Historic Europeans Win First WSOP Europe Bracelets
Monday, 10 September 2007
Two European players have got the World Series of Poker (WSOP)
Europe, sponsored by Betfair, off to a flying start by becoming the
first people to win a recognized WSOP bracelet outside of the US.
Two European players have got the World Series of Poker (WSOP)
Europe, sponsored by Betfair, off to a flying start by becoming the
first people to win a recognized WSOP bracelet outside of the
US.
German player Thomas ‘Buzzer’ Bihl, sponsored by Betfair.com had
the honour of making poker history yesterday when he took down the
first WSOP Europe event, winning £70,875 in the H.O.R.S.E.
tournament. Two-time WSOP winner Jennifer Harman from Reno, Nevada,
finished in second place after relinquishing a two-to-one chip lead
to Bihl, who played a quiet waiting game for most of the 13-hour
final table.
WSOP bracelet winner Kirk Morrison finished third, taking away
£57,273, while five-time WSOP bracelet winner Chris Ferguson
finished fourth, adding £43,903 to his career earnings of
$5,551,650. Russian Alex Kravchenko collected £35,911 for fifth
place while Yuval Bronshtein won £29,269 for sixth, Joe Beevers
£23,942 for seventh and Gary Jones £18,481 for eighth. In all, the
top 16 of the 105 entrants won £532,138 in prize money.
Following in Bihl’s footsteps today was Italy’s Dario Alioto of
Palermo who won the £5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Championship,
£234,390 in cash and the second WSOP gold bracelet ever awarded
outside the United States.
The 23-year-old battled past a strong contingent of star players
including Roland de Wolfe, Andy Bloch and Ted Forrest, who all
cashed, to take the title in the early hours of this morning.
Istvan Novak of Hungary took second place and £137,280.
The WSOP Europe £10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event will
kick off later today at the Casino at the Empire on Leicester
Square, The Sportsman in Marble Arch, and Fifty on St James’
Street.