Barry Shulman Wins the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event

The World Series of Poker Europe main event has done it again, producing one of the most memorable final tables of the year. Card Player publisher Barry Shulman (pictured right) won the WSOP Europe main event during the early hours of the morning in London on Oct. 2. He was awarded £801,603 and a WSOP gold bracelet after beating Daniel Negreanu in a heads-up match wherein Shulman came back from a chip-deficit multiple times to capture one of the most prestigious titles in poker. Shulman grew his career tournament winnings to $2,876,926 and he won his second gold bracelet. Shulman scored his first bracelet in 2001, when he won a $1,500 seven-card stud eight-or-better event at the WSOP.

Negreanu took home £495,589, which makes him the all-time leader in tournament poker winnings. The final table was action-packed and featured many top professionals, including six players who had previously earned gold bracelets (Shulman, Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Chris Bjorin, Praz Bansi, and Matt Hawrilenko) as well as two November Nine finalists (James Akenhead and Antoine Saout). Speaking of the November Nine, Barry’s son Jeff Shulman will head into the upcoming WSOP main event final table in fourth chip position. The father and son have already made history by each making a WSOP main event final table in the same year, and in one month’s time the poker world will see if they can set a family record that would likely never be broken by capturing both main event titles in the same year.

Here are the final results for the 2009 WSOP Europe main event:

1: Barry Shulman — £801,603
2: Daniel Negreanu — £495,589
3: Praz Bansi — £360,887
4: Jason Mercier — £267,267
5: Markus Ristola — £200,367
6: Chris Bjorin — £150,267
7: Antoine Saout — £114,228
8: Matt Hawrilenko — £87,074
9: James Akenhead — £66,533

Here are the elimination hands from the final table:

James Akenhead Eliminated in Ninth Place (£66,533)

Chris Bjorin raised to 85,000 preflop, and James Akenhead (pictured left) reraised all in for 500,000. Daniel Negreanu then reraised all in over the top of Akenhead, which induced Bjorin to fold A-J exposed. The two remaining players then revealed their hands:

Akenhead: A Q
Negreanu: K K

Board: J 6 4 9 Q

Akenhead was eliminated in ninth place, and Negreanu grew his stack to 1,578,000.

Matt Hawrilenko Eliminated in Eighth Place (£87,074)

Barry Shulman raised preflop, and Matt Hawrilenko (pictured right) moved all in. Shulman made the call, and they flipped over their cards:

Hawrilenko: J 7
Shulman: A Q

Board: 10 3 3 6 8

Hawrilenko was eliminated in eighth place, and Shulman grew his stack.

Antoine Saout Eliminated in Seventh Place (£114,228)

Antoine Saout (pictured left) moved all in preflop, and Daniel Negreanu called. Their cards:

Negreanu: A Q
Saout: 5 5

Board: 10 8 4 2 7

Saout was eliminated in seventh place, and Negreanu continued to build his stack to challenge the chip leaders.

Chris Bjorin Eliminated in Sixth Place (£150,267)

Chris Bjorin (pictured right) moved all in preflop, and Daniel Negreanu made the call. Their cards:

Negreanu: A Q
Bjorin: A J

Board: K 10 9 3 9

Bjorin was eliminated, and Negreanu watched his stack climb north of 3 million.

Markus Ristola Eliminated in Fifth Place (£200,367)

Daniel Negreanu raised to 100,000 under the gun preflop, and Markus Ristola reraised all in. Negreanu made the call, and they flipped over their cards:

Ristola: K 10
Negreanu: A 5

Board: Q 8 6 K A

Negreanu won the hand to continue a dominant stretch at the final table, while Ristola was eliminated in fifth place.

Jason Mercier Eliminated in Fourth Place (£267,267)

Daniel Negreanu raised under the gun, and Barry Shulman made the call from the button. Jason Mercier (pictured right) moved all in, and Negreanu called. Shulman got out of the way, and the two remaining players flipped over their cards:

Mercier: 7 7
Negreanu: 9 9

Board: K J 3 Q 3

Mercier was eliminated in fourth place on the hand, and Negreanu jumped into the chip lead with 4,765,000.

Praz Bansi Eliminated in Third Place (£360,887)

Praz Bansi (pictured left) moved all in from the button, and Daniel Negreanu made the call from the small blind. Their cards:

Negreanu: A Q
Bansi: Q 2

Board: 8 4 4 J 6

Bansi was eliminated in third place, and Negreanu increased his chip lead to 6,180,000 heading into heads-up play with Barry Shulman.

Barry Shulman Wins the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event (£801,603)

Penultimate Hand of the Tournament:

Daniel Negreanu (pictured left) had pulled back to even in the heads-up final, and taken a small lead when the biggest hand of the tournament took place. With a flop of J 8 5 sitting on the table, Barry Shulman bet 300,000 and Daniel Negreanu raised to 900,000. Shulman reraised all in, and Negreanu made the call. Their cards:

Negreanu: Q J
Shulman: A A

Turn and River: J A

Negreanu made three jacks on the turn, but it was topped when a third ace hit for Shulman on the river. Shulman doubled up to 8 million, and Negreanu fell to 2 million.

