It's only fitting that the European stop of the
World Poker Tour features an international lineup for the final table. Our six players are Austrian, Danish, French, Korean, Russian, and Swedish. This table also features two former
WPT winners.
Here's a quick look at the official chip counts and the payouts, followed by some background information on the six final table contestants.
Seat No. 1 - Vladimir Poleschchuk - 176,000
Seat No. 2 - Christer Johansson - 855,000
Seat No. 3 - Steve Sung - 670,000
Seat No. 4 - Gus Hansen - 962,000
Seat No. 5 - Ludovic Lacay - 400,000
Seat No. 6 - Markus Lehmann - 329,000
First - 554,987 euros (approximately $786,805)
Second - 295,200 euros (approximately $418,505)
Third - 151,000 euros (approximately $214,073)
Fourth - 117,400 euros (approximately $166,438)
Fifth - 100,600 euros (approximately $142,621)
Sixth - 83,900 euros (approximately $118,945)
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Seat No. 1
Vladimir Poleschchuk
176,000 in chips
As you might guess from his name, Vladimir Poleschchuk is from Moscow, Russia, and he lists his nickname as "Vampir." (I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that it's the Russian word for "vampire.") Poleschchuk is a 42-year-old former military man who has been playing poker for the past five years.
Up until this month, he has only had a few results in the various online poker databases, only in events with buy-ins less than $500. But then he entered the
European Poker Tour Baden Classic and made it all the way to the final table, earning 225,000 euros for his third-place finish. He decided to follow that up by playing in his first-ever
WPT event - and he has made the final table of this one, as well.
Poleschchuk doesn't speak English, nor does he speak Spanish. He does speak German, and fortunately our tournament director speaks German as well, so he'll be translating for him.
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Seat No. 2
Christer Johansson
855,000 in chips
Christer Johansson is a professional poker player from Sweden with more than $1 million in career earnings, and he is one of two former
WPT winners at this final table.
With only one European stop on the
WPT each season, Johansson has done remarkably well in them. He won the
WPT Euro Finals of Poker in season I, finished 13th at the
WPT Grand Prix de Paris in season V, and has reached the final table here in the
WPT Spanish Championship in season VI.
Johansson has also had success in the
EPT, finishing in second at the 2005
EPT Barcelona Open and 11th at the 2006
EPT Scandinavian Open.
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Seat No. 3
Steve Sung
670,000 in chips
Steve Sung was born approximately 22 years ago in Korea. I say "approximately" because his family doesn't know his exact birthday, other than the fact that it was sometime before April 15, 1985. Korean by birth, Sung has lived most of his life in the United States.
Sung started playing poker with Danny Wong, and plays online under the name "MuGGyLiCiOuS." He started playing major live tournaments once he turned 21 (approximately), and has had solid results in that time, with $669,000 in earnings.
This is his fourth cash on the
WPT, but his first
WPT final table (he came close twice before, finishing ninth and 12th). His strongest tournament was the 2006
Bellagio Five-Diamond Poker Classic - he finished third in a $5,000 preliminary event, and then ninth in the $15,000 main event. He also added two
WSOP final tables to his résumé this summer, in seven-card stud and $10,000 pot-limit Omaha, proving that he excels in games other than hold'em.
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Seat No. 4
Gus Hansen
962,000 in chips
Known as the "Great Dane," Gus Hansen is one of the most popular poker players in the world, making a big splash in the poker world by winning two
WPT events with an ultra-aggressive style back in season I. He has added another
WPT title to his résumé since then, and today he will be going for his fourth.
If there were a
WPT hall of fame, Gus Hansen would surely be in it. Oh wait, there
is a
WPT hall of fame (but it's called the "Walk of Fame"), And Gus
is in it.
This is Hansen's seventh
WPT Final Table, and he has parlayed his
WPT fame into appearances on other televised poker shows like
Poker After Dark. He also won the 2007
Aussie Millions earlier this year. But with all his success, he has been remarkably silent in the
WSOP, where he has never made a final table. He did go deep in the inaugural main event of the
WSOP Europe, barely missing that final table by finishing 10th.
Hansen has really matured as a poker player since those first two seasons, able to switch out of high gear when necessary. But Gus is still Gus - when you give him a lot of chips, he's going to play a lot of pots. And on day three, he played a
lot of pots. As the chip leader entering the final table, expect him to continue to challenge his opponents at every opportunity.
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Seat No. 5
Ludovic Lacay
400,000 in chips
Ludovic "Cuts" Lacay is one of two 22-year-olds playing today, and this is his first televised final table.
Lacay is French, and started playing poker because of fellow French online player Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier. They had played video games together before Grospellier made a successful switch over to poker, and Lacay followed him over.
On day two of this tournament, Lacay finished eighth in the chip standings, and then went on a rush to start day three by catapulting into the chip lead. He has carried that momentum all the way to the final table, showing impressive skills along the way.
Lacay plays primarily online, and up to this point has no cashes listed in the various online poker databases. That will all change today, when he kicks off his database listings with a
WPT final table.
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Seat No. 6
Markus Lehmann
329,000 in chips
At an international final table, Markus Lehmann is perhaps the most international player here. He was born in Germany, his father is Italian, and he lives in the tiny country of Liechtenstein (population: 34,247). Despite all of that, he considers his nationality to be Austrian.
Lehmann lists his occupation as "top distributor of Herbalife," and he has been extremely successful. He has been playing poker for 35 years, but this is just the fifth
WPT event that he has entered. This will also be his first televised final table.
Lehmann already has a few smaller tournament victories under his belt, and his biggest was the 1,000 euro
Bodensee Poker Championships in 2007, in which he won 134,995 euros. Regardless of his finish here today, he already considers this
WPT final table to be his greatest poker accomplishment.
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Stay tuned to
CardPlayer.com for live coverage of all of the final table action.
