Fabian Quoss Grabs English Poker Open Title for Germany
Fabian Quoss took the English Poker Open crown back to Germany on Tuesday, defeating the international field that traveled to London for a chance to earn a pile of British pounds. Quoss picked up £220,650 and the George trophy for defeating 192 other players in the £3500 + £250 no limit hold'em event.
The nine-handed final table followed three long days of play at Mayfair's Palm Beach Casino. On Monday, 93 survivors battled into the wee hours to determine the top nine. Phil Laak and Thorston Schafer both cashed, and Liv Boeree bested them both with a 12th place finish. Finally Soap Song was eliminated in 10th place to set the final table.
American Stephen Chimelski was one of the shorter stacks to start the day. He looked set for a double up when he got his money in with pocket aces against Quoss' tens. The flop and turn were clean, but a ten spiked on the river to send Chimelski home in ninth place. For his trouble, Chimelski earned £13,600 and a painful bad beat story.
Another American, Salman Behbehani, followed Chimelski out in eighth place for £17,000. He was down to his last few big blinds when he shoved with Qx3x, but the flop brought him no help against ace-high. Mark Norman, a British player who sticks to events on UK soil, was eliminated in seventh place. His big slick was in a pre-flop race against fellow-Brit Andrew Brennan's pocket queens. Norman hit an ace on the flop, but it also brought Brennan a queen. There were no turn or river miracles for Norman, and he left with £23,750.
Brent Lehring was out in sixth place after picking up a pair of fours and running his short stack into Mathew Frankland's pocket kings. Lehring earned £30,550 in his first big cash. Brennan picked up a little life when he stacked Norman, but the extra chips only lasted long enough to get him to fifth place. His pocket nines were a hair ahead of Quoss' AxKx preflop, but the deck had other ideas. By the river, Quoss had quad aces, and Brennan had £40,750 for sixth place.
Felipe Ramos represented Brazil and Team PartyPoker well, but his fight ended in fourth place. He moved all in with Ax6x but couldn't beat Sebastian Crul's pocket sevens. Ramos earned £54,300 and a bit of British pride to bring back to South America. Frankland, who began the final table with the chip lead, was out next in third place, good for £77,400. He got his stack in with Jx8x on a jack-high flop, but Crul's KxJx held to eliminate Frankland.
That left Crul and Quoss heads up for the title. It wasn't long before Crul min-raised his button. Quoss three-bet, and Crul four-bet. Quoss then moved all in, and Crul called to see that his A♣5♣ was dominated by Quoss' A♠Q♦. The board ran out club-free, A♦K♥8♥3♦6♦, and that was the end for Crul. He picked up £129,000 for second place, while Quoss earned £220,650 and the George Trophy for his victory.
Here is a breakdown of the top nine finishers:
1. Fabian Quoss - £220,650
2. Sebastian Crul - £129,000
3. Mathew Frankland - £77,400
4. Felipe Ramos - £54,300
5. Andrew Brennan - £40,750
6. Brent Lehring - £30,550
7. Mark Norman - £23,750
8. Salman Behbehani - £17,000
9. Stephen Chimelski - £13,600
With another year of the English Poker Open in the books, all of the players can now focus on the World Series of Poker Europe taking place in London. You can follow all of the action as it happens, brought to you by the PokerNews Live Reporting Team.
