2009 World Series of Poker Europe

The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants have had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP held circuit events in other locations, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. The inaugural WSOPE, held in 2007, marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas.[1]

Daniel Negreanu topped the all-time WSOP winnings list after coming second in the 2009 WSOPE Main Event

In 2004, Harrah's Casinos purchased the rights to the WSOP label. Harrah's later purchased London Clubs International (LCI). LCI operates three casinos in the London area: Fifty, Leicester Square, and The Sportsman. After the purchase of these casinos, Harrah's decided to expand its WSOP label into Europe.[2] European casinos typically have a different environment than those in the U.S.[2] Jeffrey Pollack, the WSOP Commissioner, indicated that the WSOPE would have a "style and flair that is both unique and appropriate to the setting. So don't be surprised if we require participants to wear blazers at the tables. If James Bond were hosting a poker tournament it may look like the World Series of Poker Europe."[2]

In marketing the WSOPE, Harrah's Casino did not rely upon the reputation of Harrah's or the WSOP alone. On July 5, 2007, Harrah's announced its alliance with England-based Betfair, one of the largest online gaming companies in the world. The agreement, the largest-ever union of an online and offline gaming company, is intended to build on Betfair's European reputation in advertising the WSOPE.[3] Due to changes in U.S. laws, effective in 2007, the WSOP could no longer accept money from online gambling companies. This prevented the WSOP from acknowledging WSOP qualifiers from online events. The WSOPE is not bound by this limitation. The United Kingdom Gambling Act of 2005 allows for legal regulated online poker sites.[4] Furthermore, as the laws that govern the age of gambling differ in England than the U.S., the WSOPE admits younger players. In 2007, one of these younger players, 18-year-old Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad became the youngest player to win a WSOP bracelet event.[5]

The third WSOPE took place between September 17 and October 1, 2009. It consisted of four events held at the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square, London. The first event saw J.P. Kelly emerge as the winner of a less-than-an-hour long heads up battle, overcoming a 3-to-1 chip deficit against Fabien Dunlop and earning his second World Series of Poker bracelet of the year. Kelly won most of his final chip stack in a flush-over-flush situation, leaving Dunlop with only 1% of chips in play.[6] In the second event, Erik Cajelais easily defeated runner-up Mats Gavatin after entering the heads up phase with an almost 6-to-1 chip lead.[7] The third event saw Finnish Full Tilt Poker pro Jani Vilmunen defeat Howard Lederer, the owner of Full Tilt brand, over the course of a 90-minute-long match with nearly even stacks.[8][9] The Main Event featured a heated battle between Barry Shulman and Daniel Negreanu that lasted over five hours before Shulman eventually eliminated Negreanu by hitting a three-of-a-kind on the river. However, even in second place, Negreanu still topped the All Time Money List, the list of WSOP players ranked by total winnings.[10]

Key
* Elected to the Poker Hall of Fame
(#/#) This denotes a bracelet winner. The first number is the number of bracelets won in 2009. The second number is the total number of bracelets won. Both numbers represent totals as of that point during the tournament. Danny Oakley is a Tightarse
Place What place each player finished
Name The player who made it to the final table
Prize (£) The amount of money, in British Pounds (£), awarded for each finish at the event's final table

Results

Event 1: £1,000 No Limit Hold'em
J.P. Kelly on the final table of Event 1
  • 4-Day Event: September 17, 2009 to September 21, 2009
  • Number of buy-ins: 608
  • Total Prize Pool: £608,000
  • Number of Payouts: 63
  • Winning Hand: Q♦ J♥
  • Reference:[11]
Final Table
Place Name Prize
1stJ.P. Kelly (2/2)£136,803
2ndFabien Dunlop£84,512
3rdAdnan Alshamah£55,468
4thRichard Allen£38,499
5thAnthony Roux£28,181
6thNeil Suarez£21,700
7thWilliam Martin£17,535
8thThor Drexel£14,835
9thJames Tomlin£13,115

