2008 World Series of Poker Europe

£10,000 WSOP Europe Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2008 World Series of Poker Europe

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
k6
Prize
£868,800
Event Info
Buy-in
£10,000
Prize Pool
£3,620,000
Entries
362
Level Info
Level
28
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000

Recent Chip Counts

A smattering of miscellaneous chip counts from the bottom floor:

Andrew Teng -- 17,550
Dustin Sitar -- 16,075
Scotty Nguyen -- 19,100
Doyle Brunson -- 30,000
Philippe Rouas -- 10,750
Stefan Raffay -- 9,900
Jennifer Tilly -- 47,000
James Keys -- 10,100
Surinder Sunar -- 23,975
Phil Laak -- 28,500
Shane Schleger -- 14,300

Veldhuis Eliminated; Hansen Drops to 11.4k

"How did I get involved in this?" asked Gus Hansen, as he considered calling a raise to 8,000 made by Per Hildebrand on a flop showing {K-Clubs} {2-Clubs} {7-Spades}, with about 2,700 in the pot. Lex Veldhuis had moved all of his chips into the middle (7,800) after Hildebrand raised and now the action fell to Hansen; it cost him 6,000 to call and call he did.

Now with 400 in the side pot, the dealer burned and turned the {4-Spades}. Gus then passed the first option to Hildebrand, who immediately moved all in. Just as quickly, Gus folded and a showdown ensued between Hildebrand and Veldhuis:

Hildebrand: {7-Hearts} {7-Diamonds}
Veldhuis: {A-Diamonds} {K-Spades}

The {3-Clubs} that fell on the river made Hansen cringe (presumably because he folded a club draw?), though it had no impact on the fate of Veldhuis, who quietly exited the tournament area.

After the hand, Hildebrand stacked up over 40,000 in chips while Hansen was left with 11,400.

Tags: Alexander VeldhuisGus Hansen

To Trump, or Not to Trump

A tannoy announcement went up outlining a 'super-turbo' sit 'n' go with a £1,000 entry fee for the main event. Jack Effel advertised that this was players' last chance to win a bracelet in 2008.

Another possible reason for the impromptu satellite, however, is the fact the current number of registered players at this year's main event (362) matches last year's on the nose! Clever thinking by the staff, if that is indeed their reasoning behind firing up one last satellite.

Steicke Situation

David Steicke has had his short stack dissolve in front of him, when he ended up all in preflop with {A-?} {J-?} but ran into Julian Thew's {A-?} {Q-?}. A board 'so bricky you could build a house with it' later, and Steicke hit the rail.

Tags: David Steicke

Nik Persuades Caller

Having scoured the tables remaining upstairs for a newsworthy story, and just decided to try to flesh out some preflop reraises and flop wins into something of interest, a genuinely eye-catching hand played out, gathering a few more railbirds to roost around the table.

Theo Jorgensen raised to 600 in early position.
Gary Jones called.
John Kabbaj called.
Sorel Mizzi called.
Nenad Medic called.

Then, Nik Persaud raised out of the small blind by a further 3,000. With lemon-sucking "I've been squeezed" type faces on, they all folded round until just Medic was left as a potential caller. He thought for a while, and made the call.

The flop: {5-Spades} {4-Hearts} {2-Diamonds} Persaud bet out 4,525, leaving himself around 10,000 behind. A pause, and then Medic made the all-in move, called immediately.

Persaud: {Q-Hearts} {Q-Diamonds}
Medic: {5-Hearts} {8-Hearts}

The turn and river were the {A-Spades} {3-Clubs} doubling Persaud up right before the second break and dropping Medic right down. And no, the deuce was definitely a diamond.

Tags: Nenad MedicNik Persaud

Highs & Lows of a Frenchman

"What's the lowest and highest your stack has been?" I asked Nicolas Levi.

"Er... I think 11,000 is my lowest, and I had 15,000 at one point."

"So your highest is 20,000 then," corrected neighbour James Keys with a smirk.

"I've just had lots of missed draws," explained the Frenchman. "I rivered a straight one hand, but my opponent had turned a flush. It got a bit messy because it went check check on the turn."

He may not be prospering chip-wise, but a prop bet with Roland de Wolfe has cushioned the blow. "He took some money off me coin-flipping in Vegas, but I won a prop bet today on when our table would break. Make sure you write that, I want to shame Roland."

French Invasion

On a {6-Hearts}{8-Diamonds}{7-Spades} flop, Frenchman Nicolas Levi called a bet of 3,000 from a fellow countryman, but before we had a chance to reach a turn, Levi's opponent began to show his cards thinking the hand was over. At the last second, he realized the error of his ways, but the {8-Clubs} was revealed to the table nonetheless.

The inevitable roar of "Floor!!!" was called by numerous players, and in trundled tournament director Charlie Cerese, ready to roll up his sleeve and showcase the long arm of the law. "The hand will continue," commanded Cerese, "but when completed, you will be given a time penalty."

"Can I translate that to him, please?" requested Levi, to which Cerese agreed. As they spoke in their native tongue, I resisted the urge to exclaim "Collusion!" and the hand continued where it had left off.

And so, with the ruling made, the dealer dealt out a {3-Spades} turn which led to a bet of 2,500, which Levi flat-called. On the {5-Clubs} river, and with his {8-Clubs} still showing, the Frenchman checked, before folding to a bet of 6,000 from Levi.

As a result, Levi now has around 18,000 in chips and his opponent will start the next level from the sidelines.

Level: 3

Blinds: 150/300

Ante: 0