2014 WSOP November Nine: Sweden's Martin Jacobson Rides Day 1 Chip Lead to Final Table
“It feels incredible to make it this far in such a big and prestigious tournament … this is probably my biggest achievement so far.” — Martin Jacobson.
Martin Jacobson is one of poker’s most consistent players, and he proved that in the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event when he finished Day 1a as the chip leader and rode it all the way to the November Nine. Only two other players — Joe Cada and Ben Lamb — have done that since the November Nine concept was introduced in 2008.
Originally from Stockholm, Sweden, Jacobson now makes London his home base as he travels the globe for his trade. Since 2008, Jacobson has amassed over $4.8 million in tournament winnings, not including the money he’ll earn from his deep run in the 2014 WSOP Main Event.
Jacobson, who currently sits second on Sweden’s all-time money list behind Chris Bjorin, first appeared on the poker scene when he finished third in the 2008 European Poker Tour Budapest €4,350 Main Event for €197,904. Less than a year later, he would finish runner-up to fellow Swede Ragnar Astrom in the World Poker Tour Venice €4,400 Main Event for €238,840.
Jacobson continued to have success on the European front, which included two runner-up finishes on the EPT. The first came in August 2010, when he placed second to Toby Lewis in the EPT Vilamoura Main Event for €297,985. The second came in January 2011, when he finished behind Lucien Cohen in the EPT Deauville Main Event for €560,000.
Jacobson’s other EPT highlights include fourth in the 2011 EPT Berlin for €230,000 and 10th in the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event for $101,000.
As far as the WSOP is concerned, Jacobson’s first cash came in 2009 when he finished eighth in a $1,500 no-limit hold’em event for $65,486. Amazingly, his second WSOP cash was also a final-table appearance when he took fourth in another $1,500 event a year later, good for $183,345. In 2012, Jacobson final tabled Event #5: €10,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold’em at the WSOP Europe, ultimately finishing seventh for €42,094, and then in 2013 he placed sixth in the $111,111 One Drop High Roller for $807,427, his largest career cash. Of course, he’ll have a shot of besting that come November.
“It’s already affected my life a little bit just by making the final table,” Jacobson told PokerNews. “There’s a lot of money up top, and the payout structure is kind of flat from here, so that is definitely something you need to take into consideration.”
As previously mentioned, the Swede managed to ride his Day 1 chip lead all the way to Day 7, and according to him he was never all in for his tournament life during that time and finished each day with a top-30 stack. If you recall, Jacobson finished Day 1a as the chip leader with 200,100, and on Day 2, he brought that up to 342,700, good for 21st of 1,864 advancing players. On Day 3, Jacobson increased his stack to 721,500, putting him 29th of 746.
Jacobson’s consistency continued on Day 4 when he finished with 1.594 million — good for 18th of 291 — and again on Day 5 when he finished 14th of 79 with 3.925 million. Finally, Day 6 saw Jacobson return to the chip lead when he bagged up 22.335 million to finish as the big stack amongst the final 27 players. Jacobson lost a bit on Day 7 and ultimately finished with 14.9 million, putting him in eighth place at the final table. Interestingly, his chip position had implications off the felt.
As Rich Ryan explained in his latest Five Thoughts piece, Team Media had Jacobson in Daniel Negreanu’s $25K Fantasy League. If Jacobson finished sixth in chips, they would break even, and if he finished fifth in chips or better they would profit. That didn’t happen though, and Ryan suggests it may be because of a small mistake at the start of the unofficial final table. Check out what he had to say by clicking here.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we follow Jacobson and the other 2014 November Niners leading up to the WSOP Main Event final table in November.
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