2008 World Series of Poker Finaltable live Broadcast

WSOPE 2008 is in the books

All things must come to an end, and for Johan Juanda there was a gruelling 22 hours final table marathon before he finally took down the WSOPE Main Event gold bracelet. But there’s been nothing gruelling about the bwin Team WSOPE 2008 experience - rather a fabulous long run of fun, thrill and excitement. The best poker experience possible, awesome food at fancy restaurants, parties at extravagant clubs, good shows, great hospitality, interesting tours around London, and foremost, remarkable people and new friends.

The Empire Casino in London was a splendid venue for the tournament, and it offered great opportunities for the team members and their friends and family to rail the poker action. The nearby bar also added a dimension, making all of tournament days a true poker feast. It was with great excitement we all followed demach AA to his £25k cash and well deserved 32nd place. We’ll neither forget Speedzebres heroic effort, as he almost made it all the way but fell short on the bubble, so close, so close.

You can find more behind the scenes photos in WSOPE flickr-stream by clicking here. See you at the events to come!

Final Table of the WSOPE 2008

Even if the WSOPE is at an end for our fabulous team this time, the excitement and adventures haven’t quite ended yet.

First off, the Final Table is set and the action is about to commence at any moment now. We’ve seen John Juanda playing first class poker through out the tournament, seated next to our Team member dematch AA on day 2 and rubbing shoulders with Speedzebre during day 3. Second in chips is Stanislav Alekhin from Russia, who seems to be a the position to really jolt the table. Negreanu was chip leader early on and slipped back quite a bit during day 2, but has now worked himself back up to equal stacks with Ivan Demidov, both of whom will have a good shot at the money. Ivad Demidov, for those who think the name rings a bell, is currently most known for being part of the “November Nine”, ie a finalist for the WSOP 2008.

Seat 1: Robin Keston 849,000
Seat 2: Daniel Negreanu 1,002,000
Seat 3: Chris Elliott 281,000
Seat 4: Bengt Sonnert 385,000
Seat 5: John Juanda 1,349,000
Seat 6: Ivan Demidov 1,006,000
Seat 7: Toni Hiltunen 386,000
Seat 8: Scott Fischman 732,000
Seat 9: Stanislav Alekhin 1,278,000

Secondly, the awesome Team spirit doesn’t just go away because dematch AA cashed in his grand pay cheque. There have been two days of celebrations for our French hero, including a selection of what London has to offer such as dinners, drinks, a musical, late night poker and even a bit of football. The Team is taking a day of rest today, eager to catch the Final Table action, before we set off on a day of surprise activities planned for tomorrow.

dematch bows out £25,340 richer

The bwin Team’s WSOPE has come to a close, and this time it’s a happy ending. dematch AA, still short stacked, went all-in with QJ and was insta-called by Daniel Negreanu with AJ. The flop, turn and river were of no help and our Frenchman made his way to the rail, still grinning madly, finishing in 32nd place and £25,340 (€32,027) richer. It was an incredible feat by our man, who had lost 70% of his stack right before the bubble on a coin flip. We feared the worst but he hung on and hung on. Following that beat, play suddenly stopped and all attention was drawn to the feature tv table. It seems that there were 3 players all-in… the hand played out and sent 2 players to rail, ensuring everyone else a money finish. Cue huge cheering from the rest of the bwin Team, watching from the rail. dematch AA could hardly believe it and punched the air with his fist. There was still time for him to be moved to the feature table, sitting between Daniel Negreanu and Mike Matusow. He clung on for a few more hands, despite holding just 15,000 chips. He even doubled up after hitting a 3 outer, much to Negreanu’s amusement. It was a short reprieve though, and our hero bowed out in the next hand to Negreanu himself.

Wow. I’m still shaking from all the excitement. It’s time for the Team to hit London Town to celebrate now, but I’ll be back later with a photo recap of the day. Over and out!

dematch is in the money!!!

Fantastic news folks, dematch AA has held on and held on and has just made the money! A truly magnificent performance from the Frenchman who is absolutely ecstatic. I’ve got to run back to the floor now to keep up to date with what’s happening. Back soon! Oh, and he’s just been moved to the seat between Negreanu and Matusow. Yeah.

An agonising exit for Speedzebre

Horrible horrible horrible. A heartbreaking end to the tournament for Speedzebre, who’s been sent to the rail just 3 places short of the money. Reminiscent of nammer4life’s exit in last year’s bubble, the Frenchman lost out in the most agonising way possible. With one limper and positioned on the small blind, Speedzebre elected to call the extra 1200, holding Qd8d. The big blind checked and the flop came Ad5d9d. The limper bet out 4,000 and our man immediately moved all in. There was then some controversy when the limper called the all-in before the big blind had acted. The tournament director was called over to sort things out. Big blind said he was about to call anyway, and play was allowed to continue. The turn brought an Ad and a shove from Mr Big Blind. Limper folds and then the moment of agony. Speedzebre flipped over his Qd8d thinking he was surely in front. Cruelly though, his opponent turned over Kd3d. Our French hero slumped back into his seat, head in hands and unable to believe was what was happening. It was a horrible end to what has been a superb tournament for Speedzebre. He’s pitted his wits against some of the biggest names in the game and come out on top. He sent Scotty Nyguen to the rail. We all truly believed he’d done enough to make the money, but it wasn’t to be. As he said himself a moment ago, poker is a cruel, cruel game sometimes.