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Copyright 2005 Yahoo! Inc.

December 21, 2005

HEADLINE:
Paradise Poker creates world's second online poker millionaire

Body:
Naval Officer takes home online poker's largest prize

Santino Sgambelluria arrived in the Bahamas a casual online poker player with hopes of winning the big one. The dream is now a reality for the family man and Naval Officer. On Sunday, he became only the second person to ever win $1 million in an online tournament at Paradise Poker's $1 million freeroll tournament.

After beating out nearly 4,000 players in an online tournament at paradisepoker.com, the tournament was paused and the 10 finalists flown to Nassau, Bahamas, to play the final table face-to-face.

The live finale attracted such a large crowd, the organizers had to rope off the area to keep onlookers at bay. In the end, it came down to a showdown between Ryan Boyes, a utility worker from Atlanta, Georgia and Santino Sgambelluria, a U.S. Naval Officer originally from Guam, but stationed in Hawaii.

"The whole experience was unbelievable -- to win was even more unbelievable. It hasn't sunk in yet - I guess I won!" Sgambelluria said after the game.

When asked what he would be doing with the cash Sgambelluria responded, "Everyone played great and I am just happy to come out on top. I know that my family, my wife and 2 children, will be well taken care of. I plan to pay off some debts and invest the money wisely. This might be the beginning of a poker career - I still can't believe it."

Sgambelluria, entered the final hand as the chip leader with 10 million chips, Boyes had just a little over 2 million. Sgambelluria went all in with A8, Boyes called with A2. Both players were on their feet when the dealer turned the flop revealing KQ8 and giving Sgambelluria a pair of eights. The turn card revealed a 2 which gave Boyes a smaller pair, and the river card was a 6 which didn't help Boyes. The players shook hands and the Million dollar freeroll was over. [see more Freeroll Poker Tournaments]

"The success of our second $1 million dollar freeroll tournament proves this contest is here to stay," said Bruce Stubbs, marketing manager, ParadisePoker.com. "The chance to win a million dollars for free is unheard of - even for a lottery. We had players on this final table who had never spent a dime at Paradise. We will continue to offer the no buy-in million dollar freeroll tournament to our players, and keep making millionaires at Paradise Poker."

"Sgambelluria maintained his dominance throughout the game with smart and gutsy play. I wouldn't be surprised to see him win his way into our next freeroll final or even play in the pro ranks in the near future." Stubbs added.

Final Standings

Place Name Pay-out
1st Santino Sgambelluri $1,000,000
2nd Ryan Boyes $10,000
3rd Shane Patreau $10,000
4th Stephen Folusewych $10,000
5th Alan McFarlane $10,000
6th Antony Giles $10,000
7th John Medlin $10,000
8th Kevin McCann $10,000
9th Stephen Fiske $10,000
10th Nick Price $10,000

Source: ParadisePoker.com

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