Barry Shulman Wins the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event

The World Series of Poker Europe main event has done it again, producing one of the most memorable final tables of the year. Card Player publisher Barry Shulman (pictured right) won the WSOP Europe main event during the early hours of the morning in London on Oct. 2. He was awarded £801,603 and a WSOP gold bracelet after beating Daniel Negreanu in a heads-up match wherein Shulman came back from a chip-deficit multiple times to capture one of the most prestigious titles in poker. Shulman grew his career tournament winnings to $2,876,926 and he won his second gold bracelet. Shulman scored his first bracelet in 2001, when he won a $1,500 seven-card stud eight-or-better event at the WSOP.

Negreanu took home £495,589, which makes him the all-time leader in tournament poker winnings. The final table was action-packed and featured many top professionals, including six players who had previously earned gold bracelets (Shulman, Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Chris Bjorin, Praz Bansi, and Matt Hawrilenko) as well as two November Nine finalists (James Akenhead and Antoine Saout). Speaking of the November Nine, Barry’s son Jeff Shulman will head into the upcoming WSOP main event final table in fourth chip position. The father and son have already made history by each making a WSOP main event final table in the same year, and in one month’s time the poker world will see if they can set a family record that would likely never be broken by capturing both main event titles in the same year.

Here are the final results for the 2009 WSOP Europe main event:

1: Barry Shulman — £801,603
2: Daniel Negreanu — £495,589
3: Praz Bansi — £360,887
4: Jason Mercier — £267,267
5: Markus Ristola — £200,367
6: Chris Bjorin — £150,267
7: Antoine Saout — £114,228
8: Matt Hawrilenko — £87,074
9: James Akenhead — £66,533

Here are the elimination hands from the final table:

James Akenhead Eliminated in Ninth Place (£66,533)

Chris Bjorin raised to 85,000 preflop, and James Akenhead (pictured left) reraised all in for 500,000. Daniel Negreanu then reraised all in over the top of Akenhead, which induced Bjorin to fold A-J exposed. The two remaining players then revealed their hands:

Akenhead: A Q
Negreanu: K K

Board: J 6 4 9 Q

Akenhead was eliminated in ninth place, and Negreanu grew his stack to 1,578,000.

Matt Hawrilenko Eliminated in Eighth Place (£87,074)

Barry Shulman raised preflop, and Matt Hawrilenko (pictured right) moved all in. Shulman made the call, and they flipped over their cards:

Hawrilenko: J 7
Shulman: A Q

Board: 10 3 3 6 8

Hawrilenko was eliminated in eighth place, and Shulman grew his stack.

Antoine Saout Eliminated in Seventh Place (£114,228)

Antoine Saout (pictured left) moved all in preflop, and Daniel Negreanu called. Their cards:

Negreanu: A Q
Saout: 5 5

Board: 10 8 4 2 7

Saout was eliminated in seventh place, and Negreanu continued to build his stack to challenge the chip leaders.

Chris Bjorin Eliminated in Sixth Place (£150,267)

Chris Bjorin (pictured right) moved all in preflop, and Daniel Negreanu made the call. Their cards:

Negreanu: A Q
Bjorin: A J

Board: K 10 9 3 9

Bjorin was eliminated, and Negreanu watched his stack climb north of 3 million.

Markus Ristola Eliminated in Fifth Place (£200,367)

Daniel Negreanu raised to 100,000 under the gun preflop, and Markus Ristola reraised all in. Negreanu made the call, and they flipped over their cards:

Ristola: K 10
Negreanu: A 5

Board: Q 8 6 K A

Negreanu won the hand to continue a dominant stretch at the final table, while Ristola was eliminated in fifth place.

Jason Mercier Eliminated in Fourth Place (£267,267)

Daniel Negreanu raised under the gun, and Barry Shulman made the call from the button. Jason Mercier (pictured right) moved all in, and Negreanu called. Shulman got out of the way, and the two remaining players flipped over their cards:

Mercier: 7 7
Negreanu: 9 9

Board: K J 3 Q 3

Mercier was eliminated in fourth place on the hand, and Negreanu jumped into the chip lead with 4,765,000.

Praz Bansi Eliminated in Third Place (£360,887)

Praz Bansi (pictured left) moved all in from the button, and Daniel Negreanu made the call from the small blind. Their cards:

Negreanu: A Q
Bansi: Q 2

Board: 8 4 4 J 6

Bansi was eliminated in third place, and Negreanu increased his chip lead to 6,180,000 heading into heads-up play with Barry Shulman.

Barry Shulman Wins the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event (£801,603)

Penultimate Hand of the Tournament:

Daniel Negreanu (pictured left) had pulled back to even in the heads-up final, and taken a small lead when the biggest hand of the tournament took place. With a flop of J 8 5 sitting on the table, Barry Shulman bet 300,000 and Daniel Negreanu raised to 900,000. Shulman reraised all in, and Negreanu made the call. Their cards:

Negreanu: Q J
Shulman: A A

Turn and River: J A

Negreanu made three jacks on the turn, but it was topped when a third ace hit for Shulman on the river. Shulman doubled up to 8 million, and Negreanu fell to 2 million.

Final Hand of the Tournament:

A devastated Negreanu moved the last of his chips in preflop, and Shulman made the call. Their cards:

Shulman: 10 10
Negreanu: 4 4

Board: K 10 2 3 Q

Negreanu was eliminated in second place, and he will take home £495,589 in prize money (making him the all-time tournament poker money leader). Shulman wins the 2009 WSOP Europe main event and he takes home the top prize of £801,603 along with the gold bracelet. Shulman now holds two gold bracelets for his career.

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