Donna Varlotto is an Italian-American who was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As with so many players in poker today, she first learned poker, specifically stud, playing in home games with her family. Her father took her to Las Vegas when she graduated high school, and she watched him play hold’em, which is where she first learned that variation of the game. And it was then that she fell in love with Vegas and with poker.

Donna ended up moving to Vegas to play poker on a full-time basis, and she has been able to support her young son on the money she makes in cash games and occasional tournaments. Her best game is seven-card stud, and though she typically plays at low limits, like $1-$2 or $2-$5 no-limit in the casinos, she has since moved up to higher games with more value. In the process of making her way in poker, she met Steve Wong, another professional on the tournament circuit. While their meeting started with accusations of cheating in a 2005 WSOP seven-card stud tournament, subsequent meetings led to a friendship and eventual engagement.

Though Donna has not been able to capture that elusive tournament win, she is prepared to continue trying. With two WSOP cashes on her resume, as well as cashes in other major events, it was actually the World Poker Tour Ladies Championship in April of 2008 that put her name on the poker map. She made the final table of the tournament and finally settled for a fifth place finish. With the motivation to win a tournament, as well as the support of her poker-playing fiancée, Donna may not have to wait long for that victory.