The heads up match was short but entertaining between Parkinson and his friend Marrow, which was effectively over when Parkinson won an early race with ace-queen to the pocket sixes of Marrow. This forced an all in confrontation with the king queen of Parkinson against 2-5 of Marrow to give the high profile Parkinson the win.

Parkinson will certainly prove to be a popular winner, being well known and loved for his co-commentry with Jesse May in TV poker tournaments and on the Poker Show radio show. Parkinson became well known in the poker scene when he finished 3rd in the 1999 World Series of Poker Main event and later won the 5th Series of Late Night Poker.

Padraig commented after the win ‘I was born just down the road so I can’t believe that I won it. If anyone wants a drink, I’m buying!’

UKIPT Galway payouts
1. Padraig Parkinson €125,000 (+£5,000 EPT qualifier)
2. Paul Marrow €82,000
3. Ben Lefew €52,000
4. Michael Graydon €36,000
5. Michael McFadgen €22,000
6. Paul Dooley €17,000
7. Vinny Cosgrove €13,000
8. Cat O’Neill €11,000
9. Trevor Bulless €9,000

The €2000 main event is attracting some big names, with Marty Smyth, Peter Eastgate and JP Kelly the bookies’ favourites to take home the title. Even so, it’s expected that there will be a large influx of online qualifiers. Other big names confirmed for the event include James Akenhead, Neil Channing, Andy Black and Jude Ainsworth (who actually won the Irish Poker Championships here in 2008)

The full schedule is as follows:
Thursday 10th Player Party €300+€30 Super Satellite
Friday 11th €2,000 Main Event Day 1
Saturday 12th €550 Freezeout (2 Day) Main Event Day 2
Sunday 13th €350 Freezeout (2 Day) Main Event Day 3
Monday 14th €250 Freezeout (1 Day) Main Event Final Table

Skampa, who beat Israeli businessman Eyal Avitan after a three-hour heads-up battle, finished first in his home city and in doing so became the first Czech EPT champion. Skampa said: “It feels great to win. It’s my fourth EPT and I won it in my home town – that must be one of the greatest accomplishments you can have in poker. It was tough when we were three-handed but once Stefan Mattsson (who finished third) was out, I felt confident I could win.”

Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano extended his own records yet again by reaching a sixth EPT final table and 13th EPT cash but was eliminated in sixth place for €100,000. EPT Prague also provided French pro Antony Lellouche with his eighth EPT in-the-money finish. Lellouche, who came 19th, has won over €800,000 in EPT events.
EPT spokesperson Kirsty Thompson said: “Prague has been hugely successful this season with a great turnout. There were some incredible performances especially by Luca Pagano making a record sixth final and Jan Skampa making back-to-back finals.”

It was a day of ups and downs for many of the big names involved – Jeff Sarwer started off on the wrong foot and saw his stack dwindle but halfway through the day he was back amongst the chipleaders. The tide turned once again for Sarwer after a failed 3 barrel bluff and a few showdowns later he was destined to join the spectators. This exit was to be Sarwers earliest elimination and first non-cash in his last 3 events.

A few Team PokerStars pros were performing well but for the most part it was proving to be a frustrating day for a great deal of the ‘ones to watch’. Katja Thater, Thierry van den Berg, Marcel Luske and Alexander Kravchenko all seemed to be struggling to pick up any cards. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier started the day in a promising manner, but as the day wore his momentum was eventually broken and he bust out against pocket aces.

Those who did have a good day included Luca Pagano, who managed to have added to his stack after each break. Arnaud Mattern spent much of the day looking card dead but kept a cool head and managed to double up late in the day. Antony Lellouche has also been gathering chips nicely in the mid stage of this tournament.

Pieter de Korver rode a late surge into the top five on the scoreboard, but he couldn’t quite get himself into first place. The current chipleader is Yann Brosolo with his stack of 574,000

The Poker Channel is pleased to announce that it has joined forces with Igrach.com, Bulgaria’s largest online poker community, with over 10,000 registered members.

Poker Channel с удоволствие съобщава, че обединява сили с Igrach.com – най-голямото покер общество в България с над 10,000 регистрирани потребители.

Together the Poker Channel and Igrach.com aim to provide world-class poker entertainment and information on TV and online. Igrach.com already has an enviable reputation amongst Bulgarian players – offering daily poker news, strategy, special offers and the best poker promotions.

Двете компании ще работят съвместно за предоставяне на най-добрата покер информация и развлечение за своите клиенти както по телевизията, така и в интернет. Igrach.com вече има завидна репутация сред българските покер играчи като най-добрият източник на покер новини и покер стратегия като предоставя най-доходните покер промоции за български играчи в интернет.

Poker Channel is now available on TV in Bulgaria. Megalan is the first operator to carry the Channel in its digital basic package, with other major operators to follow early next year. The Poker Channel is also available to all viewers with satellite dishes pointing to 1 degree West. The Poker Channel frequency is 12.418V, FEC 7/8.

Poker Channel вече е наличен по кабелната телевизия в България посредством дигиталния пакет на Megalan, като се очаква включване и в програмата на другите национални покер оператори в началото на 2010. Каналът е достъпен за всички зрители по сателит на 1 градус запад, честота 12.418V, FEC 7/8.

