.

The Neapolitan player beat Norwegian Jon Kyte, winning the bracelet and reaching the monstrosity of prizes won in his career: $16 million. A path that began as a teenager, when Dario discovered 5-card poker thanks to his father. A passion that blossomed in the circles of Naples, and soon turned into a job, when Sammartino decided to devote himself mostly to online.

In his late twenties, Dario began touring first Europe, then the world, establishing himself on the international scene as one of the most promising emerging talents.

In Las Vegas, his dream became a reality. These are some of his statements about his relationship with his son, reported by Assopoker: "There are periods, and it happened even in the first days here in Las Vegas," he said, "when I felt like I was throwing away my time playing poker, because I felt like I was taking it away from my son. There were times when I was at the table but I wanted to go away, to hug him and play with him. I had a hard time getting used to being away from my son: in Paris I had booked for a week at the EPT, then I came straight out of the Main and didn't play anything else because I went home immediately."