Viva Italia Part 2!: Dario Mineri Wins Event 31

By Arthur Crowson Jun 19, 2008 | 1 year ago

Dario Minieri wins Event 31, 2008 WSOP

Within days of Max Pescatori winning his second bracelet, Dario Minieri has gone and notched another victory for all of Italy with his performance at the Event 31 final table.

 

The Team PokerStars pro put in a Minieri-esque final table appearance that included relentless aggression and near elimination on several occasions, but after getting extremely lucky in the latter portion of the night managed to put his last opponent away for good.

PokerListings.com caught up with the scarf-wearing Italian just moments after his big victory.

First of all Dario, we were at EPT San Remo and we saw you lose a heart-breaking coin flip when you had a good chance to win the tournament. Does this victory help make up for that loss?

I am really happy that I had another chance to win a tournament. I still can't believe it. It was one of my dreams to win a bracelet. It is so beautiful.

Does it feel like a bit of justice though? You came so close to winning in San Remo ...

Yeah. I think I deserved it more in San Remo than I did here. In San Remo I think I played very good poker and I got unlucky. Here I got lucky but I am very happy anyways. Italy has two bracelets this year so I am very happy.

With Max Pescatori winning just a few days ago it seems like the Italians are on the rise in the poker scene. What is the reason for the sudden rise of Italian poker talent?

Well, we are speaking about the game to each other and getting better. I talked to Max [Pescatori] before going into this final table and it was good. We are evolving as players. There are four Italians with bracelets - Max, Dario Alioto, Valter Farina and me. [Editor's note: John Spadavecchia won the $5,000 2-7 Draw event].

One of Dario Minieri's biggest supporters.

I'm very happy that poker is growing in Italy.

Who is the best player in Italy?

[Laughs] Max Pescatori.

Can you contrast the low of getting unlucky against Justin with the spade-flush and the high of getting lucky with the four on the river versus Seth Fischer? How were you feeling at those two different moments?

I would have liked to have won with no suck-out. I wanted to have a clean victory. It would have been much better but I'm still happy. I would have liked to won the hand with the best hand.

How did you adjust your game after getting unlucky against Justin?

I was having nightmares about coming in in third place because I've done that two times at the EPT. I started playing a little tighter. During the break I got some text messages from friends that said, "Dario don't worry you won't do that." I trust them.

Did you enjoy the atmosphere around the final table with the huge group of Italian supporters?

I'm very happy about that. It means Italy has some good people.

Dario you obviously have a very aggressive style. Is six-handed your best game? It seems to suit you very well ...

Well I used to think heads-up was my best game but after getting it all in with 4-3 I might be changing my mind [laughs]. I would agree that other than heads-up, six-handed is my best.

Thanks for your time, Dario.

Thank you.

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Dario Minieri has been killing the online world of poker for years so it seemed like it was only a matter of time before he took down a giant live tournament. Although Minieri got lucky at this final table there's no doubt he's a skilled player who would have taken one down in time anyway.

With Max Pescatori already having claimed one bracelet at the 2008 WSOP, this could be the year that Italy really comes into its own in the poker world. Minieri, Alioto and Pescatori already form a powerful trio of poker players and it's likely there are more on the way as the game continues to explode in Italy.

In the meantime, congratulations to Dario on his big victory.