[user26127]
Right now people know John D'Agostino as one of the best poker players in the world, and if you know the name Mariealena Calabrese, it is most likely only because you know that she and J-Dags are a couple and have a child together. What you might not know is that Mariealena is quite the accomplished player herself. She has tournament results dating back to 1999 (pre-poker-boom), and took first place in the World Poker Open (WPT) Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event in 2004 (a final table featuring Capt. Tom Franklin, Tony G, and Scotty Nguyen). Unlike most of the other beautiful poker-playing women who have burst onto the no-limit tournament scene of late, Mariealena started off playing seven-card stud over a decade ago in Atlantic City (while underage), and with help and advice from players such as John Hennigan, Phil Ivey, and of course D'Agostino, she now plays all games at an expert level, and she crushes cash games both live and online.
After having to take some time away from poker because of having her and John's first child, she is now excited and ready to get back into poker. She is in the $5,000 HORSE event today and if you don’t know who she is yet, you most certainly will soon.
![[user26127]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
