American grabs WSOP's European poker crown

The European 2008 World Series of Poker final table took a record 484 hands to decide a champion and, for the first time ever, an American player has captured the continental crown.

Here's the first offical report from the WSOP that played out the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square, London.

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Official Report

WSOPE Event 4

WSOP Gold Bracelet Event: 59

No-Limit Hold'em

Buy-In: £10,000 ($18,400)

Number of Entries: 362

Total Net Prize Pool: £3,620,000 ($6,660,079)

Number of Places Paid: 36

First Place Prize: £868,800 ($1,598,587)

2 September- 3 October 2008

Final Tournament Notes:

The 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event champion is John Juanda.

Clocking in at a seemingly infinite 19 hours and 10 minutes, this was the longest final table in the 39-year history of the World Series of Poker. Measured in time from start to finish, the duration of this "final nine" exceeded the mind-numbing 16-hours played in the $1,500 buy-in Razz championship, won by O'Neil Longson (29 June 2005).

This means that the previous record was shattered by three hours and ten minutes. The nine finalists in this event took their seats and started play at 1:23 pm. The final hand was not dealt until 10:32 am the following day. (Note: The two-hour dinner break was not factored into the length of play)

This final table lasted 484 hands. This mark obliterated the previous record set during the legendary duel between the late Chip Reese and Andy Bloch, which occurred in the 2006 $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. championship (14 July 2006). That final table lasted a whopping 354 hands according to the official logs recorded at the time. Hence, this finale broke the record by 130 hands!

The length of play exceeded the longest hold'em final table in history by about 4.5 hours. The previous record was set at the 2005 Main Event finale, won by Joe Hachem (15 July 2005), which lasted 14.5 hours.

Juanda collected £868,800 for first place, which is equal to about $1,598,587 in US currency.

John Juanda is a 37-year-old professional poker player from Las Vegas, NV. He now owns four WSOP gold bracelets. His last WSOP victory came back in 2003.

· This was Juanda's 45th career cash at the WSOP. It was also his 23rd final table appearance.

· Juanda was born in Indonesia. He was a teenager when he arrived in the United States. He earned his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University. He received his MBA from the University of Seattle.

· Juanda has won many other major poker tournaments, most notably the 2005 Aussie Millions $100,000 buy-in poker challenge, and the 2001 World Poker Open Main Event (and numerous others events). He has now accrued over $8 million in career lifetime earnings.

· Juanda arrived at the final table as the chip leader. He lost the lead a few times, but remained thoroughly confident throughout the grueling marathon match. At Juanda's lowest point, he was down by a 7 to 1 margin during heads-up play. However, the veteran poker pro never gave up and won the victory.

· Juanda drank English breakfast tea throughout the marathon match. When asked how many cups of tea he consumed, Juanda half-jokingly replied, "about 80."

· When Juanda was finally interviewed by ESPN's Norman Chad, the popular television analyst asked the new poker champion "So, how easy was this victory?"

· Juanda becomes the first American player in history to win a WSOP gold bracelet at WSOP Europe.

· Juanda was asked about having to wait five years between WSOP wins. He replied, "For the last few years, it has been very frustrating not to win a gold bracelet."

· In his post-interview comments, Juanda praised Russian and Scandinavian players in particular for their ascendency as competitors. "It is not as easy as it used to be," he remarked.

· Two out of the top three finishers were Russian players. The topic which shall indisputably arise in post-WSOP Europe discussions is the emergence of Russian poker players upon the global poker scene. Indeed, with the performances of Stanislav Alekhin (2nd) and Ivan Demidov (3rd)), the 2008 WSOPE Main Event was a coming out party, of sorts. While Russian players Alexander Kravchenko, Yevegeny Kafelnikov, and Ralph Perry have knocked on the proverbial door in recent years with their WSOP gold bracelet victories, the success not just one, but two Russian-based players in such a formidable field is a clear indication that the Russian Federation is producing world-class poker talent, equal to (and perhaps superior than) many other nations.

· Juanda's victory means that the seven WSOPE tournaments played so far (2007-2008) have been won by players from the United States, Italy, Germany, Norway, Afghanistan, and Denmark (2).

· The runner up was Stanislav Alekhin, from Moscow, Russia. At age 23, he was the youngest player of the final nine. Prior to making poker his full-time vocation, Alekhin was a full-time student. Had he won this championship, it would have been his first major tournament victory. Remarkably, this was Alekhin's first appearance at a live major tournament final table.

· This was the first time in WSOP history that two Russian nationals were at a final table.

· The tournament attracted 362 players. This is the same number of players who entered the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event.

