February 26 2011, Jen Mason

The Scandinavian leg of the PokerStars European Poker Tour is known for its modestly-behaved yet insanely competitive players, attracting one of the toughest fields on the tour to snowy Copenhagen. To beat 448 others and snatch the title, as Michael Tureniec has done, is an impressive achievement and this year comes with a DKK 3,700,000 (nearly €500,000) top prize and a specially-commissioned Shamballa bracelet.

The final table featured more swings than a children’s playground. The chip lead finally deserted Per Linde and came home to roost with Tureniec, but spent time in the hands of several of the others. One of the best line-ups seen on an EPT final set even the staid Scandinavian railers’ pulses racing as the top eight payouts from the DKK 15,086,400 total prize pool were claimed.

The day got off to an explosive start, a short stacked John Eames rocketing up to challenge leader Linde within fifteen hands. In order to knock anyone out, Eames first had to double up; this occurred on the very first hand. Nikolas Liakos was a non-believer when Eames three-bet from the small blind and tried to get rid of him with a shove, but he was snap-called and could only show to the of Eames.

There was a one-hand hiatus before Eames was dealt pocket kings again. This time he eliminated Juha Helppi in eighth place (DKK 296,400). Helppi, five-bet shoving with pocket queens, said as he left the table, “That was a set-up. Nothing you can do.” An EPT Main Event title still eludes the quiet Finn, although he has won (among several other well-paying events) the €20,000 EPT Deauville High Roller in Season 6 for €192,000.

It began to occur to the rail that there might be more than the four traditional kings in the deck when Eames picked up in the big blind at the same time as Italian pro Andrea Dalle Molle moved his short stack all-in preflop. He racked up his second knockout in less than half an hour and suddenly nearly matched long-term chip leader Linde in chips.

Linde had come to the final table with a lead that poker dreams are made of, but it was Eames and then later Tureniec who got on with eliminating the opposition. Tureniec busted the last remaining Danish player Mudassar Khan in sixth (DKK 600,000) with a pair of fives vs. ace-jack. Khan, the only player describing himself as properly “recreational” had played few hands, and found his tournament ending abruptly. His previous results include winning the Swedish Poker Open Championships in 2006 for $134,539, and his prize in this event nearly matched that win.

Tureniec stole some of Eames’ cowboy-related thunder when a slowplayed brought him a double up from the golden Englishman. Blind on blind, Tureniec had flat-called Eames’ continuation bet on a flop, before moving in over his lead on a turn. Eames looked like he was kicking himself when he made the call with and let the dangerous Swede back in the game.

Liakos had been taking a break from live poker to focus on his studies with the intention of becoming a mathematics teacher; his return to the game was successful by anyone’s reckoning. He had been hovering near the bottom of the chip counts for a while, busting out in fifth place (DKK 750,000) moments after doubling up through lone American Kevin Iacofano. It was Tureniec (winning his second all-in race) who took his chips, in the process moving into second place four-handed.

Around this time it occurred to Lady Luck that Eames hadn’t been dealt pocket kings for around 20 hands. So out they came. Eames found Linde willing to four-bet all in preflop, and his kings held vs. Linde’s bullying . For the first time since Day 3, Linde found himself in a position other than first, but seemed undaunted by his more modest stack.

Even losing a two million chip pot to Iacofano didn’t stop Tureniec busting this Cleveland-born online pro when he finessed a hero call for all his chips on the river. Having flopped three tens on a board, Tureniec kept his foot on the gas down the streets, finally moving in on the river to put Iacofano at risk. Iacofano called with and looked pained to see Tureniec with the goods. In his interview he said, “My gut was telling me to call, so I did it. But we all know heroes die.” He did admit that it was hard to feel too sorry for oneself when the prize for finishing fourth is DKK 1,000,000 (€134,000).

The final three (Linde, Eames and Tureniec) were all strong, experienced players and made for fascinating watching on the EPT Live stream; the press were and remain disappointed that hole card cameras weren’t catching the action from their perspective.

There came a point where all three players had nearly equal stacks, and there was no telling who would come out on top. In the end it came down to what is often referred to as the “classic race” between the of Eames and the of Tureniec to bring one player to the fore. For perhaps the first time in EPT history, it took a preflop six-bet for two finalists to get their stacks in the middle. There was a room-wide intake of breath as the turn brought a king (and the river another) giving Tureniec 60 percent of the chips in play and knocking Eames down to ten big blinds.

Despite a determined effort to get back in the running with preflop shoves, Eames eventually finished third (DKK 1,400,000) when Tureniec — his nemesis on the final table — got him in preflop with to his . Both players hit their top pair. In his exit interview Eames called himself a “card rack” on the final, and admitted that he was happy with 3rd and would be tackling all the EPTs this season.

Heads up play started with Tureniec holding a 2:1 lead. The two top prizes were going to aggressive Swedes, whatever happened next. They both had plenty of wiggle room left in their stacks and we saw pot after pot three-bet or played cautiously down the streets. Slowly Tureniec whittled down his opponent, continuing the trend for long drawn-out heads up battles in Copenhagen. Twice he had Linde all-in with 2 million chips to his 11 million, but lost both times.

The pace of play then slowed dramatically. There was almost a full level of flopless pots before the hand match-ups were such that the stacks flew in. Per Linde’s final hand was , called by the of Tureniec. The final race of the nearly four-hour heads up match was won with a jack on the turn, and Tureniec’s sunglasses finally came off as he cracked a smile. Runner up Linde receives DKK 2,450,000 (around €329,000) for his impressive performance but it’s Tureniec who takes home the title, giant cheque, and bragging rights for having secured both an EPT first and second (his runner-up spot was also for a cool half million back in London in 2008).

