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Dane Brings Home Bacon at World Series of Poker Main-Event Final

For some it seems like yesterday, but for others the wait has been long and nerve-wracking. Day 1A of the $10,000 World Series of Poker main event kicked off way back on July 3, when 1,297 from a total 6,844 players took to the felt at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Finally, after 11 explosive poker-driven days, the final nine emerged, but they would have to wait until November to find out where in the money they would be so fortunate to land. They knew however, that at least, they would be going home with $900,670.

The nine players who started the event on Sunday Nov. 9 were:

Seat 1: Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000
Seat 2: Craig Marquis - 10,210,000
Seat 3: Ylon Schwartz - 12,525,000
Seat 4: Scott Montgomery - 19,690,000
Seat 5: Darus Suharto - 12,520,000
Seat 6: David "Chino" Rheem - 10,230,000
Seat 7: Ivan Demidov - 24,400,000
Seat 8: Kelly Kim - 2,620,000
Seat 9: Peter Eastgate - 18,375,000

The payouts for the first seven knocked out were as follows:

Third: Dennis Phillips - $4,517,773
Fourth: Ylon Schwartz - $3,774,974
Fifth Scott Montgomery - $3,096,768
Sixth: Darus Suharto - $2,418,562
Seventh: David Rheem - $1,772,650
Eighth: Kelly Kim - $1,288,217
Ninth: Craig Marquis - $900,670

The event then took a European twist as the final two to go heads up were Dane Peter Eastgate and Russian Ivan Demidov. The two youngsters toughed it out before a jam-packed audience for just under four hours of heads up play. During the last hour, the 2008 main event final table surpassed the 2005 main event final table (which was won by Joe Hachem) as the longest ever. That table lasted 14 hours and 10 minutes. Level 39 saw the largest big blind in the history of the WSOP. It was the first time the big blind had ever reached seven figures.

The final hand of the World Series of Poker 2008 went like this:

Eastgate limped on the button and Demidov checked preflop. The flop was dealt K 3 2 and Demidov checked. Eastgate bet 1.25 million and Demidov made the call. The turn card fell the 4 and Demidov checked. Eastgate bet 2 million and Demidov check-raised to 6 million. Eastgate made the call and the 7 fell on the river. Demidov moved all in for his final 7.95 million and Eastgate called him down. Demidov turnd up 4 2 for two pair, but Eastgate turned A 5 for a straight and took down the main event.

Ivan Demidov was eliminated in second place but took home a hefty consolation prize of $5,809,595. Peter Eastgate became the 2008 world champion of poker and $9,152,416 richer. He is also the youngest WSOP main event champion in history at just 22-years-old, breaking the record set by Phil Hellmuth in 1989. The Danes move further up the rankings as most successful poker players, according to Card Player's World Tracker.

Read the full inside story of how the World Series of Poker 2008 main event final table unfolded in this issue of Card Player.

Frenchman Fries Opposition at Festa al Lago

Frenchman Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier won the World Poker Tour Festa al Lago at the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas in late October. This is his second major title of 2008 having won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January this year. His $1.4 million payday brings his total winnings for the year to over $3.6 million for 2008.

ElkY was chip leader going into the final six of this $15,400 event which attracted 398 players:

Seat 1 - Will Mietz - 1,400,000
Seat 2 - Osmin "Oddie" Dardon - 2,070,000
Seat 3 - Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier - 6,420,000
Seat 4 - Nam Le - 2,275,000
Seat 5 - Adam "Roothlus" Levy - 1,370,000
Seat 6 - Nenad Medic - 3,025,000

The first four players out were:

Third - Osmin "Oddie" Dardon - $506,245
Fourth - Nenad Medic - $373,010
Fifth - Adam "Roothlus" Levy - $266,445
Sixth - William Mietz - $186,510

Heads up, ElkY had a virtually unassailable lead with 15.6 million in chips compared to Nam Le's 925,000. After two all-in hands the players got their chips in the middle preflop a third time. It proved the final hand of play with Le showing A Q and Grospellier tabling 10 10.

The board came out 10 7 6 9 K and Le was eliminated in second place, earning $943,215. Grospellier took home $1,411,015.

Fry's Hungarian Delight

Twenty-eight year-old poker pro William Fry from England won the first PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Hungarian Open topping a field of 532 players to take down the €595,839.

