It's hard to use the Adriatic Sea very effectively in most games, because I would argue the majority of the board's powers (England, France, Germany, Russia) really don't have much use for it. It's mainly a spot where Italy or Austria can get leverage against the other, though of course an advancing Turk can use it to turn either of those states' positions as well.

There is an interesting 1901 opening to the Adriatic Sea called the Blue Water Lepanto which allows Austria to use its fleet in a Lepanto convoy line. It's comparatively rare because the initial setup is difficult to work out diplomatically, but certainly a nasty surprise for the Turk if you can pull it off.

All in all I would say the ADR compares well to litigation: both are tedious to exploit and tend only to favor a few, and on top of that they both can only be used to make someone else's life miserable.