2009 World Series of Poker Europe

Event 1 - £1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Day: 1b
1a1b23
Event Info

2009 World Series of Poker Europe

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
k♦8♦
Prize
£136,803
Event Info
Buy-in
£1,000
Prize Pool
£608,000
Entries
608
Level Info
Level
22
Blinds
8,000 / 16,000
Ante
2,000

Welcome to Groundhog Day

[user46392]
[user46392]
...Or, as it is more often known in the industry, Day 1b of the WSOPE, sponsored by Betfair.

So good morning and welcome back to the Empire Casino, in the very heart of our great British capital. There's a palpable buzz about the place, and it looks as though we're going to top yesterday's 295 runners with ease -- the board's reading 294 already.

We've got us some enormous names already, so far including Chris Ferguson and Barny Boatman. Players are taking their seats, and we should be kicking off very soon...

Level: 1

Blinds: 25/25

Ante: 0

Table Of Doom Emerges Early

[user46392]
[user46392]
Conveniently located next to the PokerNews bloggers' perch, one fearsome table currently features the trio of bracelet winners that is Chris Ferguson, John Juanda and Davidi Kitai, all seated in a row. Kitai has position.

Star-Spotting

[user4144]
[user4144]
With my telescope in hand, I scoured the arena for anything vaguely shiny, and managed to locate a plethora of stars from across the poker world. As well as aforementioned neighbours John Juanda and Chris Feguson - the latter resplendent in 'I've been Tangoed shirt', we've also been blessed with the likes of Dave Colclough, Joe Beevers and 2007 Main Event Champion Annette Obrestad, all twinkling in equal measure. Several big names are also pencilled in to play, but in true Hellmuthesque fashion - although he was suspiciously punctual yesterday - one can expect them to arrive slightly late, but within the opening levels.

Brunson in the House!

[user46392]
[user46392]
He doesn't appear actually to be playing today's event, but currently in conversation with TD Jack Effel upstairs next to the slot machines is none other than the granddaddy of poker, Mr. Doyle Brunson. We have very high hopes for some Brunson involvement at the tables during the rest of the week. Hurrah!

Tags: Doyle Brunson

Liv-in on the Edge

[user4144]
[user4144]
If the Table of Doom wasn't doomy enough, it's now even doomier after being joined by Liv Boeree who completes a quartet of queasiness for the other players at the table. One thing's for sure, the table's certainly a lot better looking now.

Tags: Liv Boeree

Further Noted at the Felt

[user46392]
[user46392]
- November Niner James Akenhead
- Player of the Year and triple bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro
- EPT Baden winner Julian Thew
- entertaining Legend Of Irish Poker, Padraig Parkinson
- all-round poker powerhouse Allen Cunningham

All this, and they're still trickling in...

...See What We Mean?

[user46392]
[user46392]
Mr. John Tabatabai, who was famously beaten heads-up by Annette Obrestad in the main event here two years ago, has just seated himself at Barny Boatman's table. He is wearing a very orange shirt today and can thus be seen from a considerable distance.

Early Shower

[user4144]
[user4144]
I don't think they supply showers here at the Empire, but if they did, Barney Boatman would be one of few lathering up after an early exit from today's tournament. He only had 400 when he hit the deck, with the largest chunk of his stack going wayward when, according to my source, "he tried to bluff off a set with top pair."

Tags: Barny Boatman

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