Swedish poker professional Martin Jacobson has won the 2014 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event, becoming the first European winner of the prestigious poker tournament since 2011. The main event began four months ago, with 6,683 players taking part over seven days of poker action.
The November Nine, the name given to the last remaining nine players, returned to the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Monday to compete in the final table of the main event for the $10m top prize.
The $10m first-place prize celebrates the tenth year the WSOP has been held at the Rio. It is the second-largest main event prize in World Series history, behind only the $12m won by Jamie Gold in 2006.
The November Nine featured a Brazilian (Bruno Politano), a Swede (Martin Jacobson), a Spaniard (Andoni Larrabe), a Norwegian (Felix Stephensen) and four US players (Billy Pappaconstantinou, Mark Newhouse, William Tonking, and Dan Sindelar).
Newhouse was the first person to reach back-to-back final tables in ten years, with Dutchman Jorryt van Hoof the chipleader at the start of play.
At the end of Monday’s play, three European players remained standing – Jacobson, Stephensen and van Hoof. It marked the first time ever that a US poker player had failed to reach the final three of the main event.
van Hoof was next to go the following night, leaving a heads-up battle between Jacobson and Stephensen.
The 27 year old Swede eventually won, with his hand of three tens beating Stephensen’s pair of nines. Jacobson takes home a prize of $10m, as well as a coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
Final Standings:
1st – Martin Jacobson – $10,000,000
2nd – Felix Stephensen – $5,147,911
3rd – Jorryt van Hoof – $3,807,753
4th – William Tonking – $2,849,763
5th – Billy Pappaconstantinou – $2,143,794
6th – Andoni Larrabe – $1,622,471
7th – Dan Sindelar – $1,236,084
8th – Bruno Politano – $947,172
9th – Mark Newhouse – $730,725
