My completely biased goal of seeing James Akenhead win the title for Team Full Tilt before turning his attention to the big bracelet in November was shot down in flames early. Akenhead busted in 9th but still accomplished a fantastic feat. That left just Matt Hawrilenko as the last Full Tilt pro standing in the field, and out he goes in 8th place. That left me “watching” a 7 handed table for the WSOPE Main Event title and I could be completely unbiased and professional.

It would be great to see a huge run by the other member of the November Nine, Antoine Saout, for a great story leading into that final table. Saout was out in 7th. Quiet Chris Bjorin came to the table with 2 bracelets and nearly $4,000,000 in career earnings. He doesn’t get a lot of press outside the poker media, this time he walked out the door in 6th place. Markus Ristola was a complete unknown to me, apparently an up and coming Finnish player. Out in 5th, thus shrinking the field to a level easily followed and no more hurried research necessary.

All four remaining players previously won WSOP bracelets. Daniel Negreanu with 4 titles. Jason Mercier, Barry Shulman, and Praz Bansi with one each. It was the long fought battle everyone expected. Last year’s marathon heads up match between John Juanda and Stanislav Alekhin went into the morning, this one came damn near sunrise itself. Mercier dropped in 4th and Bansi followed in 3rd leaving a monster match between Shulman and Kid Poker. There were some incredible swings throughout play and I would just butcher the re-telling of it if I tried. I was following along with the PokerNews.com coverage, you can find all of it here.

In the end Negreanu was unable to overcome a classic suck-resuck when he was just a lonely river card away from the winning the WSOPE Main Event title. That bracelet will now belong to Cardplayer Media mogul Barry Shulman who hopes the luck will rub off on his son Jeff when he begins play with the November Nine.

This was a great run up to the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event final table coming in just a few short weeks. Standby for more coverage of the November Nine as we get closer.

No word yet on whether Barry Shulman will follow his son’s example with the bracelet and “throw it in the garbage”.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

Barry Shulman wins 2009 WSOP-E Main Event

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2. 2008 World Series of Poker Europe – John Juanda wins Main Event
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John Juanda wins 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event
Photo credit: PokerNews.com

John Juanda began the WSoP-E Main Event final table with the chip lead and finished the evening as the last man standing. Juanda captured his 4th World Series of Poker bracelet along with the £868,800 first place money. It was a final table that required endurance along with remarkable poker skill as the play lasted 22 hours with head’s up play alone lasting 7 hours.

Scott Fischman had an up-and-down day finishing the day in 6th for a £171,950 payday when his AQ was outdrawn by KQ.

Overall it was a successful Main Event for the Full Tilt pros with 7 players making the money, two players at the final table and Juanda taking it down for Team Full Tilt.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2008 World Series of Poker Europe – John Juanda wins Main Event

Related posts:

1. 2008 World Series of Poker Europe – Day 3 Full Tilt Pros
2. 2008 World Series of Poker Europe – Full Tilt pros making noise
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John Juanda ends Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Europe near the top

Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Europe ended with Full Tilt pros making a big run at the WSoP-E Bracelet and the £868,800 first place prize money. Play finished with just 25 players remaining and 7 of those are Tilters leading with John Juanda heading into Day 4 third in chips. The Main Event started with 362 and only 24 more to go til glory. The money bubble burst with the top 36 paying, everyone is guaranteed £28,960. The day will begin with the blinds at 2000/4000 500 ante.

Full Tilt pros remaining, position in the field and chip count:

3rd – John Juanda – 580,000
8th – Brian ’sbruby’ Townsend – 355,000
10th – Brandon Adams – 309,000
12th – Andy Bloch – 301,000
13th – Scott Fischman – 265,000
19th – Erik Seidel – 133,000
20th – Mike Matusow – 125,000

Chip counts courtesy of the lovely Change100 and the PokerNews crew

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2008 World Series of Poker Europe – Day 3 Full Tilt Pros

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Andy Bloch begins WSoP-E Day 3 atop the leaderboard

Full Tilt pros Andy Bloch and Eric Seidel began the World Series of Poker Europe Day 3 sitting atop a leaderboard that was seeing plenty of action from other FTP pros in the field.  Brian “sbrugby” Townsend, John Juanda and Brandon Adams are also in the running with large stacks in the event.  The WSoP-E has a structure that will allow the players plenty of room to make moves and make their way into the money, the final table and eventual winner.

The 2008 World Series of Poker Europe is a smaller version of the Las Vegas version with only 4 events but it still drew a large number of pros.  It has been a successful series for the Full Tilt pros.  Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer made the final table of the H.O.R.S.E event.  Max Pescatori and Chris Ferguson made the final table of the Pot Limit Omaha tournament with Joe Beevers and Allen Cunningham finishing in the top 18.

As Day 3 of the Main Event continues on, Full Tilt pros continue to make their way to the top of chip counts.  Mike Matusow, Erik Seidel and John Juanda are sitting with top 5 stacks.  Scott Fischman, Josh Arieh and Brandon Adams are still making noise.

For regular live updates, please check out Michael Craig at the Full Tilt Poker Blog as he follows along with the action.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2008 World Series of Poker Europe – Full Tilt pros making noise

Related posts:

1. 2008 World Series of Poker Europe – Day 3 Full Tilt Pros
2. 2008 World Series of Poker Europe – Two Full Tilt pros make the final table
3. 2008 North American Poker Championship Day 3 – Full Tilt pros run good