Where Are They Now: eSports Entrepreneur Luca Pagano Returns to 2019 WSOP
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Luca Pagano was once one of Italy’s brightest poker stars. With more than $2.2 million in live tournament earnings he currently sits 11th on the country’s all-time money list on The Hendon Mob. However, Pagano hasn’t cashed a tournament in nearly two and a half years (since January 2017).
Pagano, who notched six-figure years from 2008-13 but less than $50k since then, is at the 2019 World Series of Poker and PokerNews had the opportunity to ask the question – where is he now?
Transitioning to eSports
Much like Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Eugene Katchalov, and Xuan Liu, Pagano found a calling in eSports.
"We both got overwhelmed by the atmosphere, the energy, the enthusiasm of a crowded arena."
“I got hooked on eSports. I was already studying this exploding phenomenon when I attended a League of Legends event in Las Vegas with my good ol’ friend Eugene Katchalov,” Pagano said. “We both got overwhelmed by the atmosphere, the energy, the enthusiasm of a crowded arena. That’s basically when we decided we’d create an eSports team of our own.”
The team, which is represented on Pagano’s t-shirt, is Team QLASH, which was established in 2017.
“That’s pretty much what I’ve been up to since,” he revealed. “I’m working 24/7 to make QLASH the best eSports team in the world. There’s so much to do of course, but I feel very confident that we’re on the right path.”
It’s because of his eSports team, which as Pagano says “absorbs pretty much every minute of my time,” that he’s largely stepped away from poker.
“I don’t want to sit on a poker table, to take part in a competition if I can’t be totally focused on it,” he explained. “Poker is what made me who I am now, so I would never talk bad about it. Long gone are the days of the poker boom, and who knows if they will come back, but that doesn’t mean that poker is dead.”
He continued: “Yes, there’s been a decrease in numbers for a few years - especially after the infamous Black Friday - but many thought poker was going to disappear or be reduced as a tiny niche, and look where we are now. I think that the whole ecosystem survived pretty well and actually is growing again.”
Favorite Poker Memories
Given he’s fully committed to QLASH and eSports, Pagano doesn’t envision poker becoming a priority, though he’s not ruling it out either.
“Right now, I’m totally focused on QLASH and I don’t see this changing too much in the near future. But I’m not closing any doors of course, and poker will always be an important part of my life."
An important part of his life would be an understatement. The former PokerStars Team Pro (they parted ways in May 2017 after 12 years) co-hosted the famous TV show Poker1Mania from 2007-13 alongside Giacomo Valenti and established himself as a powerhouse on the European Poker Tour (EPT).
His best score came in 2008 when he finished sixth in the EPT4 Grand Final in Monte Carlo for $533,253, but that isn’t among his top three favorite memories.
"I’m not closing any doors of course, and poker will always be an important part of my life.”
“Well, there are a lot of good memories from my poker career,” he said. “I’d say definitely when I won the IPT San Remo back in 2011 and the all-stars of Poker in Nova Gorica in 2010, and of course my first final table in an EPT Main Event in Barcelona. Gosh, it’s been almost 15 years.”
The aforementioned IPT win was good for $302,110 while the Nova Gorica €5,000 NLH All-Stars of Poker awarded him $265,904. As for that first final table way back in 2004, that earned him a more modest $24,500.
Ironically, it was that first final table that is one of his least fond memories.
“Funnily enough, that EPT Main Event in Barcelona is both one of my sweetest and sourest memory. I really felt I could win that tournament, but when we were three left I lost my final hand with AxJx against Ax4x thanks to a 4x on the flop. But other than that, I can’t really think of a low point or something I wish I could go back and change. What you do, the choices you make, is what defines you as a person, and I don’t have many regrets in poker, honestly.”
Pagano has a storied poker career, and while he’s no longer playing professionally, it may not be over yet as both he and Katchalov are taking a short holiday from QLASH to fire the 2019 WSOP. Who knows, an update to his poker résumé could very well be in the cards.
For more on Pagano, follow him on Instagram at @lucapagano. You can also follow Qlash at @qlash_global.
PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
