World Championship of Online Poker at PokerStars.com Sets New Record: Norwegian Edgar Skjervold Becomes Third-Annual WCOOP Champion

by Nolan Dalla | Published: Nov 19, 2004

When you think of the world's biggest poker events, well-known tournaments like the World Series of Poker, World Poker Open, and L.A. Poker Classic immediately come to mind. Now, based on the numbers, add the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), hosted by PokerStars.com, to the list.

Of all the major poker tournaments held in the world over the previous year, the 2004 WCOOP attracted the second-largest number of players (10,085) and awarded the sixth-highest total prize pool ($6,002,300), all events combined. In fact, of several hundred individual events held at dozens of poker tournaments, three of the four events with the largest number of entrants were WCOOP events. Only the main event of the World Series of Poker attracted more players.

The 2004 WCOOP events included Omaha eight-or-better, pot-limit Omaha, limit hold'em, no-limit hold'em, pot-limit hold'em, seven-card stud, seven-card stud eight-or-better, and (for the first time) heads-up hold'em. PokerStars.com is the first online site ever to offer a major heads-up hold'em tournament. This year's WCOOP also featured an online rebuy tournament for the first time in history.

The grand finale of the WCOOP was the official main event. The buy-in was $2,500 – a high enough figure to attract many of the biggest names in poker. Many participants put up the $2,500 buy-in on their own, but for others, the buy-in came at a bargain. A sizable number of players qualified through online satellites held regularly at PokerStars.com. Many more players gained their entry into the tournament with "Frequent Player Points," which meant the buy-in essentially cost nothing.

The total prize pool for the main event alone exceeded $2 million – a higher figure than many of the biggest poker events shown on television. A total of 81 places were paid, with the top spot advertised at $526,875. No Internet-based competition of any kind in history has ever awarded such a large cash prize. Incredibly, all of the top five spots paid in excess of six figures, an unprecedented payout for an online poker tournament. Twenty-seven players won $10,000 or more in the main event.

For anyone still doubting whether poker is an "international" game, all he must do is glance at the payout tables. The payouts reflected a wide variety of countries and player nationalities. The championship event also attracted many of the top names in poker, including five former world champions. Several other top stars competed, as well, including former gold bracelet winners, former World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker finalists, and at least one WSOP runner-up. Greg Raymer, Daniel Negreanu, Josh Arieh, and David Williams were just a few of the big names who played in the main event.

Despite all the big names linked up on the Internet, the final table was comprised of eight relative newcomers, who were playing for the biggest prize pool of their lives. Six different countries were represented, including Canada, Denmark, England, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. After 10 hours of play and 573 hands, the final table was set.

"Sealand," from Denmark, enjoyed a big chip lead when the final table began. After three of the shortest stacks busted out, Sealand increased his chip lead even more and became the first player to exceed $1 million in chips.

Edgar Skjervold

Fourhanded play took more than an hour, as 68 hands were played before the next player was eliminated. Incredibly, Sealand was the next player to make an exit in fourth place. He lost two huge pots, both to "Ragde" (eventual winner Edgar Skjervold from Norway), which essentially took him from a decisive chip lead to the rail.

Playing threehanded, Skjervold had more than $1.6 million in chips. It appeared the Norwegian would end the final table quickly, with a hyperaggressive style that had his two opponents on the defensive. But victory would prove to be a challenge. Out-chipped by more than 6-to-1, "Mr. Steal" started to make his move. After "iamlucky" was eliminated in third place, Mr. Steal nearly stole the victory. He rocketed up from nowhere to acquire more than $1 million in chips within just a 10-hand span. Faced with the prospect that it was now either player's tournament to win, the two finalists agreed to cut a deal and the remaining prize money was divided according to chip counts. In the end, Skjervold took $424,945, and Mr. Steal agreed to take $393,980.

With the money concerns out of the way, it was now time to play for the WCOOP gold bracelet and the title "2004 Online Poker World Champion." With several thousand observers watching from their computers all over the world, the final hand came. Trips would be the winning hand.

Skjervold made three sevens when a 7 came on the turn, which meant Mr. Steal was drawing dead. A few seconds later, the tournament was over. That gave the Norwegian poker player the third-annual world online poker championship. Skjervold received the coveted 14-karat gold bracelet, engraved with the name of the event along with the PokerStars 2004 WCOOP trademark.

Edgar Skjervold is a married 30-year-old financial analyst from Oslo, Norway. After the tournament concluded, he was interviewed in a trans-Atlantic conference call. He said that he plays poker part time, both online and live-action. He attended the 2004 WSOP, and in his own words, "did not do so good." Skjervold is part of a talented Norwegian group of players who have burst upon the poker scene in recent years. The WCOOP is his first major tournament win.

"Today I made more money in 10 hours than I would make in about 10 years of working my job," Skjervold said. "My main goal was just to end up in the money. Then, when I made it into the money, my goal changed. Then, I just wanted to play the best I could."

When asked what it's like to win almost half a million dollars, Skjervold was nearly speechless. "I don't think it's quite sunk in yet. I still can't believe it," he said. "I'll probably pay off some debts and pay the mortgage on the house."

Skjervold closed his victory conversation by congratulating his opponents and complimenting PokerStars.com – the host of the 2004 World Championship of Online Poker: "PokerStars is the leading poker site online, because of the number of players. You are always able to get into a cash game or tournament at PokerStars. I play mostly at PokerStars because it's one of the best sites."

News of Skjervold's victory spread quickly throughout Europe. In his home country of Norway, his win was the morning headline at VG Nett (http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=238286), the website of Norway's largest newspaper. Skjervold will play at most of the upcoming European Poker Tour events, sponsored by PokerStars.

The next World Championship of Online Poker is expected to be held in July-August 2005 at PokerStars.com. It promises to be even bigger and better.