Event 2: £2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha
  • 3-Day Event: September 21, 2009 to September 23, 2009
  • Number of buy-ins: 158
  • Total Prize Pool: £395,000
  • Number of Payouts: 18
  • Winning Hand: Q♥ J♦ 9♠ 7♠
  • Reference:[12]
Final Table
Place Name Prize
1stErik Cajelais (1/1)£104,677
2ndMats Gavatin£64,705
3rdRobin Keston£47,858
4thMen Nguyen (0/6)£35,412
5thRichard Gryko£26,619
6thChris Bjorin (0/2)£20,106
7thHoyt Corkins (0/2)£15,302
8thIan Frazer£11,732
9thHoward Lederer (0/2)£9,117

Event 3: £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha
  • 3-Day Event: September 23, 2009 to September 25, 2009
  • Number of buy-ins: 154
  • Total Prize Pool: £770,000
  • Number of Payouts: 18
  • Winning Hand: Q♠ 9♥ 7♥ 10♦
  • Reference:[13]
Final Table
Place Name Prize
1stJani Vilmunen (1/1)£204,048
2ndHoward Lederer (0/2)£126,134
3rdAarno Kiveliö£93,293
4thRoss Boatman£69,030
5thVille Haavisto£51,890
6thDaniel Hindin£39,913
7thRoberto Romanello£29,830
8thJeff Kimber£22,869
9thRobert Williamson III (0/1)£17,772

Event 4: £10,000 No Limit Hold'em
Barry Shulman playing 2008 World Series of Poker Europe
  • 6-Day Event: September 26, 2009 to October 1, 2009
  • Number of buy-ins: 334
  • Total Prize Pool: £3,340,000
  • Number of Payouts: 36
  • Winning Hand: 10♠ 10♣
  • Reference:[14]
Final Table
Place Name Prize
1stBarry Shulman (1/2)£801,603
2ndDaniel Negreanu (0/4)£495,589
3rdPraz Bansi (0/1)£360,887
4thJason Mercier (1/1)£267,267
5thMarkus Ristola£200,367
6thChris Björin (0/2)£150,267
7thAntoine Saout£114,228
8thMatt Hawrilenko (1/1)£87,074
9thJames Akenhead£66,533

References
  1. "Harrah's Set to Launch World Series of Poker Europe". Gaming Business. 2007-02-27. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  2. Warner, Eric (2007-02-27). "Stay classy, London: Jeffrey Pollack on the World Series of Poker Europe". Pokerlistings.com. Poker Listings. Archived from the original on 2009-05-19. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
  3. "Harrah's Selects Betfair.com as 'Presenting Sponsor' of World Series of Poker Europe". PRweb.com. PRweb. 2007-07-05. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  4. World Series of Poker (WSOP) Comes to Europe This Fall Archived 2009-02-19 at the Wayback Machine February 27, 2007. Pokerpages.com. Accessed 2007-07-25
  5. "£10,000 NLHE, Final Table: Annette Obrestad Makes History". Pokernews.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  6. "No-Limit Hold'em (Event 1) – Updates". World Series of Poker Europe. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  7. "Pot Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha (Event 2) – Updates". World Series of Poker Europe. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
  8. "Pot Limit Omaha (Event 3) – Updates". World Series of Poker Europe. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
  9. "Jani Vilmunen". Full Tilt Poker. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
  10. "WSOP Europe Main Event No-Limit Texas Hold'em (Event 4) – Updates". World Series of Poker Europe. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
  11. "No-Limit Hold'em (Event 1)". World Series of Poker Europe. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  12. "Pot-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha (Event 2)". World Series of Poker Europe. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  13. "Pot-Limit Omaha (Event 3)". World Series of Poker Europe. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  14. "WSOP Europe Main Event No-Limit Texas Hold'em (Event 4)". World Series of Poker Europe. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
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