Carry On Copenhagen

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour reached Copenhagen in February, but the main event was not the only star attraction. A saucy selection of “side events” added spice to what was already an exciting week of Scandi-dominated destruction.

Action kicked off with the Scandinavian Poker Awards which was hosted by PokerStars and held in Luux nightclub in Copenhagen. Unsurprisingly, it was the Danish champion Peter Eastgate who stood out from the crowd, as Annette Obrestad did last year, when he received not one but two awards — “Rookie of the year” and the highly prestigious “All-round performance of the year”. As he made his acceptance speech he took a light-hearted stab at Norwegian Johnny Lodden when asked what he was going to do now to try and beat this feat. He replied, “I’ll do like Johnny Lodden … and start losing … heavily.” Godfather of poker, Thor Hansen, who last year won the “Lifetime achievement award” presented the “Rookie of the year” award alongside presenter Kara Scott. His advice to those new to the circuit was just to “keep flopping the nuts”. Easier said, than done. Jens Kyllönen was, coincidentally, one of the nominees for the award, but he was to prove himself later on in the week, at the main event itself.

A mixed vibe filled the air when Patrik Antonius was named “Best live player”, with many names whispered under the breath as to who really should have got the award. The other nominees were EPT regulars Jesper Hougaard, Johnny Lodden, and Michael Tureniec. A friend made Antonius’ acceptance speech explaining the high stakes player’s difficulty in getting a good connecting flight from Thailand and also his family commitments.

Finnish online whizz kid Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies approached the stage with his typical swagger when he was announced as the “Best online player”. When Kara Scott asked him what it was about his game that got him to this point, he took control of the microphone and cheekily declared, “I am very pleased with these kind of things. But I don’t really know much about strategy, you should ask about that from someone who knows it, for example Gus Hansen…”

Another award-winner who raised some eyebrows throughout the crowded club was Magdalena In De Betou. She took down “Female player of the year” despite some tremendous competition which included Annette Obrestad. Aptly, Gus Hansen co-presented the award with Scott, quipping that it was his “favourite subject”. When Scott asked him if he ever played differently against a woman, he smirked and said, “Well, I’ve never been across the table from you, that might make me play a little bit differently.” To which, Scott quickly pulled some punches saying, “I definitely think I could take you.” After In De Betou made her thank you speech, Hansen made his way back to the microphone to say, “Just to answer the question from before … Ilari, I’ll be waiting online in about one hour and 45 minutes…”

The night was celebrated mainly by the friends and media surrounding those who received the awards, as most players had the discipline to head to bed before closing hours, in order to be well rested for day 1A of the main event. Those hitting the felt on day 1B however, got to hang around a little longer and polish of some of the award winners’ Moet et Chandon.

The Morning After

A total of 462 players turned up for the main event over the two starting days, including many notable pros such as Carlos Mortensen, Casey Kastle, and Isabelle Mercier, all seeking the €878,057 top prize.

A table which comes quickly to mind is one which seeped horror on day 1b. It held Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Gus Hansen, Annette Obrestad, Michael Tureniec, and Jesper Hougaard. The other unfamiliar faces at the table were lucky if they even made it out alive.

Theo Jorgensen was also present and accounted for on the same day, but it was not his time to shine as his set of sixes ran up against Andrea Benelli’s full house — jacks full of sixes. For many, however, this did not matter as they were awaiting Jorgensen’s performance elsewhere later on in the week, in the boxing ring. Friends Jorgensen and Hansen had a little wager on a fight that in a very short space of time appeared to have been given a life of its own. See this issue’s cover star Theo Jorgensen’s interview to find out his experience of the fight.

After five days of poker fuelled madness, the eight who took their seats at the final table were:
• Rasmus Nielsen: 1,031,000
• Petter Petersson: 407,000
• Peter Hedlund: 367,000
• Jussi Nevanlinna: 894,000
• Jonas Klausen: 262,000
• Jens Kyllönen: 366,000
• Eric Larcheveque: 221,000
• Anders Langset: 1,119,000

With play only in it’s toddler stages, there was an elimination. Peter Hedlund raised and Jonas Klausen responded with a reraise all-in. Hedlund insta-called and to Klausen’s chagrin revealed pocket aces. Klausen flipped over pocket sevens but they weren’t going to be very lucky. The cards unveiled themselves as Q 10 5 10 — all Klausen needed was a club to make a flush, and that is what he got — the A. However, the card that made him, also broke him as it gave Hedlund a full house. Klausen was eliminated in eight place for a pay day of €80,370.

Another battle of wills then began, this time it was Eric Larcheveque versus Rasmus Nielsen. With only Nielsen emerging unscathed, Larcheveque took seventh place for €113,106.

Nielsen got all his chips in with A 9 versus Anders Langset’s A K. The Dane’s luck ran out as the board fell in Langset’s favor: A 6 5 7 Kx. Nielsen performed amazingly well throughout the tournament, and in the end was consoled by the €142,870 he got for sixth place.

