Poker TV -- WSOP Europe Final Table Airs on Sunday

Author’s note: The final table of the WSOP Europe main event took place on Oct. 1, 2009. You can check out Card Player’s reports on the final table at the tournament’s landing page if you can’t wait to watch the television broadcast this Sunday night.

The final table of the World Series of Poker Europe main event, presented by Betfair, will air during two, one-hour episodes on Sunday, Feb. 28 on ESPN2 starting at 9 p.m. EST. Action will pick up at the start of the final table of nine players. These final competitors have fought through a field of 334 players to make it this far, and for the second year in a row Daniel Negreanu is among the finalists. He is joined by professionals James Akenhead, Antoine Saout, Markus Ristola, Praz Bansi, Chris Bjorin, Matt Hawrilenko, Jason Mercier, and Card Player Publisher Barry Shulman at the extremely tough final table.

WSOP Europe Final-Table Chip Counts:

Jason Mercier – 3,100,000
James Akenhead – 1,300,000
Praz Bansi – 1,200,000
Barry Shulman – 1,000,000
Markus Ristola — 784,000
Antoine Saout — 701,000
Matt Hawrilenko — 674,000
Chris Bjorin — 518,000
Daniel Negreanu — 438,000

Final-Table Payouts:

1: $1,266,582
2: $783,061
3: $569,748
4: $421,937
5: $316,321
6: $237,293
7: $180,382
8: $137,509
9: $105,070

Episode Breakdown:

Part I (9 p.m. EST) — Play down from nine players to five players.
Part II (10 p.m. EST) — Play down from five players to one champion.

There are many interesting story lines to follow at the final table in addition to the return of Kid Poker for a second year in a row, and many of them are linked to the November Nine. Two 2009 WSOP main event contestants and one November Nine father will take part in this European televised final table. The local pro from London, Akenhead, finished in ninth place in Las Vegas and took home $1,263,602 in prize money in November, and the Frenchman Saout went a little deeper in the main event and cashed in third place to take home $3,479,485.

Barry and Jeff Shulman have already made history by becoming the first father-son duo to score an appearance at both WSOP main event final tables in the same year, and another driving story line in Sunday’s episode will be the performance of the elder Shulman. His son Jeff finished in fifth place and took home $1,953,395 in prize money in Vegas. If Barry prevails at the televised final table this Sunday night he will add a second WSOP gold bracelet to his collection.

Negreanu can add a fifth gold bracelet if he prevails in London but he will have to fight back from a short stack if he hopes to win the first main event title of his career. Another player to keep an eye on at the final table is rising star Jason Mercier. He can win his second gold bracelet of the year if he wins at the final table on Sunday and continue his meteoric rise in the poker ranks.

No matter who you’re rooting for, there is are no lack of compelling stories to follow at this final table when the tape rolls. Don’t miss all of the action Sunday night at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN2.

ABOUT WSOPE: Launched in 2007 by Harrah’s Entertainment, owner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the WSOPE is the first tournament extension of the world’s richest and most prestigious gaming event. WSOPE is held in London, England annually at London Clubs International’s (LCI) Casino at the Empire and awards the same coveted gold bracelets that the WSOP awards annually in Las Vegas. In its first three years, WSOPE has awarded eleven gold bracelets, the first bracelets ever awarded outside the United States, of which nine different nations have claimed [Afghanistan, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom and USA]. A total of 2,994 entrants have competed for £15,110,500 in prize money. Please visit www.wsop.com for more information.

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