WSOP Europe -- Three for Three

The World Series of Poker Europe main event has lived a pretty charmed existence so far in London. The top professionals in the world have flocked to it from the start, instantly making it one of the toughest tournament fields of the year. One reason could be the large £10,000 buy-in that has created a handsome prize pool, another could be the intrigue of a new setting in a world-class city. Whatever the reason, the professionals have come, and WSOP Europe has combined with EPT London to create one of the most exciting periods on the poker calendar. The quality of the champions speaks for themselves.

To show just how compelling all three story lines have been, let’s take a look at each WSOP Europe main event winner’s story, with the champion’s name removed for effect.

Year One – 2007

The main event attracted 362 players during its first year and the total prize pool was £3,620,000. Gus Hansen made a deep run in the event, but he bubbled the final table, busting in 10th place. This left a group of young European players to duel for the tournament title, and among them was a 19-year old female from Norway. Still too young to play in U.S. tournaments at the time, the online phenom went on to win the title. She took home the top prize of £1,000,000 and her first WSOP gold bracelet. She captured a few records in the process, becoming the first woman to win a WSOP main event, as well as the youngest player to win a bracelet. She also became an international poker superstar in the process that was crowned the “Queen of Europe” overnight by the poker community.

Her name is Annette Obrestad.

Year Two – 2008

The main event attracted 363 players during its sophomore season and the total prize pool was £3,630,000. The majority of the players that cashed in the event were professionals, and the final table included one of the biggest names in poker in Daniel Negreanu, who finished in fifth place. Possibly more compelling than that was the appearance of a November Nine finalist, Ivan Demidov, who set a precedent by becoming the first player in history to make both WSOP main event final tables in the same year. The fact that he was from Russia and part of an emerging international market didn’t hurt either (PokerStars surely took note). Demidov busted in fourth place, but he gained the confidence that contributed to his runner-up finish in Las Vegas later that year.

The eventual champion was one of the most respected and consistent tournament poker players in the world, who already held three gold bracelets. To win the tournament he had fight for 19 hours and nine minutes at the final table – the longest WSOP final table in history. Action played through the night and into the next morning before he claimed the tournament win worth £868,800 and his fourth gold bracelet.

His name is John Juanda.

Year Three – 2009

The main event attracted 334 players for version 3.0 and the total prize pool was £3,340,000. Once again the majority of players in the event were top professionals and that is reflected by those who cashed in the event, including Doyle Brunson, Men Nguyen, and Yevgeniy Timoshenko. Negreanu made a repeat appearance at the final table, and he was joined by other top professionals Jason Mercier, Chris Bjorin, and Matt Hawrilenko. Six of the final nine players held bracelets.

When Demidov made the WSOP Europe main event final table as a November Nine finalist in 2008 people thought it was something that might never happen again. It took just one year for those critics to be proved wrong. As not one, but two November Nine finalists made the Europe main event final table in 2009. Their names were James Akenhead and Antoine Saout. To make the story line even more gripping, the father of a November Nine finalist made the final table as well. He also held a bracelet, and on top of that he is the publisher of one of the top publications in poker.

Both Akenhead (ninth) and Saout (seventh) failed to finish as high as Demidov, but the father of the November Nine finalist pressed forward to face Negreanu heads up for the title. A long final match ensued and play charged late into the night once again. Just before dawn the November Nine father defeated Negreanu to win a second bracelet, his first main event title, and £801,603 in prize money.

His name is Barry Shulman, publisher of Card Player Magazine, and his son Jeff will enter the 2009 WSOP main event final table on November 7 with 19,580,000 (fourth chip–position). The story of year three is still being written, because if Jeff “Happy” Shulman goes on to win the main event, the story of father and son winning both WSOP main event titles in the same year would become one of the best poker stories in history. ESPN has to be pulling for that story line to come true to boost ratings for the final-table episode, although I’m sure they would be happy with a Phil Ivey win as well.

The reason I took the champion’s name out of each year’s description until the end was to show that the first three WSOP Europe main event story lines have been great at a fundamental, human, and emotional level. The event is batting three for three at producing quality champions and great stories, and a 1.000 batting average is perfect in any sport.