World Series of Poker Europe – £10,000 No-Limit Holdem Main Event – Final Table

World Series of Poker Europe – £10,000 No-Limit Holdem Main Event – Final Table – Part I

WSOP Europe by James on October 3, 2008

The final nine players in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker Europe gathered on Sunday to take their shot at the last bracelet of the year and the £868,800 top prize. John Juanda entered the day as the chip leader. Here is how the table started the day:

Seat 1: Robin Keston 849,000
Seat 2: Daniel Negreanu 1,002,000
Seat 3: Chris Elliott 281,000
Seat 4: Bengt Sonnert 385,000
Seat 5: John Juanda 1,349,000
Seat 6: Ivan Demidov 1,006,000
Seat 7: Toni Hiltunen 386,000
Seat 8: Scott Fischman 732,000
Seat 9: Stanislav Alekhin 1,278,000

Jack Effel kicked off the final table with the customary “Shuffle up and deal,” and the final table was off and running.

Bengt Sonnert was the first player to double up at this final table. Robin Keston raised to 40,000 from the cutoff position. Daniel Negreanu made the call and Sonnert reraised to 130,000 from the big blind. Keston then came over the top and raised to 300,000. Negranu got out of the way. Sonnert moved all-in and Keston called. Sonner held Qc-Qd and Keston held Ah-Ks. Sonnert flopped a set of queens on a flop of 5c-Qs-3d. Keston would need running Kings to eliminate Sonnert. The turn fell the Kh, which gave Keston some hope, but the river 9s sealed the win for Sonnert and he doubled up to 790,000 chips.

On the very next hand Stanislav Alekhin raised to 32,000 and Chris Elliott made the call. The flop fell 10h-9h-2c and Alekhin bet out 45,000. Elliott made the call. The turn fell the 7c and Alekhin bet enough to put Elliott all-in. Elliott made the call showing 9c-10c for two pair and a flush draw. Alekhin showed Ac-5c for a better flush draw. The river fell the Kc, which completed Alekhins nut flush and Chirs Elliott was the first player eliminated from the Main Event final table. Chris Elliott is our 9th place finisher, taking home £81,450.

Ivan Demidov took the chip lead from John Juanda early on in this event. Demidov reraised a bet from Juanda to 99,000 preflop and Juanda made the call. On the flop of Jh-Jc-6c, Juanda checked to Demidov who bet out 125,000. Juanda check-rased to 314,000 and Demidov called. The turn fell the 8c and Juanda bet out 277,000. Demidov then moved all-in. Juanda folded his hand. After the pot, Demidov was sitting with 1.8 Million in chips.

It was quite a while before our next player would be eliminated. Stanislav Alekhin raised to 42,000 and Tori Hiltunen reraised to 100,000 total. Alekhin then moved all in and Hiltunen made the call. Alekhin held Qs-Qd and Hiltunen held Jd-Jh. The flop missed both players, but the turn came a Queen, and Toni Hiltunen was drawing dead. Toni Hiltunen became our 8th place finisher. £108,600 will be his prize for an outstanding finish.

Two hands later, Ivan Demidov raised to 38,000 and Robin Keston moved all in. Demidov made the call with 9h-9d. Keston showed Ac-8h. The flop fell Kc-10c-4h, giving Keston a backdoor flush draw. The turn made things interesting when the 9c fell. Demidov hit his set, but now Keston could win with any club other than the 4c. The river fell a harmless 6d and Keston was gone. Robin Keston was our 7th place finisher, taking home £135,750.

A few hands later, Ivan Demidov raised to 39,000 and both Scott Fischman and Stanislav Alekhin made the call. The flop fell Jh-Ad-10d. Demidov checked to Fischman, who bet out 45,000. Alekhin then raised to 135,000. Demidov folded and Fischman moved all in. Stanislav called and showed Kh-Qh for broadway. Fischman showed Ac-Qc for top pair and a gutshot straight draw. Fischman had 3 outs for a chop. Unfortunately for Fischman, both the turn and river fell blanks, and Fischman became our 6th place finisher. He will take home £171,950 for his finish.

This is how the chips counts stood after Fischman’s elimination:

Stanislav Alekhin 2,551,000
Ivan Demidov 2,295,000
John Juanda 1,206,000
Daniel Negreanu 896,000
Bengt Sonnert 353,000

Quite a while later, Bengt Sonnert moved all in preflop against Ivan Demidov. Sonnert held Ad-7d and Demidov held Qh-Qd. The flop missed both players, but the turn spiked an Ace for Sonnert. The river missed Demidov and Sonnert doubled up to around a Million in chips. At this point, Daniel Negranu had actually slipped to the short stack position with 811,000 in chips.

Both Negreanu and John Juanda slowly bleed off chips for a while. Juanda ended up losing a sizable pot to Stanislav Alekhin and he ended up dropping down to 600,000 in chips. Negreanu moved down to 398,000. He needed to make a move soon. At this point, players went on their two hour dinner break.

About an hour after players returned from break, John Juanda made a raise to 75,000 and Bengt Sonnert moved all-in. Juanda made the call holding Qh-Qs. Sonnert held Ah-7h. The flop could not have come much lower when the 5s-2d-2c hit the flop. Juanda was in a commanding lead. He had to sweat a little bit on the turn when the 4s hit the board. Now Sonnert had a wheel draw. The river 8c sealed the win for Juanda and he doubled up to 1,359,000 in chips.

Daniel Negranu grinded for quite a while with his short stack. Finally, he was forced to move all in preflop by Stanislav Alekhin. Negreanu held Ac-9h and Alekhin held Jc-Jh. The board missed both players and Daniel Negranu is eliminated in 5th place. He will take home £217,200 for his strong finish. This was Daniel’s third cash at this WSOP Europe. A remarkable finish for a remarkable player.

Bengt Sonnert was the short stack after Negreanu’s elimination and moved all-in preflop for 311,000 against Stanislav Alekhin. Sonnert held Ad-5h, while Alekhin Cardhopper held Ah-8s. The flop made things nearly academic when it fell Ks-10d-8h. The turn of the 3d sealed the deal for Alekhin and Bengt Sonnert finished this Main Event in 4th place. £271,500 will be his prize for his strong finish.

Action will continue on my next post.