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Mustapha Kanit is an Italian professional poker player from Alessandria, born in 1991, who made his name online as “lasagnaaammm” before becoming a regular in high roller tournaments. In 2015 he won the EPT Grand Final €50,000 Super High Roller and the PokerStars SCOOP $10,300 High Main Event within a month, and his largest live cash is the $3,600,000 he won for third place in the 2024 WSOP Paradise Super Main Event. [3][4][5][10][12]
Mustapha Kanit: key facts
| Full name | Mustapha Kanit |
|---|---|
| Online alias | lasagnaaammm [4] |
| Country | Italy [1] |
| Born | 1991; from Alessandria, Northern Italy [5][12] |
| Known for | High roller tournaments on the European Poker Tour and online tournament titles [6][7] |
| WSOP bracelets | 0 (85 WSOP cashes, 10 final tables) [2] |
| Major titles | EPT Grand Final €50,000 Super High Roller 2015; PokerStars SCOOP $10,300 High Main Event 2015; EPT Barcelona €10,300 High Roller 2015; EPT Dublin €25,750 High Roller 2016 [3][4][6][7] |
| Largest live cash | $3,600,000, third in the 2024 WSOP Paradise $25,000 Super Main Event [10] |
| Live tournament earnings | $18,668,923 as of October 27, 2026 [1] |
| Sponsor | Winamax ambassador [12] |
Early life and first steps in poker
Kanit comes from Alessandria, in Northern Italy. [5] Like a number of players of his generation, he came to poker from the trading card game Magic: The Gathering. [5] His first recorded tournament cash came in 2009, one month after he turned 18; he cashed on the European Poker Tour for the first time in 2011 and at the World Series of Poker for the first time in 2012. [12] In 2011 he finished 19th in the EPT San Remo Main Event for €19,000. [1]
Much of his early success came online on PokerStars, under the screen name “lasagnaaammm”. [3][4] After the Italian online poker market was regulated he was among the first Italian players to move abroad, first to Malta and, in 2015, to London. “It’s simple, if you want to compete at the global level, you can’t do it from Italy,” he told PokerNews at the time. [5]
Breakthrough: 2014 and 2015
In early 2014 Kanit finished fourth in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,500 High Roller for $492,600, then his largest live result. [3] The same spring he won a $2,100 no-limit hold’em event at the PokerStars SCOOP for $376,920. [4] At the 2014 World Series of Poker he made three final tables from four cashes, including fifth place in the $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold’em for $128,862. [12][1]
May 2015 brought the two biggest wins of his career at that point. At the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo he won the €50,000 Super High Roller, a one-day event with 66 entries, beating Mike Watson heads-up for €936,500; Fedor Holz finished fourth. [3] A few weeks later he won the PokerStars SCOOP $10,300 High Main Event, which drew 694 entrants for a $6,940,000 prize pool, well above its $4 million guarantee. Kanit beat Emil Patel heads-up and collected $1,304,720, his second SCOOP title. [4] In the same period he also won the Full Tilt FTOPS Main Event and was part of the Italian team, with Rocco Palumbo, Dario Sammartino, Andrea Dato and Giuliano Bendinelli, that won the first Global Poker Masters. [5]
In August 2015 he won the EPT Barcelona €10,300 High Roller, at the time the largest high roller event in EPT history, taking €738,759 after a three-way deal with Kuljinder Sidhu and Nick Petrangelo. The win moved him past Max Pescatori to the top of Italy’s all-time live money list, with more than $4.6 million in career live earnings. [6]
Playing style
Kanit is mainly a No-Limit Hold’em tournament player. In 2015 PokerNews described his game as “a deadly hyper-aggressive interpretation of the game”, built on years of study, and its report on his Monte Carlo win credited his “jovial aggression”. [5][3] He has named eight-handed turbo tournaments as his favourite format, and in 2015 said he felt slightly more comfortable online than live because he had studied the online game for longer. [5]
Greatest achievements
European Poker Tour high rollers
