WSOPE 2008 is in the books
All things must come to an end, and for Johan Juanda there was a gruelling 22 hours final table marathon before he finally took down the WSOPE Main Event gold bracelet. But there's been nothing gruelling about the bwin Team WSOPE 2008 experience - rather a fabulous long run of fun, thrill and excitement. The best poker experience possible, awesome food at fancy restaurants, parties at extravagant clubs, good shows, great hospitality, interesting tours around London, and foremost, remarkable people and new friends.
WSOPE winner John Juanda next to Speedzebre
The Empire Casino in London was a splendid venue for the tournament, and it offered great opportunities for the team members and their friends and family to rail the poker action. The nearby bar also added a dimension, making all of tournament days a true poker feast. It was with great excitement we all followed demach AA to his £25k cash and well deserved 32nd place. We'll neither forget Speedzebres heroic effort, as he almost made it all the way but fell short on the bubble, so close, so close.
Celebrating dematch AA’s great cash
Speedzebre knocking out Scotty Nguyen. Something to tell the grand children about, baby!
Billybillard from Canada decided to extend his first ever visit in Europe by stopping by Team veteran Wieringen in Germany, whom he befriended during previous Team events.
Ah, the sunshine. How’d guess that London could be this sunny in October?
Surf’n'turf, anyone?
Up in the London Eye…
…which obviously holds a fab view over London
The grand tour around London
Final Table of the WSOPE 2008
Even if the WSOPE is at an end for our fabulous team this time, the excitement and adventures haven't quite ended yet.
First off, the Final Table is set and the action is about to commence at any moment now. We've seen John Juanda playing first class poker through out the tournament, seated next to our Team member dematch AA on day 2 and rubbing shoulders with Speedzebre during day 3. Second in chips is Stanislav Alekhin from Russia, who seems to be a the position to really jolt the table. Negreanu was chip leader early on and slipped back quite a bit during day 2, but has now worked himself back up to equal stacks with Ivan Demidov, both of whom will have a good shot at the money. Ivad Demidov, for those who think the name rings a bell, is currently most known for being part of the “November Nineâ€, ie a finalist for the WSOP 2008.
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
Secondly, the awesome Team spirit doesn't just go away because dematch AA cashed in his grand pay cheque. There have been two days of celebrations for our French hero, including a selection of what London has to offer such as dinners, drinks, a musical, late night poker and even a bit of football. The Team is taking a day of rest today, eager to catch the Final Table action, before we set off on a day of surprise activities planned for tomorrow.
Obst1444 and soerenjena trying out an English Pub
gbpoker, Billybillard and Kristian
JK2718 showed us all who's the true poker pro in the bunch, beating the Team as well as bloggers (now that's a feat!) in a late night poker tournament. OBST1444 came in second after a tough heads up with JK, and incauda's wife in third. Perhaps it's her turn to win a package for the next Team Live Event, and place her husband on the rail?
dematch AA cheering for Mrs incauda
The Team about to enjoy the musical Billy Elliot at the remarkable Victoria Palace Theatre
What's a visit to England without some proper football? The Team got to see Arsenal defeating Porto 4-0 in the Champions League. An amazing atmosphere at the Stadium! Photo: Marc Aspland/The Times
dematch bows out £25,340 richer
SyndromS congratulating dematch AA
The bwin Team's WSOPE has come to a close, and this time it's a happy ending. dematch AA, still short stacked, went all-in with QJ and was insta-called by Daniel Negreanu with AJ. The flop, turn and river were of no help and our Frenchman made his way to the rail, still grinning madly, finishing in 32nd place and £25,340 (€32,027) richer. It was an incredible feat by our man, who had lost 70% of his stack right before the bubble on a coin flip. We feared the worst but he hung on and hung on. Following that beat, play suddenly stopped and all attention was drawn to the feature tv table. It seems that there were 3 players all-in... the hand played out and sent 2 players to rail, ensuring everyone else a money finish. Cue huge cheering from the rest of the bwin Team, watching from the rail. dematch AA could hardly believe it and punched the air with his fist. There was still time for him to be moved to the feature table, sitting between Daniel Negreanu and Mike Matusow. He clung on for a few more hands, despite holding just 15,000 chips. He even doubled up after hitting a 3 outer, much to Negreanu's amusement. It was a short reprieve though, and our hero bowed out in the next hand to Negreanu himself.
Wow. I'm still shaking from all the excitement. It's time for the Team to hit London Town to celebrate now, but I'll be back later with a photo recap of the day. Over and out!
dematch AA calling home. Good news dear!
incauda, Obst1444, Kristian, JK2718 and Billybillard cheering for dematch AA and Speedzebre
Billybillard and Mrs. incauda comforting Speedzebre
Obst1444 and JK2718
PAJAPATAK1, his wife and SyndromS
