Visser Vanquishes EPT London Opposition
Monday, 18 March 2013
The EPT’s successful return to London was capped off at the weekend with the crowning of a new Main Event champion.
While the High Roller event was coming to a conclusion elsewhere in the Victoria Casino, this season’s Main Event was in its final throws.
Having welcomed a bumper filed of 647 runners, the final table standings glittered with star names such as Chris Moorman, Steve O’Dwyer and Theo Jorgensen. However, burning brightest at the top of the pile was Dutch grinder, Ruben Visser.
After an inspired performance, the young pro managed to eclipse his previous pinnacle win to take his overall live earnings to just under $2 million.
Manoeuvring himself in a position to bank his seminal win was a case of stop and start for Visser. Indeed, as Steve O’Dwyer dispersed his chip leading stack across the table, Visser gradually bolstered his while those around him fell.
With only three players left and Visser holding the advantage a deal was struck before Olof Haglund finally hit the rail. Having already played a four-handed match for two hours, it would be another two hours before Visser and Mantas Visockis would finally conclude their battle.
Indeed, having gained then relinquished a 4:1 chip lead, Visser eventually found himself on the right side of a coinflip with Ad Qs. With all the money in pre-flop against pocket tens, the 7s 4d Jc s Qh board closed the match and pushed the final pot towards Visser, making him an EPT Champion and £595,000 better off.
“This feels completely awesome,” said Visser. “I’m extremely happy. I have been playing well in live tournaments in the last few years but now I just ran about £600,000 above expectation.”
The final table positions and payouts were as follows:
Ruben Visser, Netherlands, £595,000
Mantas Visockis, Lithuania, £377,436,
Olof Hagland, Sweden, £427,564
Theo Jorgensen, Denmark, £183,000
Steve O'Dwyer, USA, £146,000
Christopher Frank, Germany, £112,000
Tamer Kamel, UK, £79,950
Chris Moorman, UK, £57,000
Image courtesy of Neil Stoddart.
EPT Berlin is next on the calendar from 17 to 27 April. Qialifiers are running online at PokerStars.