Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles June 20, 2008 -- He was the first player ever to cash in his PokerStars points for a Porsche.

He'd been the chip leader deep in the 2007 Main Event. He'd narrowly missed a win at two huge EPT events, including the first ever in his home country at EPT San Remo.

But Day 20 of PokerListings.com's live 2008 series coverage finally saw popular Italian poker pro Dario Minieri cement his name in the poker history books when he outlasted Seth Fischer heads-up in Event 31, $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed, to take his first WSOP* gold bracelet.

Known for his relentless aggression at the poker table, Minieri was a definite favorite heading in to the six-handed event, where a hyper-aggressive style is the key to success.

And while that held true to form through most of the event, with Dario running out to a huge chip lead and looking like a lock for the bracelet, things got a little dicey near the end when a big bluff went wrong and he needed a big suckout to catapult him to the win.

Explained a, umm, happy Minieri in his PokerListings.com post-win interview:

"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.

"I would have liked to have win (sic) with no suck-out. I wanted to have a clean victory. It would have been much better but I'm still happy.

"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."

That second Italian bracelet Minieri is referring to came just a few days ago when Max "The Italian Pirate" Pescatori took home his second-ever bracelet - an indication, Minieri says, Italian poker is again on the rise.

"We are speaking about the game to each other and getting better. I talked to Max before going into this final table and it was good. We are evolving as players. I'm very happy that poker is growing in Italy."

A true leading light in the Italian poker world, Pescatori's exclusive PokerListings.com post-win interview can be found here.

Live 2008 WSOP* coverage continues daily at PokerListings.com with updates, blogs, player interviews and photos directly from the Rio for all ongoing events.

Featured action on Day 22 includes the final tables of Event 34, $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha w/Rebuys, and Event 35, $1,500 Seven-Card Stud, plus Day 2 of Event 37, $10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight-or-Better.

Live coverage is, as always, capped off by the PokerListings.com daily video recap with host Amy Macbride, bringing viewers up to speed on all the day's big winners, critical hands and major talking points. Also now available in the PokerListings.com video gallery is a feature interview with the "Poker Barbie," Lacey Jones.

Visit the PokerListings.com World Series coverage section to access all features.

About PokerListings.com:
PokerListings.com (http://www.pokerlistings.com) was launched in 2003 and quickly became the largest online poker guide in the world. It provides poker players with in-depth reviews of all major online poker rooms, the world's best sign-up bonuses and promotions, breaking poker news and detailed content on strategy, tours, tournaments and the game's best players. PokerListings.com also has the best live poker tournament reporting on the Web, with unrivaled year-round coverage from the World Series, the World Poker Tour, the European Poker Tour and more.

(*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ('Harrahs'). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with PokerListings.com or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.)