Hadouken! Ryu Alioto is PLO Champ

By Owen Laukkanen Sep 9, 2007 | 2 years ago

Dario "Ryu" Alioto after his WSOPE victory, Event 2, Pot-Limit Omaha

Twenty-three-year-old Dario Alioto is the second-ever winner of a World Series of Poker Europe bracelet. The native of Palermo, Sicily, defeated Istvan Novak and Tony G. in a three-handed battle to take down the £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event after a marathon day at the tables on Day 4 of the WSOPE.

Alioto, whose online tag is "Ryu", defeated 164 other competitors, including some of poker's biggest names, to take down his first WSOP bracelet and a £234,390 first prize. (To see how the final hand played out, click here .)

I caught up with "Ryu" as the sun rose above Leicester Square on Monday morning, and he was kind enough to give me a few moments of his time before dashing off to celebrate.

Dario, you just won your first WSOP bracelet. How are you feeling right now?

Well, I feel great. You know, Pot-Limit Omaha is my favorite game and I was hoping to win something big with this game. And I did it and the bracelet is wonderful. I still can't believe it. It's very very fulfilling.

What means more to you, the money or the bracelet?

You know, the money, you can always win in cash games or whatever. But a bracelet, it's my first, and when you win one everyone looks at you differently. It's quite different. You can't give a prize to a bracelet.

Does it make it any more special that the victory came in Europe?

Winnar.

Yeah. It's the first World Series of Poker Europe and even if it wasn't, the best players in the world were here. I mean, even Doyle Brunson! Nobody missed it. It was cool.

Can you talk about how the final table played out for you? You seemed to be pretty active.

Yeah, I was active because I wanted to win, of course. I felt good about my position because I had the short stacks to my left and the big stacks to my right. So my position was very good at the table. I played my best poker, I won the right hands, and I ended up winning it.

You and Tony G. were neck and neck for a while. How was it to play against him?

I think me and Tony G. were the two favorites to win the tournament. We were the two best players and at the end, really, one of us had to win it.

When did you feel like the bracelet was yours?

I definitely felt it when I won the pot with K-2, freerolling with the flush. At that point only a kind of miracle could take away the bracelet.

Antanas: A tough competitor.

You said Pot-Limit Omaha is your speciality?

Yeah. Ninety percent of the time that I play poker I'll play Omaha games. I play online, four tables of $10/$20 PLO and I just love the game. Every time I can choose between Omaha and another game I'll play Omaha. If it's not available, I'll play another game.

Do you play online mainly?

Yeah, I play online mainly, because in Italy we don't have casinos - anyway, we have casinos, but they are in the north and they are really too far from my hometown. I enjoy playing on the Internet, you know, from my home on my sofa. You can play whenever you want and nobody cares if you're winning a lot. It's always better.

How did it feel to have someone like Max Pescatori cheering for you at the final table?

Best friends forever?

Great. Last year I was cheering for him when he won his bracelet, so it's like a back-to-back victory.

Max: That's right! You were there. You were there the whole time.

How are you guys going to celebrate?

Dario: I still have to find out! I'm going to get started right now, for sure!

Are you going to play the Main Event?

Yeah, I'm going to play. I don't know which day but I'm definitely going to play.

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Two WSOPE events are in the bag and both have seen Europeans claim the top prize. To win this event, Alioto had to outlast such players as Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Andy Bloch and the aforementioned G, but he did so with friend and mentor Max Pescatori cheering him on from the rail. As the final table played out, Pescatori related the story of how his compatriot had asked him earlier how he could get sponsored by a poker site, as Max is by FullTiltPoker. Pescatori told the youngster that poker rooms don't sponsor skilled players, but famous ones. With this victory and thrilling PokerListings.com interview, Alioto can rightfully lay claim to both talent and fame, and those sponsorship dollars should start rolling in quickly.