Fry defeated Ciprian Hrisca heads up when he raised preflop with J-J and his Romanian opponent pushed with A-6, which Fry called. "They were the first good cards I'd had in ages," he said. "Up until then I'd been re-raising with rubbish but if I get good cards, I can be pretty dangerous."

Fry plans to give a portion of his winnings to charities raising awareness of third-world poverty.

The final table results were:

First: William Fry (€595,839)
Second: Ciprian Hrisca (€342,608)
Third: Martin Jacobson (€197,904)
Fourth: Albert Iversen (€153,216)
Fifth: Marino Serenelli (€127,680)
Sixth: Gino Alacqua (€100,016)
Seventh: Zoltan Toth (€78,736)
Eighth: Johnny Lodden (€53,200)

You can read a post-event interview with Fry as well as others who attended the event in this issue of Card Player.

Love in a Poker Climate

PKR.com, the 3D online poker room, has partnered with online dating site LoveStruck.com to hold a series of poker tournaments where single men and women can meet and play poker.

The series was launched at the Hoxton Pony bar in London on Thursday, Nov. 6. Then from Nov. 17, the nights will feature a freeroll followed by three low buy-in tournaments. To attend, players must register at LoveStruck.com and PKR.com.

PKR marketing director, Simon Prodger said, "Poker is a very social game and we know our players actively chat both in the game and on our forums. We've seen romance bloom on PKR and so partnering with a site like Lovestruck that caters to young, outgoing professionals is perfect for us."

Travelling With the Devilfish

DevilfishPoker.com has launched Devilfish Travel, a new promotion which allows players to rake their way to the most prestigious tournaments around the world. Players can participate in the promotion by visiting DevilfishTravel.com and choosing which tournament they would like to play from a list which includes the Aussie Millions, European and Latin American Poker Tours, the Irish Open, and the World Series of Poker main event.

Additionally, players can choose the 'Pick Your Own Tournament' option for any event and Devilfish Travel will do it's best to get them there.

Thereafter, 35 percent of every cent raked goes towards a ticket or package for the tournament - players simply need to accumulate the required VIP points by the required closing date.

As an added perk, players participating in Devilfish Travel promotions can still earn generous deposit and reload bonuses.
Poker legend Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott, said, "Devilfish Travel is the latest creative concept we've developed to offer maximum value to our poker players. No more tedious satellites, no more steps, players can just log on to DevilfishPoker.com and play their way to the world's biggest and best poker tournaments. There's nothing else quite like it in online poker, and it's the perfect way to offer our players the chance to follow in the 'fish's footsteps."

Ireland Wins Amateur Team Event

Ireland won the Amateur Poker Association & Tour (APAT) European Team Championship at the Grosvenor Casino, Brighton, England on Nov. 1 and 2, beating out opposition from Germany, France, England, Netherlands, Hungary, and Scotland.

The winning team was made up of Pat O'Callaghan (Galway), John Murray (Portsmouth), Colin O'Prey (Belfast), and Brendan Byrne (Dublin), and was led by non-playing captain Len Collin (Westport). Each player bought in for £100 with sponsor BlueSquarePoker.com adding £2,000 to the prize pool.

The final result was:

The event consisted of single table and heads-up games on day 1, with a multi-table tournament on day 2 comprising all 32 players. France held the overnight lead followed by Hungary and Ireland, but with three Irish players making it to the final table of the tournament on day 2, Ireland leapt to an unassailable lead.

Teng Tops Tour in Thanet

The eighth leg of the BlueSquarePoker.com Grosvenor UK Poker Tour held in the G Casino, Thanet was won by 23-year-old Andy Teng, after he topped a field of 226 runners to collect £68,380 and a seat in November's Grand Final.

Teng, who plays online poker full-time and finished 126th at the World Series of Poker main event this year, beat another online pro, Jamie Brown, heads up to lift the title after overcoming a 4.5-1 chip lead. The two hour battle saw Teng come from behind with a flush versus a set of kings, and eventually in the final pot of the night, 8-8 versus 4-4.

