Allan Baekke Wins European Poker Tour SnowfestUnstoppable Dane Tops Tough Final Table of New EPT Event |
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High up in the snow covered mountains of Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria, 546 poker players spent a week skiing, snowboarding, having snowball fights, and most importantly, playing poker. It was the first time the PokerStars European Poker Tour visited a place like the Alpine Palace, but it probably won’t be the last, with players from 48 countries making the journey to be part of what become known as Snowfest.
The event had a fitting champion in the form of Dane Allan Baekke [pictured right]. He stole the show for the past few days of play, eager to take home the top prize of €445,000 from the €1,853,680 prize pool. But to get there the event had to lose seven other players.
Daniel Van Kalkeren was first out, finishing in eighth place for €37,000. Kalkeren made his final move with pocket fives, putting his 366,000 in chips in the middle. Alain Medesan then came over the top, reraising all in for a little more than a million with A
K
. With no other biters the board came K
10 8 2 Q and the first blood of the day was on Medesan’s hands.
Next it was up to Johannes Strassman and Lukas Baumann [pictured left] to fight it out. Strassman bet 105,000 and Baumann shoved for 490,000. Strassman called and showed pocket eights while Baumann tabled A J
. The eights stayed ahead and Baumann was put out in seventh place for a payday of €46,000.
In the meantime, Alain Medesan made some upward movements, while Baekke and Strassmann took bites out of each other – Baekke getting the bigger portion. But it was Russell Carson who removed Baekke from this throne for the first time in two days in a big pot which saw Carson flop top pair with A Q and then river a flush. Betting all the way through made sure Carson took the lead with more than four million in chips.
The next to leave the final table was Jonathan Schroer. It was pocket kings versus K-J with Strassman holding the kings. Needless to say the kings held and Schroer was put out of his first ever live poker tournament in sixth place for €65,000.
Things changed a little when Alain Medesan and Brent Wheeler [pictured right] got involved in a huge pot. Wheeler raised preflop and Medesan called from the big blind, checking in the dark as the cards fell Q 5 2.
Wheeler bet 140,000 and Medesan doubled that up to 280,000. Wheeler called and the turn was the 7. Medesan bet 500,000 and Wheeler (who had Medesan covered) moved all in. Medesan snap-called and showed pocket fives for a flopped set, whereas Wheeler held Q 2 for a flopped two pair. The 8 river didn’t change anything and the chip leader throne would now go to Medesan.
A crippled Wheeler picked up pocket eights and put his last 150,000 in on the next hand. Baekke ended his suffering with Q 9 on a nine-high board. Wheeler received €88,000 for his fifth place finish.
There was an obvious active battle between Medesan, Baekke, and Carson with each getting the better of each other only momentarily before slipping behind again. Medesan gave the throne back to Baekke after making a huge fold, giving up his straight on a river which brought a third heart to the board. However, it wasn’t long until Carson rivered a straight against Baekke and moved to the fore of the two.
No matter how hard the players tried, they could not beat Baekke for very long. Slowly but surely he moved back into the lead, a dangerous place for the aggressive Dane to be, as his opponents knew.
Alain Medesan’s adrenalin must have been pumping wildly as he ran his pocket jacks straight into Carson’s pocket kings and was left with just 370,000.
Then in the very next hand he tripled up with pocket eights, but his comeback was shortlived. Medesan [pictured left] shoved with K 10 and was called by Baekke and his A 10 which stayed ahead. Medesan left in fourth place for €111,000.
The chip counts threehanded were:
Allan Baekke – 7,330,000
Russell Carson – 5,420,000
Johannes Strassmann – 3,720,000
Strassman had not been as active as the other players up until this point, choosing his moments and picking up what he could. But when threehanded he showed no fear in dancing with the big stack. However it wasn’t Strassmann Baekke should have been worried about. Carson bet 250,000 and Baekke moved all in. Carson snap-called and turned over Q Q. Baekke tabled 4 4 in what would be an enormous pot. A 7 6 5 flop made things interesting, but the 2 turn and the J river gave Carson a flush and the 7,170,000 pot.
Baekke then got back in the game by getting rid of Team PokerStars Pro member Johannes Strassmann [pictured right]. Strassmann bet 225,000 from the small blind and Baekke called from the big blind. Strassmann then bet 400,000 on an A 10 4 flop and Baekke called. The German kept the pressure on with a 1,100,000 bet on the 9 turn but Baekke held on and made the call. The river was the K and Strassmann moved all in for more than 2 million. Baekke immediately called and showed the rivered flush with 5 4. Strassmann sadly tabled A K for top two pair and left the tournament in third place, €166,000 richer.
At this point Carson and Baekke each had around eight million, but one hand changed everything. Baekke’s top pair turned into a straight and he moved to the 14 million mark with Carson falling way behind to 1.9 million.
Carson was revived a little after this when he doubled up twice; first with A-J versus Baekke’s A-Q (spiking a jack on the river) and second with A K versus Baekke’s pocket fives on a board that came 7 3 2 K Q. Baekke did not let Carson improve for too long however, and by level 30 the Dane held 12 million, three times what Carson had.
Just after the break, with new blinds of 80,000-160,000, Carson bet 320,000 from the small blind and was three-bet by Baekke forcing him to move all in. Baekke instantly called and tabled pocket sevens.
Carson was very much alive however with K J. The flop ended the torture as it fell 7 6 2 and the 10 turn and 4 river sent the pot and the first place prize into the hands of Allan Baekke.
“I feel awesome,” said Baekke after receiving €445,000 for his achievement. “It’s so big. It’s every poker player’s dream.” Shortly afterwards he added, “Actually I always wanted to win two.” Runner-up Carson received €296,000 for a great finish on the tough final table.
The Tour hits San Remo next month and then moves on to Monte Carlo for the Grand Final soon after. Stay with CardPlayer.com for all your recaps, interviews, live updates, and photographs (many courtesy of Neil Stoddart and PokerStars) as we head towards the end of the EPT’s exciting sixth season.
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