Annette Orestad became the youngest bracelet winner in world poker history early this morning by conquering the main event at the first annual WSOP Europe Presented hosted by Betfaircom. The 18-year-old Norwegian excelled in the five-day, 10,000-pound unlimited Texas Holdham Championship, outperforming the strongest professional field in European poker history. “I had no idea I would win,” said Obrestad, who will turn 19 in a day. “I’m speechless. I really don’t know what to say.”
“At the end of the day, Europeans dominated the place,” said WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollock. “But this is the beginning of a new tradition for the Poker World Series and for the European and global poker communities. WSOP Europe will offer more exciting action for years to come, and we are confident that poker masters from all over the world, and generations, will shine here just like they did in Las Vegas.”
Obrestad’s victory marked the end of a series in which European players, or those young European poker players, had to shut out veteran American professionals by getting their hands on all three WSOP bracelets. Her victory over London’s John Tabatabai, 22, came when her 7-Eleven won his two pairs.
Obrestad won the first prize and the most coveted award in all gaming categories, with 1 million pounds ($2,013,102), a World Series poker 18-karat gold and jewelry-encrusted bracelet made by CORUM, the official watchmaker of WSOP. Tabatabai earned 571,50 pounds ($1,147,770) in second place. 메이저 토토사이트
With her performance, Obrestad’s payday broke two records held by poker pro Annie Duke. The first was Duke’s one-day record as the first woman to top the $1 million WSOP official prize money, thanks to a 21st-place finish at the WSOP European main event. Duke’s payday of 30,770 pounds, or $61,943, showed her edge just past the $1 million earnings record. Duke also held the record for a single female event with a $2 million prize at the 2004 Tournament of Champions hosted by Harrer Entertainment.
The world’s top ranked professionals traveled to London this month to get a chance to rewrite poker history by winning three WSOP bracelets for the first time outside of the United States. But players like dozens of others, including Phil Helmus, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan, got in the way of their quests because of the exceptionally outstanding performances of the leaders of young European poker players, most of whom had experience playing online.
The last remaining American in the main event, Matthew McCullough, came in third after the top pair were eliminated. The 26-year-old New Jersey resident’s hopes for the WSOP bracelet were dashed when John Tabatabai, who called with a middle pair, matched the ace kicker of two pairs that eliminated a full-time anesthetist. McCullough collected 381,910 pounds to finish third.
Oyvind Riisen, 22, of Norway, received 257,020 pounds in fourth place, while Johannes Korsar, 20, of Uppsala, Sweden, received 191,860 pounds in fifth place. Dominic Kay, 30, a professional sports trader from London, took sixth place with £152,040, while Magnus Person, 24, of Gothenburg, Sweden, took seventh place with £114,030. Theo Jorgensen, 35, of Copenhagen, the oldest in the final rankings, finished eighth with £85,070.
The final table play kicked off at 2:30 p.m. GMT at The Empire in Leicester Square. Moments later, 21-year-old Londoner James Keith, who started the day with the fewest number of tournament chips, was eliminated. He has raised 61,540 pounds for his efforts. Numbers 10 through 36 went from £41,630 to £27,150 according to the final ranking. The total prize money for the main event was £3,676,990.