Event #7: €10,450 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event
Day 5 Started
2012 World Series of Poker Europe
Event #7: €10,450 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event
Day: 5
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012 World Series of Poker Europe
Buy-in
€10,450
Prize Pool
€4,032,000
Entries
420
Level
28
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000
Final Table Chip Leader Phil Hellmuth Looks to Capture Bracelet #13 & WSOP POY in Cannes, France!
For the past two weeks, the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe has played out at the luxurious Majestic Barrière in Cannes, France. Now we’re down to the final day, and to say they’ve saved the best for last would be an understatement. The €10,450 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event began with a field of 420 players, but after four days of cutthroat play we’re down to the final table of eight, which is headlines by none other than the chip leader and 12-time bracelet winner—Phil Hellmuth.
Not only is the “Poker Brat” looking to capture bracelet #13, which would make him the only multiple-bracelet winner in 2012, but will win the WSOP Player of the Year title if he manages to take down the Main Event and Greg Merson doesn't win the October Nine Main Event at the end of the month. Either a second, third or fourth-place finish will also give Hellmuth a legitimate shot at the POY title.
Day 4 action saw some big names fall including 2005 WSOP runner-up Steve Dannenmann; high-stakes legend David Benyamine; former EPT winners Liv Boeree and Toby Lewis; last year’s 8th-place finisher Max Silver; the always-entertaining Scott Seiver; and two-time bracelet winner Andy Frankenberger. With that said, a few big names managed to make the final table including two-time bracelet winner Jason Mercier and 2012 November Niner Joseph Cheong.
Here’s a look at the final table chip counts:
2012 WSOP Europe Final Table
| Seat | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Tedeschi | 543,000 |
| 2 | Joseph Cheong | 1,966,000 |
| 3 | Stephane Albertini | 1,162,000 |
| 4 | Christopher Brammer | 851,000 |
| 5 | Jason Mercier | 652,000 |
| 6 | Sergii Baranov | 3,339,000 |
| 7 | Phil Hellmuth | 3,434,000 |
| 8 | Stephane Girault | 664,000 |
Play will resume today at 13:45 PM CET. Due to live television scheduling, the players will play until four players remain and then take a break until 21:45 PM CET where they will resume and play until a winner emerges. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as we provide updates from the exciting conclusion to one of the most prestigious events of the year!
Seat 1: Paul Tedeschi (543,000)
Paul Tedeschi is a 22-year-old French poker player who is relatively new onto the poker scene. Despite his youth, Tedeschi managed to burst onto the poker scene with an impressive showing at the 2012 Partouche Poker Tour € 8,500 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event. Tedeschi scored a 13th place finish in this event which netted him a score of €54,995.
It was less than a month before Tedeschi was able to earn his second major tournament cash, and that event occurred right here at the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe. Tedeschi bested an impressive field to ultimately finish in 9th place in Event #5: €10,450 Mixed Max - No-Limit Hold'em. No matter how Tedeschi finishes, this will be his largest tournament score to date, and with how well he has performed since bursting onto the poker scene, we expect big things from him in the future.
Seat 2: Joseph Cheong (1,966,000)
It would be an entirely fair statement to say that Joseph Cheong is one of the best young tournament players in the game today. If you don't know who Cheong is, he famously finished in 3rd place at the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event. Cheong earned $4,130,049 for his Main Event run and since then he has amassed a total of $5,377,687 in live tournament winnings.
That being said, the prestigious World Series of Poker championship bracelet has since evaded Cheong. Over the summer, Cheong finished second in Event 6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Mixed-Max. After just missing out on this event, Cheong had pointed out via Twitter that he scored a 3rd place followed by a 2nd place, and the next logical step for him would be a 1st place finish. That could happen today. Cheong will be bringing 1.966 million chips into play which is good for 3rd place in chips. If Cheong can best this star studded final table, that ever elusive WSOP bracelet may finally be his.
