WSOP: Dario Minieri Wins Event No. 31Super Dario Dominates Early and then Triumphs over Adversity in Exciting Fashion |
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Dario Minieri has been close to winning a major tournament title before. He was down to the final three players in the European Poker Tour championhip event in San Remo, Italy back in April, but third place is where he fell. Tonight, Minieri simply dominated the final table of the $2,500 no-limit hold'em six-handed event until things got down to three handed. Both of Minieri's opponents doubled up through him, and it looked like he might fall in third place again. In an exciting turn of events though, Minieri doubled up twice himself as an enthusiastic group of Italians supporters cheered him to victory. Minieri added $528,418 in prize money to his career live tournament winnings - giving him over $1.2 million at a young age. This amount probably pales in comparison to the money Minieri has made online, so it is safe to say that the gold bracelet meant the most of any prize Minieri was awarded this evening.
Here were the chip counts heading into the final table:
Seat 1: Kevin Song -- 1,173,000
Seat 2: Justin Filtz -- 891,000
Seat 3: Dario Minieri -- 1,721,000
Seat 4: Stuart Marshak -- 183,000
Seat 5: John O'Shea -- 589,000
Seat 6: Seth Fischer -- 508,000
Here are highlights from all of the action, as featured in CardPlayer.com’s live coverage of the final table:
Stuart Marshak Eliminated in Sixth Place ($73,784)
Kevin Song raised to 47,000 preflop and both Justin Filtz and Dario Minieri made the call. Stuart Marshak reraised all in for 159,000 and Song reraised all in on top of that to isolate. It worked as both Filtz and Minieri mucked. The final two players then exposed their hands:
Filtz: K K
Marshak: Q J
Board: Q 9 3 2 2
Marshak was eliminated in sixth place, and he took home $73,784 in prize money.
John O'Shea Eliminated in Fifth Place ($98,923)
Seth Fischer raised to 55,000 and Song made the call. John O'Shea also called and the flop was dealt A 5 2. O'Shea checked and Fischer bet 110,000. O'Shea reraised all in and Fischer made the call. Their cards:
Fischer: A 9
O'Shea: 4 2
Turn and River: A Q
O'Shea was eliminated in fifth place, and he took home $98,923 in prize money. He also received a large round of applause from his fellow Irishmen in the crowd.
Dario Minieri Rising
Dario Minieri has put on an absolute clinic of hyper-aggressive poker during the last stretch of play. He has taken down 14 pots, and has only had to show down his hand twice! This table is starting to become a race for second as opposed to a race for the bracelet. Minieri now holds over half the chips in play while all three of his opponents hover around 800,000. Things could change if someone doubles through Minieri though. There haven't been too many major pots of consequence with Minieri as table captain. Any time his opponents raise preflop he snaps it off with a reraise. The other players at the table are begining to adjust as they have begun limping into pots.
Kevin Song Eliminated in Fourth Place ($141,983)
Keving Song moved all in preflop facing a raise from Minieri, and Minieri called him down after thinking for two minutes. Their cards:
Song: K J
Minieri: A 8
Board: 9 5 2 Q A
Song was eliminated on the hand in fourth place, and he took home $141,983 in prize money. Minieri now held over 3.5 million. His opponents hold a combined 1.4 million.
Justin Filtz Doubles Up
The flop read Q 10 2 when Justin Filtz moved all in for 626,000. Minieri made the call and they flipped up their cards:
Minieri: A K
Filtz: K 10
Turn and River: 9 K
Filtz doubled up to survive the hand.
Seth Fischer Doubles Up
Minieri raised to 90,000 preflop and Seth Fischer moved all in for 701,000. Minieri called him down. Their cards:
Minieri: A K
Fischer: J J
Board: 10 10 4 2 7
Fischer doubled up and survived.
Filtz Doubles Up Again
Justin Filtz got all of his chips into the middle once again, this time on a flop of A 10 2, and once again Dario Minieri had him covered. Their cards:
Minieri: Q J
Filzt: 5 3
Turn and River: 4 4
Filzt doubled up and survived once again.
Dario Minieri Doubles Up
Dario Minieri raised to 150,000 and Seth Fischer reraised to 575,000. Minieri then moved all in and Fischer made the call. Their cards:
Minieri: Q Q
Fischer: A J
Board: 7 4 4 9 Q
Minieri doubled up on the hand to survive and he won the largest hand of the tournament up to that point.
Justin Filtz Doubles Up
An unraised pot, and a flop of 10 7 2 sat on the table when Justin Filtz opened the action for 85,000. Minieri check-raised to 240,000 and Fischer got out of the way. Filtz reraised all in and Minieri made the call. Their cards:
Minieri: Q-10
Filtz: J-10
Turn and River: 5 J
Filtz doubled up on the hand thanks to a miracle card on the river, which induced him to show as much emotion in one outburst as he had in the rest of the tournament combined.
Justin Filtz Eliminated in Third Place ($214,519)
Mineiri raised to 150,000 preflop and Fischer reraised to 525,000. Filtz reraised all in for 1.3 million and Minieri folded. Fischer made the call and he had Filtz covered by a slim margin, just 10,000. Their cards:
Minieri: A K
Filtz: A A
Board: K J 9 K J
Filtz was eliminated on the hand in third place, and he took home $214,519 in prize money. Fischer for all intents and purposes doubled up before the heads-up match began.
Super Dario Doubles Up
Dario Minieri moved all in for 1.5 million preflop and Seth Fischer made the call. Their cards:
Minieri: 4 3
Fischer: K K
Board: J 8 2 4 4
The crowd goes wild (the Italian contingent in particular) and Minieri is ecstatic. He doubled up on the hand to survive.
Dario Minieri Wins Event No. 31 ($528,418)
A few hands later Fischer moved all in preflop and Minieri made the call to cover him. Their cards:
Minieri: Q Q
Fischer: K 10
Board: A A 5 2 3
Minieri won the hand and Fischer was eliminated in second place ($330,519). Minieri won the tournament and his first gold bracelet. The young Italian professional was also awarded $528,418 as the champion of Event No. 31.