After the success of the inaugural World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe in 2007, players gathered in London, England, the following year for four events instead of three as the WSOPE returned to Europe. A massive £868,800 ($1.12 million) was up for grabs in the WSOPE Main Event and other events in No Limit Hold’em, H.O.R.S.E., and Pot Limit Omaha, with the Main Event costing £10,000 ($13,000) to play.
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Opening Events Bring the Crowds
In 2007, the opening event of the WSOP Europe had 105 entries. Twelve months on, there were marginally more entries (110) in the H.O.R.S.E. event, but the opening event was switched to No Limit Hold’em, which cost £1,500 to play and featured 410 entries. With a massive prize pool of £615,000, legends of the British felt cashed, with Surinder Sunar (44th for £3,075), James Akenhead (39th for the same amount), and Terry Cook (30th for £3,690) all making money.
Canadian poker superstar Daniel Negreanu ended his run in 24th place for a score of £4,305, while Andy Bloch left in 15th place for £7,072, while London-based former horseracing bookmaker Neil Channing made it all the way to fourth place worth £44,588. Three different countries were represented in the podium places, with Ukrainian Yevgeniy Timoshenko winning £55,305 in third place and Fuad Serhan from Jordan ending as runner-up for £89,175. The winner was the Danish player Jesper Hougaard, who took home £144,218 and the second bracelet of the year and his career after winning the corresponding $1,500-entry NLHE event in Las Vegas in June.
The second event was in H.O.R.S.E. and featured 110 players, as some of the best in the world made it to the top 10. A former WSOP Main Event runner-up, David Williams snuck into the money places in 16th place for £4,812, while Daniel Negreanu (14th for £5,500) and Phil Hellmuth (12th for £6,188) both cashed too. Jeff Lisandro made it all the way to seventh place for £11,000.
Into the top six, Phil Ivey won £13,750 in fifth place, and ‘The Professor’ – a.k.a. the not-yet-disgraced Howard Lederer – took home £30,250 in third. An unfamiliar duo duked it out for the WSOP bracelet, and in the end, it was Austria’s Ivo Donev who missed out on victory, cashing for £48,125, while Afghanistani player Sherkhan Farnood won £76,999 and his only gold bracelet. While Farnood would never win another bracelet, he did win a career-high $165,274 when he came second to Eric Froehlich in the 2006 PLO Rebuy event in Las Vegas.
Jorgensen Jumps for Joy
Over the years, Theo Jorgensen has been one of the most popular players from Europe. The Danish player has inspired many in his generation to take up the game, and while his success in his home continent has been legendary, he’s also won big in Las Vegas. Over the course of his career to date, the Great Dane has won close to $1 million in WSOP events alone and took home just under $400,000 (£ 218,626) when he won the 165-entry PLO Event #3 in 2008.
Once again, the field was packed with top players, as stars of the felt at the time dominated. Former WSOP Main Event final table player Allen Cunningham finished 16th for £14,438, Hendon Mobster Joe Beevers climbed even higher to 12th for £18,562, and Florida’s finest, Jason Mercier, came 8th for £26,812.
In the latter stages, the 2000 WSOP Main Event winner Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson exited in 7th place for £33,000, while ‘The Italian Pirate’ Max Pescatori made it even further, exiting in 5th for £51,562. Heads-up was a battle between two of the biggest winners in the world back in 2008 as Jorgensen took on Canadian professional Sorel Mizzi in the final duel for the bracelet, eventually prevailing, leaving Mizzi to pick up £132,000 as runner-up.
Kid Poker Fades the Finish
With 362 players, the WSOPE Main Event of 2008 paid out 36 players, and the competition for the £868,800 top prize was intense. Josh Arieh once again ran deep in the tournament that made his name in Las Vegas, eventually crashing out in 33rd place for £25,340. Mel Judah (21st for £28,960), Erik Seidel (19th for the same amount), and Mike Matusow (18th for £36,200) all got close to the latter stages.
As the nine-handed final table began, the Indonesian John Juanda led the field, with some terrific talent battling for the bulk of the £3.6 million prize pool. Daniel Negreanu was all-in with five left with ace-nine but ran into Russian Stanislav Alekhin’s pocket jacks to leave in fifth for £217,200.
Bengt Sonnert from Sweden left in fourth for £271,500 when his ace-five lost to Alekhin’s ace-eight, and Ivan Demidov missed out in third for £334,850 when his flush draw from the flop missed against Juanda’s pocket aces. That left just two to fight for the title, and John Juanda took on Alekhin for the gold with 4.54 million chips to Alekhin’s 2.7 million.
Juanda Wins After ‘Special’ Victory
The final battle wasn’t one-way traffic as the Russian roared back to lead, but a huge hand developed, and Alekhin moved all-in with pocket jacks on a board showing T-T-4-2. John Juanda called with ace-ten and held on to snatch his lead back again. Juanda still had the chip lead when Alekhin moved all-in pre-flop with ace-nine and was called by the Indonesian holding king-six. A flop of 6-6-2 was a dream for Juanda, who smiled to himself before a queen on the turn confirmed his victory. As the two men warmly embraced, the river exposed the case six, giving Juanda quads, which is, to date, the best hand ever to win a WSOP Main Event in history.
Stanislav Alekhin’s runner-up score was worth £533,950 as John Juanda won his fourth WSOP bracelet for £868,800. With five WSOP bracelets in total, Juanda is the only bracelet winner ever to emerge from Indonesia. A poker hero to millions, Juanda’s legendary achievements puts him comfortably inside the top 50 players ever to play the game. While he has won more in Macau on the Triton Poker Series tour, his WSOP Europe Main Event victory remains the highest profile win of his long and illustrious career. Afterward, Norman Chad asked Juanda what it was like winning the bracelet, especially as it had been five years since he captured his third bracelet.
“It was so long ago, I think Richard Nixon was still President!” laughed Juanda. “This one is the most special because this is the WSOP Europe Main Event, and this is one of the top three tournaments I wanted to win.”
After another successful year in Europe, the WSOP Europe would return to London in 2009, where one of the biggest players in the world would get agonisingly close to glory.
| Player | Country | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | John Juanda | Indonesia | £868,800 |
| 2nd | Stanislav Alekhin | Russia | £533,950 |
| 3rd | Ivan Demidov | Russia | £334,850 |
| 4th | Bengt Sonnert | Sweden | £271,500 |
| 5th | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | £217,200 |
| 6th | Scott Fischman | United States | £171,950 |
| 7th | Robin Keston | United Kingdom | £135,750 |
| 8th | Toni Hiltunen | Finland | £108,600 |
| 9th | Chris Elliott | United Kingdom | £81,450 |
2007 WSOP Europe 2009 WSOP Europe
About the Author: Paul Seaton has written about poker for over 10 years, interviewing some of the best players ever to play the game such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Over the years, Paul has reported live from tournaments such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the European Poker Tour. He has also written for other poker brands where he was Head of Media, as well as BLUFF magazine, where he was Editor.