· Although the numerical turnout was identical, the top prize of £1,598,587 was slightly lower than last year's first-place payout. This was due to an adjustment to the payout structure which gave lower finishers a greater percentage of the total prize pool. This is referred to a a flattened-out pay structure. For example, the 36th-place finisher this year earned £25,340 compared to last year, which paid only £27,150. The other prize money in between also increased over last year's amounts.

· Three of the nine players at the final table were former WSOP gold bracelet winners, who collectively held nine previous titles. By contrast, last year's WSOPE finale had no previous winners.

· Ivan Demidov took third place. In doing so, he established a poker record that might never be broken. With his WSOP Europe final table appearance, Demidov becomes the first player in history to make the final table of both the WSOP Main Event and the WSOP Europe Main Event – within a single year. Demidov ranks second going into the "November Nine" finale, to be played 9-10 November.

· Swedish poker pro Bengt Sonnert was eliminated in fourth place.

· Four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu finished in fifth place. Negreanu was one of the tournament's early chip leaders. He arrived at the final table fifth in chips, and went out in the lateral bust order based on his starting stack.

· Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Scott Fischman finished in sixth place.

· The highest-finishing local player was Robin Keston, from London. He ended up as the seventh-place finisher.

· Toni Hiltunen attempted to become the first Finnish-born poker player in WSOP history. However, he ended up going out in eighth place.

· Chris Elliott (Alloa, UK) finished in ninth place, an impressive feat considering that he ranked 176th in the chip count when there were 179 players remaining.

· Three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Mike Matusow finished in 18th place.

· Eight-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Erik Seidel finished in 19th place.

· Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Mel Judah finished in 21st place.

· Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Josh Arieh finished in 33rd place.

· James Keys (Bury St. Edmunds, UK) is the only player to have cashed in both WSOPE Main Events. Last year he took ninth place. This year, he finished 36th.

· Defending champion Annette Obrestad played in this event, but was eliminated near the end of the first day.

· Nikolay Evdakov, from Moscow, Russia played in this event, but did not cash. In 2008, Evdakov shattered the record for "most cashes in a single year" at the WSOP, when he finished in-the-money ten times (the previous record was eight cashes). With all in-the-money finishers now determined for 2008, Evdakov's record officially ends with ten cashes.

· The buy-in amount for WSOPE Event 4 was £10,000, equivalent to about $18,400 (USD) at the current exchange rate.

· The Main Event was played over six days. The entire duration of the tournament lasted nearly 28 levels, which was 56 hours and 25 minutes of actual playing time.

· Two-thirds of the "November Nine" played in the WSOPE Main Event. These six players included: Ivan Demidov, Peter Eastgate, Kelly Kim, Craig Marquis, Scott Montgomery, and David "Chino" Rheem.

· On Day 1-A, two of the November Nine finalists sat side-by-side, in what was a random seat draw. Craig Marquis played against Scott Montgomery in a preliminary battle about six seeks before they face each other again in the world championship.

· Players reached the prize money (36th place) in the middle of Level 14. Stephen Ladowsky (Toronto, Canada) was the unfortunate "bubble" finisher. He finished in 37th-place, just one spot out of the money. Ladowsky's misfortune cost him £25,340, equal to about $45,191 at the current exchange rate.

· Americans held the top four spots in the standings at the end of Day One. They continued their good fortune on Day Two, as they held all of the top five chip positions. Americans remained in the top four spots after Day Three. When the final table began, American player John Juanda was the chip leader, with Russian player Stanislav Alekhin in second place.

· The start of Day Two chip leader was Andy Bloch (Las Vegas, NV USA). Murmurs began to circulate that this might be Bloch's much-anticipated breakthrough victory, after making eight final tables (but no wins). However, he ended up busting out in 23rd place.

· This tournament is classified as "WSOPE Event 4," as well as "WSOP Event 59" as it is the 59th WSOP gold bracelet event of the 2008 calendar year. The only yet-undecided event still remaining is the Main Event finale, which concludes in Las Vegas 9-10 November, 2008.

· World Series of Poker Europe Presented by Betfair included the final four gold bracelet events of the 2008 season. WSOP events 1-55 were played in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) from 28 May through 14 July (plus the November finale). Events 56-59 were played in London, England from 19 September through 2 October.

· All WSOPE results are included in official WSOP records -- including all-time wins, cashes, final table appearances, etc.

· This marks the second consecutive year of the WSOPE Presented by Betfair. In 2007, three WSOP gold bracelet events were played in London. Hence, seven WSOP gold bracelet events have been played outside the United States.

· The tournament attracted six former world champions, including Doyle Brunson (1976/1977), Phil Hellmuth (1989), Scotty Nguyen (1998), Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (2000), Carlos Mortensen (2001), and Joe Hachem (2005).

News Added: 03 October, 2008

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