In February 2016 Kanit won the EPT Dublin €25,750 High Roller, the largest buy-in event held in Ireland up to then, from 70 entries. He beat Chance Kornuth heads-up for €501,640, his third EPT high roller title; Martin Jacobson finished ninth. PokerNews described him at the time as Italian poker’s all-time leading money winner. [7] Two months later he reached heads-up in the EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller against Ole Schemion. The two made a deal, and Kanit finished second for €1,462,000. [8] He has kept playing the tour since: in 2025 he won the €2,200 Deep Stack at EPT Monte-Carlo for €104,400. [12]
WSOP Paradise
His two largest live cashes came at WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas. In December 2024 he finished third in the $25,000 Super Main Event, which drew 1,978 entries, for $3,600,000; PokerNews noted that a win would have put him at the top of Italy’s money list. Yinan Zhou won the event for $6,000,000. [10] A year later, in December 2025, he finished second in the $50,000 High Roller Turbo, a 151-entry event won by Daniel Rezaei, for $1,215,000. [11]
Tournament results
| Year | Event | Result | Prize | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | WSOP Paradise $25,000 Super Main Event (1,978 entries) | 3rd | $3,600,000 | [10] |
| 2016 | EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller | 2nd (after a heads-up deal) | €1,462,000 | [8] |
| 2015 | PokerStars SCOOP $10,300 High Main Event (online, 694 entrants) | 1st | $1,304,720 | [4] |
| 2025 | WSOP Paradise $50,000 High Roller Turbo (151 entries) | 2nd | $1,215,000 | [11] |
| 2015 | EPT Grand Final €50,000 Super High Roller (66 entries) | 1st | €936,500 | [3] |
| 2015 | EPT Barcelona €10,300 High Roller | 1st (after a three-way deal) | €738,759 | [6] |
| 2017 | PokerStars Championship Bahamas $50,000 Single-Day High Roller | 2nd | $695,740 | [1] |
| 2016 | PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller | 4th | $596,360 | [1] |
| 2016 | EPT Dublin €25,750 High Roller (70 entries) | 1st | €501,640 | [7] |
| 2018 | partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Germany €50,000 Super High Roller | 2nd | €500,000 | [1] |
| 2014 | PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,500 High Roller | 4th | $492,600 | [3] |
| 2014 | PokerStars SCOOP $2,100 No-Limit Hold’em (online) | 1st | $376,920 | [4] |
| 2018 | Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge | 3rd | A$372,400 | [1] |
| 2021 | WSOP $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed | 5th | $216,842 | [1] |
| 2014 | WSOP $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold’em | 5th | $128,862 | [1] |
| 2025 | EPT Monte-Carlo €2,200 Deep Stack | 1st | €104,400 | [12] |
World Series of Poker
Kanit has not won a WSOP bracelet. WSOP.com credits him with 85 cashes, 10 final tables and $7,333,583 in earnings, a total that includes his WSOP Paradise results. [2] For years he treated the summer series as a holiday, arriving tired after EPT Monte-Carlo and the SCOOP and playing little more than the Main Event. He changed that approach after the pandemic, and in 2025 he cashed seven times at the WSOP, including eighth place in the $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed. [12] Across 2025 he recorded 17 cashes in five countries. [12]
Winamax
Kanit represents the online poker site Winamax. PokerNews described him as a Winamax Team Pro in May 2020, the year he added a third SCOOP title, and as a Winamax ambassador in February 2026. [9][12]
In his own words
- “I think I may be one of the best and most complete poker players out there today, but there are other players with different skills and with a different approach to the game.” June 2015. [5]
- “It was just a really great time of my life. Monetarily it didn’t change anything, but it was my biggest score definitely.” On the 2015 SCOOP Main Event, May 2020. [9]
- “It feels like home.” On the European Poker Tour, February 2026. [12]
- “To have a long career, you can’t be pushing yourself and grinding hard all the time.” February 2026. [12]
- “I just said to myself ‘Don’t take it for granted’, and I found myself enjoying Las Vegas and the Series as long as I do it in a completely different way.” On the WSOP, February 2026. [12]
Iconic hands and moments
WSOP Paradise Super Main Event final table, 2024 (WSOP)
PCA Super High Roller final table, 2016 (PokerStars)
FAQ about Mustapha Kanit
How old is Mustapha Kanit?
