World Series of Poker Europe Event #1, £1,500 No Limit Hold’em, 19-22nd September 2008

Entrants: 410
Buyin: £1,500
Prizepool: £615,000

1. Jesper Hougaard, Denmark, £144,218
2. Fuad Serhan, UK, £89,175
3. Yevgeniy Timoshenko, USA, £55,350
4. Neil Channing, UK, £44,588
5. John Dwyer, Ireland, £36,285
6. Adam Junglen, USA, £28,598
7. Linda Lee, USA, £22,448
8. Ian Woodley, UK, £17,835
9. Daniel Nutt, UK, £13,222

In front of a packed house at London’s Empire Casino, it was the great Dane Jesper Hougaard who made poker history by becoming the first player to win WSOP bracelets on both sides of the Atlantic. Just a few months ago in Las Vegas, Hougaard overcame a huge field to claim his first bracelet in the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event before he confirmed his status as a rising star by taking down the inagural tournament of the 2008 WSOPE.

Hougaard’s feat was all the more remarkable because he started Monday’s final table placed eighth in chips. As they began the day’s play all eyes were on the seemingly unbeatable chipleader, young Adam Junglen. However, a series of lost races and tough beats soon shattered his aura as Junglen could only limp to a 6th placed finish.

As the table got to the final four, perennial crowd favourite Neil Channing was making a comeback and threatening to claim his first bracelet. That looked all the more likely when he got all his chips in the middle with 8-8 against Hougaard’s A-6. An excruciating board of J-J-10-10-5 ended up countefeiting the Londoner’s hand however, sending him to the rail in a sad state of despair.

With only three remaining, the in-form Yevgeniy Timoshenko looked like a good bet for the title and was in a strong position after playing some fine poker all week. Fuad Serhan, meanwhile, just looked happy to be there after he had come into the final table on the shortstack spending the last several hours hanging on by his teeth. Nobody could stop the Hougaard freight train however, as he won a classic race to dispatch of the American and get to heads-up.

With a 5:1 advantage over Serhan, it was surely just a matter of time. On just the fifth hand of heads-up play, all the chips went in the middle, with Serhan’s A-K dominating the suited A-J of Hougaard. Just to confirm it was the Dane’s day, he flopped the nut flush though, making him nearly £145,000 richer and the proud holder of two WSOP bracelets.