Seat 7: Dario Sammartino (4,480,000)
Dario Sammartino will be the chip leader when the final table commences on Saturday in Monaco. Already earning the biggest live poker result of his career, Sammartino won his entry to this event via a live satellite. With over a quarter of the chips in play, he's clearly put himself in the position to make his first shot count as much as possible.
When the event neared the money, Sammartino played the biggest pot of the tournament against another player yielding a big stack, Ole Schemion. You can read the details about the hand by clicking here, but whether you view the hand as a slow-roll, nit-roll, or tough decision for his tournament life on the bubble, Sammartino was pushed the pot after he made the call to see his stack skyrocket to the top of the leader board.
Prior to this cash, Sammartino's best live poker result was worth €95,000. That came when he took second in the 2013 Italian Poker Tour Sanremo Main Event. Despite that result, Sammartino's win as a part of Team Italy in the first-ever Global Poker Masters might just be his proudest accomplishment in the game. Whichever it is, Sammartino is certainly riding a lot of momentum lately and playing with a lot of confidence.
Coming into this event, Sammartino boasted a poker résumé with just shy of $1.3 million in live tournament earnings. He'll will have a lot of tough competition to battle with on Saturday, but the Italian might just be on the verge of a breakout performance on poker's largest stage.