2014 WSOP November Nine: Felix Stephensen Aims To Stand Up for Norway
“I really hope I can make poker a more accepted sport or profession in Norway, and I’d like to be a good ambassador for the sport … I’ve been doing this for a living for years, so people will see that it’s not all luck, it’s actually something you can be pretty good at and you’ll get results if you work hard.” – Felix Stephensen.
Originally from Oslo, Norway, Felix Stephensen now calls London home. Born on July 22, 1990, Stephensen currently makes his living playing poker. He does so playing primarily online under the screenname “FallAtyourFeet,” and according to online tracking records he is up more than $300,000 since 2011.
Stephensen, who is good friends with fellow Norwegian online pro Ola “no_Ola” Amundsgard, can usually be found at the $25/$50 pot-limit Omaha tables, though he has been known to take shots as high as $200/$400. As such, he has developed a strong reputation and loyal following in the online poker community.
As far as the live realm is concerned, Stephensen had just two cashes on his résumé entering the WSOP Main Event. The first is a 12th-place finish in the 2009 Norwegian Championships £1,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event for £3,585, and the other was a 92nd-place finish in the 2013 European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event for €12,700.
Stephensen traveled to Vegas with friends for the 2014 World Series of Poker and ponied up the $10,000 buy-in to the Main Event. He then swapped seven percent with Amundsgard, who ended up finishing 237th in the tournament for $38,634. Obviously Amundsgard will have a big sweat come November:
Busted 237th, fun while it lasted. Thanks for all support! Obviously rooting for @bucovinas to take it down! GL #WSOPMainEvent
— Ola Amundsgaard (@Odd_Oddsen)
Stephensen’s Main Event journey began on Day 1c, and he only managed to bring his starting stack of 30,000 up to 39,350, which put him 1,237 of the 2,571 surviving players. Day 2 was a little better as he chipped up to 120,800, putting him 634 out of 1,864 players. On Day 3, his stack grew to 362,000 – putting him 185 of 746 – and Day 4 he doubled that to 739,000 – 102 of 291.
On Day 5, Stephensen worked his stack up to 1.355 million, but that was only good for 56th out of the surviving 79 players. Finally, on Day 6, Stephensen got out of the doldrums and managed to amass a respectable stack of 7.74 million, which put him ninth in chips among the final 27 players. That stack allowed Stephensen to not only survive but thrive as he chipped up to 32.775 million, good for second at the final table.
If there was one hand that helped Stephensen solidify his spot in the November Nine, it came in Level 33 (120,000/240,000/40,000) when Mark Newhouse opened for 500,000 from middle position and Tom Sarra Jr called. Bruno Politano came along from the cutoff, and then Stephensen three-bet to 2.25 million from the small blind. Newhouse folded, Sarra four-bet to 6.7 million, and Politano got out of the way. Stephensen then moved all in for 14.64 million and Sarra called off.
Sarra: K♦Q♥
Stephensen: A♠K♠
With nearly 25 million in the pot, the flop came down 8♠9♠A♣. Stephensen paired his ace and picked up the nut flush draw. The 7♥ turn actually left Sarra drawing dead, and the 2♣ river sent him out the door in 15th place for $441,940 while Stephensen took over the chip lead with 27.86 million.
“Not much of a sweat unfortunately, because I really appreciate the sweat, but I guess that’s alright,” Stephensen told PokerNews regarding the hand.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we follow Stephensen and the other 2014 November Niners leading up to the WSOP Main Event final table in November.
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