Seat 3: Stephane Albertini (1,162,000)
Stephane Albertini is a 30-year old poker player from France with $492,711 in lifetime tournament earning. While mainly a cash-game player for the past 14 years, Albertini tends to travel for the ring-game action and occasionally jumps into a tournament or two.
That's how he managed to finish sixth in the 2010 EPT Deauville for $182,616 and a 46th-place finish in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event for $160,036. Albertini also has tournament cashes from such places as Mauritius, Spain, Belgium and Germany. Today he'll be adding his first WSOP Europe cash to his résumé.
Seat 4: Christopher Brammer (851,000)
Christopher Brammer is a 24-year-old professional poker player from Southampton in the United Kingdom. Brammer, who plays online under the screen name "NIGDAWG", has been ranked number one in the world by PocketFives, an online poker ranking site. Aside from playing on the virtual felt, Brammer has amassed $654,320 in tournament earnings since 2008.
His biggest score came this past summer at the World Series of Poker when he finished fifth in Event #57 $10,000 No Limit Hold'em - Six Handed for $200,502. Today marks Brammer's first cash in the WSOP Europe.
Seat 5: Jason Mercier (652,000)
Jason Mercier stormed onto the poker scene in the first half of 2008 after he won the EPT San Remo, which takes place just across the Italian border, for over $1.3 million. Since his boom, Mercier has been accumulating tournament results around the world in bundles. He currently has nearly $8 million in tournament earnings and two World Series of Poker Bracelets to his name: 2011 WSOP $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha - Six Handed for $619,575 and 2009 WSOP $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha for $237,462.
Mercier is no stranger to the WSOP Europe; in fact, in 2009 he entered the Main Event final table as the chip leader, but ultimately finished in fourth place for $440,620. Obviously he's looking for redemption here today.
3 years ago I had a massive CL going to the FT of this event. I had 35% of the chips but ended up getting 4th. This time I have 6% #nbd #wniOctober 04 2012Follow
Seat 6: Sergii Baranov (3,339,000)
Sergii Baranov is a 39-year-old businessman from Odessa, Ukraine. Baranov, who finished Day 2 of this event as the chip leader, is bringing a stack of 3.339 million to the final table which is good for 2nd place. Baranov has been one of the more colorful characters in this field, often serving as a rival to the bombastic antics of Phil Hellmuth.
Baranov lists two wins of side events on the European Poker Tour as his greatest accomplishments in poker, a game which he simply considers a hobby. A win today, however, may change all of that. Baranov has a grand total of $252,862 in lifetime tournament winnings, meaning that no matter what place he comes in today he will be guaranteed his largest live tournament score.
Seat 7: Phil Hellmuth (3,434,000)
What needs to be said about Phil Hellmuth that he wouldn't already tell you himself? Hellmuth famously defeated Johnny Chan heads up in the 1989 World Series of Poker Main Event, both denying Chan his third straight WSOP Main Event victory and solidifying himself as the youngest Main Event winner in history, a title that he held until Peter Eastgate clinched a win nineteen years later. Hellmuth has amassed an incredible $16,159,430 in lifetime tournament winnings and holds a record 12 World Series of Poker bracelets.
If Hellmuth can defeat his seven opponents today, he will be able to earn his 13th WSOP bracelet and put himself in an almost perfect position to earn 2012 World Series of Poker Player of the Year. A win today will ensure his victory as long as Greg Merson does not win the final table of the Main Event later in the month. Hellmuth is in a great position to attain victory today, as he is sporting the biggest stack in the room with 3.434 million.
Seat 8: Stephane Girault (664,000)
One of three Frenchman at the final table, the 36-year-old Stephane Girault, who qualified for this Main Event through a Barrière qualifier, does commercial framework by trade in Paris. That's not to say he doesn't have poker experience; on the contrary, Girault has a couple of local results including a win in the €750 Pot Limit Omaha at Trophees Haussmann in Paris for $14,655 and sixth in the 2012 Barriere Poker Tour €1,350 No Limit Hold'em Main Event in Enghien-les-Bains, Enghien for $20,876.
Needless to say, no matter where Girault finished today, it'll be the largest score of his career.