Final Hand of the Tournament:

A devastated Negreanu moved the last of his chips in preflop, and Shulman made the call. Their cards:

Shulman: 10 10
Negreanu: 4 4

Board: K 10 2 3 Q

Negreanu was eliminated in second place, and he will take home £495,589 in prize money (making him the all-time tournament poker money leader). Shulman wins the 2009 WSOP Europe main event and he takes home the top prize of £801,603 along with the gold bracelet. Shulman now holds two gold bracelets for his career.

18 Comments

 

boston_jeff
1 month ago

Nothing about the a5 vs. aa hand. herm.

 

 

CardPlayerAdmin
1 month ago

You can find the A-5 vs. A-A hand in the live updates section for the tournament here: http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-tournaments/2656-2009-wsop-europe-london/18784/live-updates. Refer to the update titled "Tournament Update (Level 29) -- Heads-Up Action"

 

 

SevenKidsPoppy
1 month ago

Congratulations, Barry!

And congratulations, Daniel -- a river away from victory!

 

 

mtfr56
1 month ago

wow. I guess even the best get rivered on occasion, but he was ahead to start. congrats to both.

 

 

f1v3h34d
1 month ago

Yea! Negreanu pretty much had it in the bag hours before the final hand. Shoving on flop with aces and Barry insta calling with a flush draw..... pooooop :( Feel for ya danny boy! ....3rd time lucky though ey ;)

 

 

Richenough
1 month ago

Daniel can go to his sailor boys for comfort... Congrats to Barry Schulman!! Another defeat to the small ball technique...

 

 

kcabrozar
1 month ago

The better player lost. And if you've been around Barry Schulman, you know he's one of the biggest jerks in poker. No justice.

 

 

kong11
1 month ago

Thanks Barry for some great play. The results prove that all the money and Fame need not be wasted on the young.

 

 

boston_jeff
1 month ago

I know I can find it, I saw it. The fact that it isn't mentioned in the article is a bit lame. Barry seems like a dink and he had to suck out brutally to win, so yeah, the best player and the best man did not win. They were both playing small ball btw.

 

 

f1rstday
1 month ago

boston - you do realize that they got all the money in with barry having aces, and danielk having one pair (jacks), and THEN daniel hit one of his five outs on the turn to make trips jacks. Barry did hit a two-outer to redraw out on daniel, but when the money went in in the biggest pot of the tournament, Barry had the best of it.

 

 

JulioRodriguez
1 month ago

f1rstday -- boston_jeff was talking about a different hand, where Barry's nut flush draw came in to crack Daniel's pocket aces.

 

 

brunell4070
1 month ago

of course they wont show the AA vs A5 hand where barry INSTA calls with a flush draw. This is his site, cant make him look bad! : )

 

 

xizal
1 month ago

That AA vs A5 hand was terrible IMO because Daniel should have known he had zero fold equity in that spot making his shove a big mistake regardless of the result but all credit to him for recovering so well.

The QJ vs AA hand was again terrible but also sort of understandable. Daniel gambled and his gamble did not have a happy ending. That's poker right? :)

Barry should be commended especially because it must have been so difficult to play heads up against someone like Daniel so all credit to him for playing his aggressive gambling style and of course for winning the bracelet!

 

 

klpicktown
1 month ago

"The father and son have already made history by each making a WSOP main event final table in the same year, and in one month’s time the poker world will see if they can set a family record that would likely never be broken by capturing both main event titles in the same year."

.....ummm....hey brunson's quit trying?????

 

 

brunell0407
1 month ago

xizal, fold equity? Folding should never come across your mind in this situation, heads up with big blinds. Heads up with aces in that spot you are begging to get the money in, he was a good favorite. And about the queen jack hand, there were multiple times in this tournament where barry pushed allin, called allin, with a draw, so i can understand that call. risky? maybe, but terrible? Definitely not.

 

 

ucsbhustler
1 month ago

nice

 

 

Richenough
1 month ago

In heads up play, going for draws and calling with top pair is hardly ever wrong when you opponent could be bluffing you with a smaller pair. ~~~ HEY EVERYONE!! GO READ AND STUDY THE DIFFERENCE IN HEADS-UP PLAY vs a 6 handed or 9 handed table...~~~~~~

 

 

robtr3
1 month ago

@klpicktown: I can't imagine the Brunsons aren't trying, but they are one of a very few duos formidable enough to be worth mentioning as possibilities to make that happen (there's Sebok and Greenstein; beyond that I can't think of any). To pick one player to make the final table in either main event is a longshot in itself; to pick two, even with two "main events" at which to qualify, is staggering to say the least (with or without Doyle being well into his 70's).

@f1rstday: Actually, Barry hit a one-outer, not two!

Lots of healthy debate on the merits of this or that play; frankly, I'd like to see this final table rate "Instant Classic" status on ESPN, especially with heads-up play being as exciting as it was!

 

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