Dario Minieri burst onto the scene back a couple of years ago when he managed to pick up third in the Baden EPT. Though he did not win, his super-aggressive preflop style impressed onlookers and players alike, and it was of no surprise when PokerStars signed him up onto their team. Fast-forward a couple of years and he almost captured an EPT and was again unlucky to bust out third in his native country Italy's San Remo EPT.
Those ghosts have now been disappeared after Minieri managed to take down event 31 at this year's World Series – the $2,500 Six-Handed event in a topsy turvy final that witnessed some sickening outdraws. Third-placed Justin Filitz got all-in preflop with aces against Seth Fischer's ace-king and began to celebrate even before the cards had been dealt. He upset the poker gods by doing so, and they promptly gave Fischer a king on the flop and another on the turn for good measure, leaving the latter with the chip lead against the diminutive Italian.
The gods though decided it was going to be Minieri's day, when he moved all-in over top of Fischer's raise with 4s-3s and was snap-called by the American's kings. But the board came down Js-8s-2x to give Minieri a flush draw and hope, before deciding to turn the game upside down by finishing off with running fours. From this point, Minieri never looked back and finished his opponent off decisively with queens against A-T.
1 Dario Minieri -- $528,418
2 Seth Fischer -- $330,519
3 Justin Filtz -- $214,139
4 Kevin Song -- $141,983
5 John O'Shea -- $98,923
6 Stuart Marshak -- $73,784
In the $5,000 Stud-8 event, young German professional Sebastian Ruthenberg, best known previously for finishing third in the Dortmund EPT two years ago, took on a table of all-stars and eventually beat Chris Ferguson heads-up to claim another bracelet for Germany, just a few days after Jens Voertmann's victory in the $3,000 HORSE event.
1 Sebastian Ruthenberg -- $328,762
2 Chris Ferguson -- $202,405
3 Bob Lauria -- $125,736
4 Marcel Luske -- $95,069
5 Annie Duke -- $73,602
6 Alessio Isaia -- $58,268
7 Steve Sung -- $46,001
8 Bob Beveridge -- $36,801
In the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha rebuy tournament, the hyperactive Layne Flack collected his sixth bracelet of his career in what was a very tough table. The final included Dario Alioto, winner of last year's WSOPE PLO event, the always tricky Ted Forrest as well as Jacobo Fernandez, who is currently in the running for Player of The Year.
It was Alioto who looked the most dangerous early on, seemingly in control for much of the opening periods but after Ted Forrest had been knocked out, Flack began to go after Alioto and eventually eliminated him in what was a virtual coinflip. Flack held As-Ah-6h-5h on Qc-8c-7h board for an overpair and a straight draw against the Italian's 6c-5c-4h-3c for a bottom wrap with a flush draw. Flack held on to give himself a huge chip lead before eventually sealing his sixth bracelet win holding K-K-4-2 against Dan Makowsky's A-K-4-4.
1 Layne Flack -- $577,725
2 Daniel Makowsky -- $355,050
3 Jacobo Fernandez -- $222,659
4 Dario Alioto -- $180,534
5 Ted Forrest -- $144,427
6 Kyle Kloeckner -- $114,338
7 Michael Guzzardi -- $90,267
8 Tim West -- $72,213
9 Frank Vizza -- $54,160
In other events Luis Velador dominated his $1,500 no-limit hold'em, holding the chip lead all the way throughout his final table to eventually claim his first bracelet. There was also a victory for the former Danish table tennis player, Jesper Hougaard who won a $1,500 no-limit event also, with former main event finalist Aaron Kanter coming in third. Finally, in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud, Michael Rocco was the victor, good to see that, in a world dominated by the youngsters, an old school pro of 20 years managed to capture this bracelet.