James Bord wins World Series of Poker Europe Main Event

James Bord wins World Series of Poker Europe Main Event

Wednesday, 29 September 2010

It took two opening flights, three further days and a thirteen-hour final table but the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event has come to an end. The dust has settled, the chips are won and the last man standing in a field of 346 of the world’s best players is UK pro James Bord.

Bord built up a stack on Day 4 of the tournament when he all but eliminated PokerStars pro Arnaud Mattern in a cooler with A-A against Q-Q. He held his own at a tough table against the likes of Viktor Blom, Mattern and Barny Boatman before reaching the final nine third in chips.


Bord was a presence throughout, but not as much as his friends on the rail – the boisterous chants of “BOR-DY! BOR-DY!” and “WALKIN’ IN A BORDY WONDERLAND!” and, most amusingly, “Na-nah nanah nanah na-na-nah, Bordy take it home, take it home! Booor-dy take it hoo-oome!” to the tune of K.C. & The Sunshine Band’s “Baby Give it Up”. Though a few of them had to be warned about loudness, rudeness and crudeness – two were banned from the arena by Jack Effel – they really made the final table atmosphere electric and hilarious.


Bord held his own well as Ronald Lee eliminated player after player after player then tightened up three-handed while eventual runner-up Fabrizio Baldassari 3-bet the New Yorker into submission. Despite the Italian’s work in diminishing Lee’s stack, Bord struck the final blow when his A-K caught a second and then third king to win the coinflip versus 5-5.


Bord was at a 3:2 chip disadvantage when heads-up play against Baldassari commenced but after surrendering a few small pots to the Italian he really started to come into his own, backed up of course by a mob of chanting friends who set The Empire on fire with their excitement. Eventually Bord doubled through Baldassari and despite the Italian staging something of a comeback from the Londoner’s peak 2-1 chip advantage, eventually the money went in with Bord’s T-T way ahead of 5-5. It held, and that was that.


Bord is a deserving champion of one of the toughest tournament fields in European and indeed world poker. His acceptance speech belied the brashness of his crowd on the rail as, voice cracking with emotion, he thanked his friends for their support and congratulated his heads-up opponent Baldassari.


The full final table payouts were as follows:


1. James Bord - £830,401
2. Fabrizio Baldassari - £513,049
3. Ronald Lee - £376,829
4. Roland de Wolfe - £278,945
5. Nicolas Levi – £208,119
6. Daniel Steinberg - £156,530
7. Dan Fleyshman – £118,643
8. Brian Powell - £90,617
9. Marc Inizan - £69,754


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