#238 - London Journal #5 - It Took a Whole Continent to Bring Jennifer Harman Down

Jennifer Harman, one of the world’s premiere high-stakes poker professionals and holder of two World Series of Poker bracelets, came up just short in her battle to win her third, and the first ever awarded outside the United States. And a battle it was. Thomas Bihl dodged and parried all day and all night - the final table lasted 353 hands according to Pokernews.com and over 14 hours from its 2 PM start - and finally delivered several deadly thrusts with big cards at the right times in the closing hands.

Harman’s aggressiveness seemed to overwhelm Bihl in the flop games and it looked, at the beginning of what ended up being the last level, that she would deliver the coup d’ grace in the first 16 hands. Jennifer had as many as 800,000 of the 1.05 million chips and Thomas had to rally to get to 350,000 before beginning play after the break at 3:26 AM. When Jennifer brought her trademark aggressiveness, Thomas didn’t wilt, raising her out of some of the pots and calling her down in others. Unlike previous rounds, he gained chips during hold ‘em and Omaha and took over the lead during the ante games.

The end came at 4:19 AM. The bar staff in the Shadow Bar, home of the final table, had left and Jeffrey Pollack and Ty Stewart were mixing and delivering drinks. (I decided not to press my luck by asking Pollack, who I finally met for the first time tonight, to whip me up a dacquiri.) They were back to hold ‘em, and Jennifer Harman got the last of her chips in after the turn with two-pair, tens and sevens. Thomas Bihl, however, had an open-ended straight draw and a spade to go with the three on the board. The river card, the six of diamonds, made him the winning straight, and brought history of several kinds to his doorstep: his first bracelet; the first World Series of Poker Europe bracelet; victory in one of the longest final tables in World Series of Poker history; victory in an event that averaged nearly one bracelet per player (Jeffrey Pollack told me about 98 bracelets among the 105 in the field); victory over a final table that included Kirk Morrison’s overwhelming chip advantage when 4-handed and 3-handed play began; and victory over Chris Ferguson and Jennifer Harman, each among the most versatile players alive in tournament and high-stakes cash-game poker respectively.

Through the endless twilight, I saw Jennifer Harman down to the felt on a couple occasions, showing the veteran professional’s faculty for patiently getting her last chips in with the right cards. At a break when she was still the smallest stack at the final table, I said to her, “I don’t know if you can win this Jennifer, but you sure seem hard to bust.”

“Maybe no one will be able to do it,” she said, and I believed it. She played great and lost her lead in a series of big hands to Bihl, but once again got her case chips in right. On that one last occasion, however, it just didn’t work out for her in the end.

Congratulations to Thomas Bihl, who displayed all the qualities of a champion and as a native of Germany affiliated with Betfair.com, a sponsor of the World Series of Poker Europe, an appropriate winner of the first World Series of Poker Europe bracelet. And congratulations as well to Jennifer Harman, whose £40,000 consolation prize may not be enough to buy in to her regular game at the Bellagio. They say that no one remembers who finishes second. And Jennifer herself told me last fall, “I don’t think I’m a good tournament player.”

But I know otherwise.