Bodog Beat

Dario Minieri used the power of the scarf to capture his first WSOP bracelet. (Bodog Beat Image)

Poker pro Dario Minieri and his very Harry Potter-ish scarf both flailed jubilantly here at the 2008 WSOP after he won Event No. 31 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six-handed. After one of the most back and forth heads-up matches that we've seen at the WSOP so far, the "Italian Imp" took down the victory and the $528,418 first-place prize.

Minieri and his heads-up opponent, Seth Fischer, traded blows for the better part of an hour with Minieri requiring runner-runner fours at one point to avoid elimination. Fortunately, when it came time for his better hand to actually hold up, the Italian's pocket queens held against Fischer's K-10 to deliver him the match in his first WSOP final table.

This is the first major poker tournament victory for Minieri but he has final tabled two EPT over the last couple of years, honing his skills to make this kind of deep run. His career earnings have now exceeded the $1 million mark and since Italy shut out France two days ago at Euro 2008, this is turning out to be a great week for Italians.

Elsewhere in the Amazon Room, there's a whole lot of low buy-in events going on that we'll probably get more excited about once the fields narrow down a bit. So, stay tuned for more updates live from the 2008 WSOP.