Champion of Poker

“The Italian Pirate” Max Pescatori was born in 1971 in Milan, Italy. He moved to Las Vegas in 1994 and started his poker career playing Seven Card Stud at the Luxor. Over time he began to switch over to Holdem due to the fact it was more popular and much more profitable. While he played, he did not turn pro for several years. It was after he met Valter Farina in 1998 that his game began to change. Farina was the first Italian to win a WSOP bracelet and began to tutor Pescatori. Soon afterwards in 1999, Pescatori turned pro. He focused on cash games for the first few years before switching to tournaments.

Pescatori first began to taste success in 2003 when he won two tournaments at the World Poker Challenge in Reno, NV. He took both a Limit Holdem event and an Omaha 8 event to score his first two decent scores in poker. His first big money score came a year later at the Legends of Poker in Los Angeles, CA. He won a $200 No Limit Holdem event and took home $106,630. This score started a string of cashes and final tables that ran into 2005. In 2005, he took a WSOP Circuit preliminary event in Atlantic City for his first WSOP-C ring.

2005 was also when Pescatori would start making noise in the World Series of Poker. That year, he cashed six times and made the final table of the $2,000 Pot Limit Omaha Event. The next year, Pescatori would win his first bracelet. On July 7, 2006, two major events happened. First, Pescatori won the $2,500 No Limit Holdem event and $682,389 for his first bracelet. Also that day, Italy won the World Cup of Soccer. This made the day extra special for Pescatori as he could celebrate his first victory and his country World Cup victory with his countrymen.

Pescatori has a somewhat down 2007 in poker, although he did win a No Limit Event at the Italian Poker Championships for over $135,000. He claimed that a lot of personal problems affected his play.

Pescatori would come roaring back in 2008. Early on in the year, he made a final table in a Pot Limit Omaha event at Aussie Millions and then finished 10th in the Main Event a few days later. He would then win a preliminary event at the L.A. Poker Classic and would carry that momentum into the World Series of Poker.

At the WSOP, Pescatori would finish in the money in four events and would win his 2nd bracelet in the $2,500 ½ Pot Limit Holdem ½ Pot Limit Omaha event. He would then make the final table of the Pot Limit Omaha event at the World Series of Poker Europe where he would finish 5th.

For his career, Max Pescatori has won over $2.55 Million in live tournaments for his career. He can be spotted at most tables wearing some type of either bandana or shirt that supports his beloved Italy. At just 37, the Italian Pirate will be looting poker tables around the world for a long time.