The Casino Copenhagen at the Radisson Blu has seen some of the best live poker played on the European circuit this week, and crowned a worthy champion. PokerNews will be heading to Snowfest in Austria next, covering all the action from the ski resort of Saalbach-Hinterglemm, March 20-25.

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March 31 2011, Eric Ramsey

On Wednesday, the final nine players at the World Series of Poker Circuit Western Regional Championship set up shop under the bright lights of the Versus cameras to play down to a winner. It took about ten hours to meet that goal, and in the end, it was Ali Eslami left standing with all 2.94 million chips.

During the first full level of action, the nine-handed table was reduced by one, as short stack Miller Dao was the first to go under. Dao moved all in with , but Dylan Wilkerson woke up with , in the big blind. When the board ran , Miller was parted with the rest of his chips and was whisked away to the interview booth to tell everyone what happened. Dao’s story was one of the most intriguing of the week as he turned an $80 satellite into a $10,000 entry, and eventually, a payday of $24,235. Even better, he’ll continue the parlay in Las Vegas since this result was good enough to earn him one of the 100 seats in the WSOP-C National Championship in May.

Despite that knockout, Wilkerson was still short on chips, around the twenty big blind mark, and he was the next to fall, in eighth place. Wilkerson got it in with , flipping for double or nothing against Dana Kellstrom and his . The board failed to find Wilkerson’s overcards, and he was out, with more than $30,000 to show for his efforts this week. It was the second time in two days that Big Slick betrayed Wilkerson. Very late in Day 3, he lost a huge pot and the chip lead when his ace-king ran into Tim West’s pocket aces.

About 90 minutes of seven-handed poker went by before another player dropped out of the mix. It was one of the favorites, too. Dwyte Pilgrim, one of the many huge success stories to come out of the WSOP’s little brother tour, is no stranger to Circuit wins. Pilgrim made another charge through the field at Harrah’s Rincon (a building in which he’s tasted victory before), but this time, his run came to an end in seventh place. On the turn of a board, Pilgrim shoved his ten big blinds in with . Chip leader Ali Eslami called with his out in front, and Pilgrim could not find the card he needed, as the river ushered him to the exit. If the table didn’t know it then, they soon realized that they needed to get used to the sight of Eslami sending players home early.

Kellstrom, for one, was presented with that truth just moments later when, in a cooler of a hand, he was eliminated in sixth place. It was Eslami in the pot again, and he called a continuation bet on the flop. When the hit fourth street, Eslami check-raised all in, and Kellstrom quickly called with for the wheel. As it turned out, he was already drawing dead to a chop. Eslami’s had made the bigger straight with that same turn card, and the river was no help to Kellstrom. He’ll be the first to tell you he’s not as experienced as some of his table mates, but Kellstrom certainly held his own on the felt over the last four days. This cash moves him over $200,000 in tournament earnings as his 2011 has gotten off to a career-best start.

Eslami was well in control of the match by the time Kellstrom left, and he went ahead and took care of the next elimination, too. Short stack David Peters shoved with , and Eslami’s was plenty good enough for him to call with. The flop was a disaster for Peters, and it looked like he wouldn’t even be able to manage a chop. The turn was no help to him, and the river was nothing but a needle in his side. Two pair was good but not good enough in that spot, and Peters hit the rail to leave four players on the felt. That number would shrink to three a couple hands later.

Another of the pros, Full Tilt Poker Red Pro Steve Brecher, never once had a big stack to play with over the course of this four-day event. Still, he played his middling chips with great precision, and he picked through a few all-ins on the final day to work his way to a fourth-place finish. There wasn’t much he could do on the flop, sitting with in the hole and less than ten big blinds. His last 155,000 chips went all in, and it was — you guessed it — Ali Eslami doing the deed with his superior . The turn teased Brecher with chop outs, but the river was all she wrote.

When the players broke for dinner, Eslami had close to 60 percent of the chips in play, but West would draw to within striking distance just minutes after their return to the table. The man stuck in the middle was D.J. Blanchard, starting the after-dinner session with just over twenty big blinds. He didn’t waste much time getting those chips into the middle preflop, holding , and it was West’s three-bet with that forced his hand. Off to the races they went, and West’s horse ran faster on the board. Blanchard was out in third place with a six-figure cash, and West and Eslami were heads up for the ring.

The battle figured to be a marathon with the stacks deep and the play particularly methodical. For about two hours, the two men traded jabs as they bantered back and forth and felt each other out. The match was either going to end quickly in a cooler or wear on laboriously for six hours. It was a cooler.

At the 4,000/12,000/24,000 level, West opened to 62,000, and Eslami stuck in a rare three-bet to 138,000. After some consideration, West shoved all in for about a million chips, and Eslami couldn’t have called quicker. West was working with , and he was in all kinds of trouble as the rolled over on the other side of the felt. The at-risk West couldn’t even find anything to sweat as the board ran to put the final punctuation on the third Regional Championship of the 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit season.

In his interviews with the television crew, Eslami was very gracious in victory. He chose his words carefully so as not to sound arrogant and over-sure while he explained that even as early as Day 1, he knew he’d be in this spot come Wednesday. He went on to thank Jerry Buss, owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Chad Brown, his poker mentor, for the encouragement and motivation he needed to make it to this point. The victory comes as a double celebration; Eslami celebrated his birthday this week in Rincon.

Even with all his confidence, he probably didn’t expect to get a diamond ring for his birthday, but this is one present Ali Eslami won’t soon forget.

Final Table Payouts

That’s all from Harrah’s Rincon, but the WSOP-C keeps on rollin’, and so do we. We’re heading to St. Louis next, and in the meantime, you should follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook to keep tabs on bits of poker news from all the world around.