Cristiano Blanco is an Italian professional poker player, who is popularly known as “Lalanco” in the poker world. This law graduate is one of the rising poker stars from Europe. Cristiano Blanco started his poker career in the year 2006, when one of his friends introduced him to this game. He got interested in poker as a career and started playing poker professionally. He made big money in European Poker Tour (EPT) tournaments, and also participated in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) event in 2008. He is currently living in Rome, Italy. Cristiano Blanco can be found playing online poker under the screen name “Lalanco 1”.
In April 2007, Cristiano Blanco ranked fourth in the Torneo Do Poker € 1,400 No-Limit Hold'em - Main Event and walked away with €12,928. In July 2007, he participated in the $500 No-Limit Hold’em buy-in event of the CEO Poker Tour and made $1,245. He also appeared in the No-Limit Hold’em Championship at the same tournament and earned $7,043. In the same year, Cristiano Blanco took part in €2,000 buy-in event of the Baden Open Classic, EPT Season 4 and took home €2,340. He participated in the No-Limit Hold’em event of the EPT Season 4 at Prague, Czech Republic and won prize money of €8,850. His highest earning was €380,000, which he had made by finishing second in the €5000.00 Buy-in No-Limit Texas Hold’em tournament in the EPT German Open in Dortmund.
Cristiano Blanco participated in the WSOP for the first time in 2008, where he took part in the Limit Hold’em Shootout event, and bagged $5,055. Jonathan May, the property manager of Everest Poker, has decided to sponsor Cristiano Blanco at tournaments. Everest Poker, a multilingual online poker room, attracts players across the globe by offering hefty prize money. With the financial backing of everestpoker.com, Cristiano Blanco will be able to participate in poker events all across Europe, making money for himself as well as for his sponsors. He will post blogs at the portal, so that his fans can keep track of his tournaments, winnings, travels, and also get tips on the game.
Cristiano Blanco says that his favorite poker games are Texas Hold’em, 5 Card Draw, and Razz, and he is anxious to win those events at the WSOP. He idolizes Phil Ivey, an American poker pro, and strongly believes that in the poker world, one has to respect everyone but not fear anyone. Other than poker, Cristiano Blanco has a penchant for football. His likes the English rock band, Queen and admires its lead vocalist Freddie Mercury, and his favorite movie is Life is Beautiful. His favorite tourist spot is Maldives, and he is a huge fan of Cameron Diaz, the Hollywood superstar.