Mustapha Kanit was born in 1991. PokerNews gave his age as 35 in February 2026. [12]
Where is Mustapha Kanit from?
He is Italian and comes from Alessandria, in Northern Italy. [5]
What is Mustapha Kanit’s net worth?
There is no reliable public figure for his net worth. What can be verified is his live tournament record: $18,668,923 in earnings as of October 27, 2026, according to PokerNews. Prize totals do not show buy-ins, staking deals or the share of his action sold to others. [1]
Has Mustapha Kanit won a WSOP bracelet?
No. His closest result in a bracelet event is second place in the $50,000 High Roller Turbo at WSOP Paradise in December 2025, for $1,215,000. [2][11]
What is Mustapha Kanit’s biggest cash?
His largest live cash is $3,600,000 for third place in the 2024 WSOP Paradise $25,000 Super Main Event. Online, his best-known win is the 2015 PokerStars SCOOP High Main Event, worth $1,304,720. [10][4]
What is Mustapha Kanit’s screen name?
He played on PokerStars as “lasagnaaammm”. [4]
Which poker site sponsors Mustapha Kanit?
He is a Winamax ambassador. [12]
Which EPT titles has Mustapha Kanit won?
By February 2016 he had won three EPT high roller events: the €50,000 Super High Roller at the 2015 Grand Final, the €10,300 High Roller at EPT Barcelona in 2015 and the €25,750 High Roller at EPT Dublin in 2016. He added the €2,200 Deep Stack at EPT Monte-Carlo in 2025. [7][12]
Related Poker Legends
Read more about Fedor Holz, fourth in the 2015 EPT Grand Final Super High Roller that Kanit won, Shaun Deeb, who finished seventh in the 2015 SCOOP High Main Event, and Martin Jacobson, ninth in the 2016 EPT Dublin High Roller.
Sources
- PokerNews, Mustapha Kanit player profile (earnings data from The Hendon Mob), accessed October 27, 2026.
- WSOP.com, Mustapha Kanit player profile, accessed October 27, 2026.
- PokerNews, Mustapha Kanit Wins 2015 EPT Grand Final €50,000 Super High Roller for €936,500, May 3, 2015.
- PokerNews, Mustapha “lasagnaaammm” Kanit Wins PokerStars SCOOP $10K Main Event For $1.3 Million, May 26, 2015.
- PokerNews, Mustapha Kanit Reflects On His Recent Victories And Shares Precious Poker Advice, June 19, 2015.
- PokerNews, Italy’s New No. 1: Mustapha Kanit Wins EPT Barcelona €10,300 High Roller for €738,759, August 30, 2015.
- PokerNews, Italy’s Leading Money Earner Mustapha Kanit Wins Largest Buy-In Event Ever in Ireland, February 14, 2016.
- PokerNews, Ole Schemion Wins 2016 EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller for €1.6 Million, April 30, 2016.
- PokerNews, “Italians Love the SCOOP Main Event” Says Former Champ Mustapha Kanit, May 9, 2020.
- PokerNews, 24-Year-Old Bluffs Poker’s Toughest Opponent to Win WSOP Super Main for $6M, December 19, 2024.
- PokerNews, Soverel Holds 4:1 Lead in $100k Triton PLO; Turbo Bracelet Goes to Rezaei, December 7, 2025.
- PokerNews, “Don’t Take it for Granted”: Mustapha Kanit Refreshed for EPT Paris and Beyond, February 26, 2026.
Last verified: October 27, 2026. Figures that change over time, such as career earnings, are given with the date they were checked.