Moments back from the first break, another player hit the rail. Petter Petersson pushed all-in with A-2 and was totally dominated when Peter Hedlund called with A Q and hit the nut flush on the river. Petersson took home €181,564 for fifth place.

Hedlund then knocked Jussi Nevanlinna out in fourth place for €220,258, and Jens Kyllönen finished Anders Langset off in third for €288,717, leaving Hedland and Kyllönen heads up for first.

After a few hands where Kyllönen was slowly chipping away at Hedlund, it finally came to a head. Hedlund raised 220,000, Kyllönen pushed all in and Hedlund called. They flipped over their cards:
Kyllönen: J J
Hedlund:A J
Board: 9 8 5 K Q

Kyllönen’s jacks held up and the nineteen-year-old Finn became the EPT Scandinavian Open champion, taking home the title, the trophy, and €878,057.

Peter Hedlund had an amazing game and was fantastic to watch. A great personality and strong poker skills earned the Swede €497,069 for second place.

A Star is Born

When Card Player asked Kyllönen how he felt, he said, “Really good. I don’t think I’ve realised yet what I’ve done, but it’s really great.” After winning some very important coin flips, and gaining a nicely stacked chip tower at the final table, Kyllönen felt like he had an edge, so decided that he should attempt to keep the pots small and play aggressively.

Rasmus Nielsen was pretty remarkable throughout the event, and those who played against him often had some harsh decisions to make. One of these opponents was Kyllönen, who tried to find a loophole in the Dane’s game, he said, “[Nielsen] was very good for me actually because he plays very loose. He opens a lot of pots and with my stack I could just stick it all-in and there wasn’t much he could do except tighten up.”

But what about the player who impressed him most on his way to the number one spot? “I don’t know,” said Kyllönen. “There was a few. This Jonas guy [Klausen], I think he played really well, and Jussi [Nevanlinna] obviously played really well all the way.”

Finns (like the Danes and the Norwegians) are very aggressive, calculating players, whose results speak for themselves. The next generation of poker pros appears to have limitless potential, and in time, there will be no stopping the European poker teens-turned-adults who are causing a stir on the international circuit. When asked about poker in Helsinki, Kyllönen replied, “A lot of Finnish players are very strong. I don’t play that much live. Two times a year there are these tournament weeks, where the main event is like a €3,000 buy-in. I finished 16th out of 200 runners, which is pretty decent. I am still pretty young so I haven’t had a chance to play very many of them yet.”

With the world now on his doorstep, Kyllönen’s choice of location for his first apartment modestly remains the same as before. “I’ll probably spend a big part of it on an apartment in Helsinki city. Just after this trip, I was going to move because I still live with my parents. I was in Thailand for three weeks and just came directly here, and had decided that I was going to move.” Setting his sights high, his next event will most likely be the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final.

Finally, just like Eastgate but on a smaller scale, Kyllönen has managed to achieve something many players spend their lives trying to do. Therefore, it’s hard to know what the next step is for a player who begins at the top of his game. “You have to run really good in these tournaments,” said Kyllönen. “As we saw I won a few big coinflips and stuff, so I just hope to get lucky again.”

Fight Night

Following the fast-paced action of the final table on Saturday, February 21, most of the spectators and players took to the boxing stadium in Copenhagen for a very special fight. Two heavy weights of the poker world had taken a bet between themselves very seriously, and it was decision time.

Locals Gus Hansen and Theo Jorgensen laid $35,000 on the line, with a handicap, meaning Hansen would only get $25,000 if he won. The two Danes did not have to worry about being late for the fight or ill-prepared, as both busted early in the main event.

A massive crowd filled with a mix of poker players, sporting fans, and Danish celebrities awaited their arrival. Their starring role was built up by pre-main event exhibition fights, with footballers, wrestlers, and actors taking to the ring to spar it out. The nation’s chart-toppers and top entertainment acts also performed, so by the time good friends Jorgensen and Hansen appeared on the scene, the crowd was well oiled.

Those who thought the fight would be a farce, where two good friends would not put 100 percent into hurting each other, and others who thought two poker players couldn’t possibly make for good boxing or entertainment… They were all totally wrong. Theo “The Thunder” Jorgensen arrived to the tune of “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC, while Gus “The Great Dane” Hansen took the humorous approach and appeared in a wheelchair (due to his dodgy knee) with Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” filling the air.

They whole-heartedly went at each other for three rounds, and when with bruised bodies and bloody faces they emerged, it looked like a close call. Everyone awaited the final winner’s announcement while opposing spectators battled each other chanting “Theo” and “Gustav”. It was Jorgensen who came out trumps and Hansen took it like a man, congratulating his friend and saying, “The best man won!”

It seems only fair that Jorgensen got something out of the fight, since it coincided with Hansen’s launch of his new site GusHansenTV.com which aired the fight live.
The week played out beautifully, from an awards ceremony, to an explosive few days of poker, ending in an edge-of-your-seat duel between two of the poker world’s greatest characters. Copenhagen proved once again to be a hugely successful and overall entertaining destination for this season’s European Poker Tour.