WSOP: Bracelet Winner Q and A -- Dario Minieri

Dario Minieri has been crushing the online poker world for some time now, but a first live win in a major tournament kept eluding him. He came close on the European Poker Tour twice, but in both cases he finished in third place. One of these finishes came during Season III, where he came close at the EPT Baden championship event, while the other hit much closer to home. At Italy's first major poker championship Minieri finished in third once again at the EPT San Remo championship event with all of his countrymen cheering him on. Minieri was steamrolling the competition at the $2,500 no-limit hold'em six-handed event last night at the World Series of Poker and it looked like he would put his third-place ghosts to rest. But then fate dealt him into a three-way dogfight, and Minieri emerged victorious with his first gold bracelet and $528,418 in prize money. Card Player caught up with Minieri at the post final-table press conference.

Question: How does this make up for your disappointment of coming so close in San Remo?

Dario Minieri: I’m really happy…winning a bracelet is one of my dreams and I realized it and I’m very happy. It’s so beautiful.

Q: Does it seem like a bit of justice to win this tournament after what happened in San Remo?

DM: I think that in San Remo I deserved it more than I deserved it here. In San Remo I played very good poker and I think I got unlucky. Here I got lucky actually.

Q: This continues a surge of Italian players winning bracelets this week with Max Pescatori just winning one as well. Why do you think you and your countrymen are finding so much success as of late?

DM: We are speaking about the game with each other and we become better together. Talking with Max about this game has been good for me. There are four Italian players with bracelets, Dario Alioto, Valter Farina, Max, and me, so I’m very happy that poker in Italy is growing, and I’m very happy that I can speak about poker with people like Max and other Italian players.

Q: Who is the best player out of you four?

DM: In Italy… [Laughs] Max Pescatori is the best player.

Q: Contrast the highs and lows of your emotions when Justin Filtz hit a jack on the river against you to survive, and then when you hit a four to beat Seth Fischer in a crucial pot and survive? What were you feeling at those two different moments?

DM: I would have liked to win with no suck-out…I wanted a clean victory…that would be much better. Anyway I’m very happy though, and tomorrow I will forget it.

Q: You were really dominating for the first stretch of the final table, and then your opponents doubled up through you a couple of times to even things out. How did you shift your game after you hit that unfortunate run?

DM: I had a nightmare about the third place, because I’ve come in third two times on the European Poker Tour, so when we were down to three I played a little tighter. There were many all-ins and nobody got out and I was getting nervous, but I got a text message from my friends who are Italians and they said, ‘Dario don’t worry, you’re going to do well.”

Q: Did you really enjoy the final-table atmosphere here tonight. The crowd was one of the best we’ve seen at a final table this summer. Did you enjoy that excitement?

DM: I’m very happy about that, it shows Italy as good people and fans. They cheer good for everyone and I’m very happy about that.

Q: You have a really aggressive style. Is six handed your best game? It seems to suit you well.

DM: I was thinking heads up was my best game, but after drawing with 3-4 maybe I need to review that…I really like no-limit six handed and heads up. I would say heads up is my best game.

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