The final table saw well-known pros Simon Trumper and Karl Mahrenholz aim for their first titles, but it was not to be and they were eliminated ninth and eighth respectively. The final table payouts were:

First: Andy Teng - £68,380
Second: Jamie Brown - £39,550
Third: Mike Moore - £28,250
Fourth: Paul Rigg - £19,210
Fifth: Dave Penly - £14,600
Sixth: William Martin - £11,300
Seventh: Paul McIntyre - £9,040
Eighth: Karl Mahrenholz - £6,780
Ninth: Simon Trumper - £5,650

Next month's issue of Card Player will bring you inside the GUKPT Grand Final.

Elsewhere, the BlueSquarePoker.com Grosvenor Grand Prix was won by Ash Hussain. The pot-limit hold'em event attracted 58 players, and represented fantastic value to the participants as the sponsor added £25,000 to the prize pool.
Uniquely, players could not buy in directly to the event, but had to qualify through £50 rebuy satellites.

Hussain beat Ash Ahmed heads up after dominating the tournament until three-handed when his 9-7 made a straight against Ahmed's K-5. He lifted £20,948 for his victory. Two years ago his brother Zahir "Zippy" Aslam won the event. Ahmed finished fourth in the event last year.

"Having had the best part of a year away from poker, I am delighted to have made my comeback to the game in this manner," said Hussain. He now plans a full time return to poker.

Little Wins Big at Foxwoods World Poker Finals

Jonathan Little is the new World Poker Tour World Poker Final champion after beating a strong final table which included David "The Dragon" Pham, and Mike Matusow to lift the top prize of $1.12 million. It took hours longer than anybody could have imagined, but the mounting blinds and antes finally put an end to a marathon heads up session that saw numerous lead changes, huge hands, and even bigger bluffs.

The chip counts heading into the final table were:

Seat 1: David Pham - 2,038,000
Seat 2: Jonathan Jaffe - 4,131,000
Seat 3: Jonathan Little - 2,021,000
Seat 4: Charles Marchese - 1,718,000
Seat 5: Jack Schanbacher - 1,592,000
Seat 6: Mike Matusow - 816,000

In the final hand of the evening, Jonathan Little raised to 850,000 and Jonathan Jaffe moved all in. Little made the call with A Q and Jaffe showed A 10. The board ran out 8 8 6 K Q and Little claimed his second WPT title.

Both players exchanged the chip lead several times for over five hours before the tournament was ultimately decided. In the process, Jonathan Little broke his own record for the amount of hands played at a WPT final table with 275. The old record was 271 when Little was defeated by Scott Clements at the 2007 North American Poker Championships.
The final results were:

First: Jonathan Little $1,120,310
Second: Jonathan Jaffe $670,636
Third: Charles Marchese $337,256
Fourth: David "The Dragon" Pham $240,344
Fifth: Jack Schanbacher $182,196
Sixth: Mike "The Mouth" Matusow $124,048

Dane is Ladbrokes European Online Champion of Poker

In a great week for the Danes, the $1,000 + $100 Ladbrokes European Online Championship of Poker (LEOCOP) IV main event was won by "hahila." The tournament attracted over 600 runners creating a prize pool of $918,000 of which $250,000 was added by Ladbrokes.

In total 4,370 players participated in more than 16 events chasing a total prize pool of over $2 million. Ladbrokes Poker added $500,000 to the festival overall.

"hahila" picked up $229,500 for his victory, as well as an extra $3,000 for finishing second place on the leader board behind "james666" who also made the main event final table. The top 80 players on the leader board will play a freeroll, with the winner set to receive a ticket into the Ladbrokes Poker Million VII semi-final worth $120,000.

Ed Ihre, managing director of the online poker site said, "Ladbrokes Poker is really proving to be a lucky talisman for the Danes. At the same time "hahila" was dominating the final table eventually winning $230,000 after over 14 hours of play, Peter Eastgate, who flew out to Las Vegas as part of Team Ladbrokes in July of this year, was bossing the WSOP final table. Both events have been great for Ladbrokes Poker this year."

Eastgate, of course, went on to win the World Series of Poker main event.

The payouts for the LEOCOP IV main event finalists were:

1. hahila - $229,500
2. Benno26 - $130,815
3. Sircall - $84,915
4. Gladiator - $59,670
5. Badpab2 - $50,490
6. vic_xcite - $40,392
7. Bynos - $31,212
8. james666 - $22,032
9. Pokerkluben - $15,606
10. Jantta - $11,016