Platinum Pass Profile: Simone Ferretti
Six years since his last appearance in a live poker tournament, Simone Ferretti is back in the game — and he could not have scripted a better comeback. The 39-year-old Tuscan won the 30th PokerStars Italian Poker Open (IPO), in Nova Gorica, Slovenia last week, and with his €105,000 first prize picked up a Platinum Pass to the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) in Barcelona next August.
Ferretti, who goes by “Ferros80” on PokerStars.it, is a former professional footballer, who became a coach when injury cut short his playing career. He was introduced to poker by some fellow players about 12 years ago, and quickly fell in love with the game and became a well-known face in Italian poker circles. Between 2009 and 2013, he won four titles and amassed around $290,000 in cashes. But he subsequently took a break from the tournament game, admitting that he “did not manage his winnings very well”, before his dramatic comeback last week.