Igrach.com is the exclusive sponsor of the European Cash Game on the Poker Channel this week.

Igrach.com е ексклузивният спонсор на нашето покер шоу The European Cash Game тази седмица.

The final table kicked off with Matis holding over 1 million chips more than his nearest rival, and the local support was out in full force to cheer on the Portuguese contingent in João Silva and Matias.

We didn’t have to wait long for the chips to start flying and barely half an hour into play saw the final table’s first casualty. Russial real estate mogul Andrei Vlasenko was unfortunate to run his pocket 9s into Ryan Franklin’s pocket 10s. No miracle card for Vlasenko so he pocketed €31,234 for his troubles.

The next elimination didn’t occur until over 2 hours later, many coming close to the rail but nobody seeming to be able to deliver a knockout blow. Eventually Ryan Franklin found another pocket pair. This time, however, he was the unlucky one as Jeff Sarwer woke up with pocket jacks. To add insult to injury Sarwer flopped a set and Franklin was sent to the rail. This 7th place finish was still an incredible achievement for the 18-year-old making his first live tournament appearance, and he picked up €46,851 for his efforts.

Frenchman Michel Abecassis was the next to be knocked out when his A7s wasn’t good enough to beat Matias’ QJs when a queen fell on the flop. Just a few hands later the Portuguese fans lost their voices when Silva was the next player to fall foul of higher pocket pairs – Jan Skampa’s pocket queens too good for Silva’s pocket jacks and once again there was no salvation for the lower paid. Abecassis claimed €62,468 and Silva netted €78,085 for their respective 6th and 5th place finishes.

Just one hand later there was more action as Sarwer opened to 90,000 under the gun. The action folded to Skampa’s big blind and he reraised to 265,000. Sarwer came right back over the top and made it 695,000. Skampa decided to five-bet all in and Sarwer instantly made the call with pocket queens. Skampa sheepishly tabled K9s a 9 on the flop made for a tense turn and river but ultimately the queens held crippling Skampa’s stack. He was eliminated the very next hand by Sarwer and took home a €117,128 prize for his 4th place finish.

It was almost another 3 hours before heads up play when Sarwer was eliminated in 3rd place. Getting in with 59 on a 9 high flop, Matias had him in bad shap holding pocket tens. The Canadian former child chess prodigy finished his 2nd consecutive final EPT final table with a €156,170 payday.

Matis now held a 7:1 chip advantage over Belgian Pierre Neuville going into heads up play. Neuville doubled up once, but soon an action flop saw both players getting all in. The flop came Jd 7h 8h and both players got into a raising war. Neuville had J10 for top pair and a gutshot while Matias held 78 for bottom 2 pair. The 7c on the turn made a boat for Matias and Neuville would need one of the 2 remaining jacks in the deck to make a better house. No such luck and Neuville was rewarded with €257,681 for his hard efforts.

António Matias’s local crowd were almost as delighted as he was to see him win the title in his home country along with €404,793 and a coveted EPT trophy.

Frenchman Lionel Foulquier was the luck winner when his quad 8s were the 2nd best hand to quad Queens on a €0.50/€1 No Limit table. Foulquier signed up to play at Poker Heaven during the summer having previously played poker for around a year.

Foulquier said: “I was aware that the jackpot was standing at over €600,000, but to be honest I didn’t think I stood any chance of winning it. When my quad 8s were beaten I immediately left the table to see if I had won, and when I realized I had, I spoke to a friend of mine to tell him that I had just won over €200,000, and at that point we were both left speechless. The atmosphere at the table when all the players realized we had won the Bad Beat Jackpot was amazing, and I would like to thank all of the players and the Poker Heaven staff for their best wishes and the support I have received. As to what to do next, I am planning to buy an apartment with some of the winnings and of course I intend to play a lot more poker!”

Poker Heaven Head of Gaming, Grant Williams, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have paid out our largest ever Bad Beat Jackpot, and the fact the winner is planning to buy a new apartment with his winnings, highlights the strength of this promotion and the life changing affect it can have on the players lucky enough to be involved in the winning hand. Our core focus is to give more value back to our loyal players, and with the Jackpot immediately reset to €120,000 we are hoping our next payout can surpass this times record breaking amount.”

Foulquier wasn’t the only lucky winner in this hand as the player holding queens took home €105,254.25 and 7 other players at the table each received €15,036.32.

With the WSOP main event finally behind us we thought we’d take a look at some of the big hands from the way back in July and how things went down at the final table.

Ivey Vs. Akenhead

With a raise and a call from Phil Ivey before him, Akenhead picked up A10 and reraised looking to pick up the pot. The original raiser got out the way with 910 suited but Ivey sensed he could get Akenhead to give up the pot and come over the top with J10. Akenhead thought about it for a moment, but was visibly disappointed not to have picked it up then and there and laid it down.

Ivey Vs. Smith

Towards the end of day 8 the signs of fatigue were started to show in even the best of players. Ivey raised in early position with pocket 8s and was raised by Jordan Smith in the big blind with A9. Ivey called and the flop came Qh 10s 5s with both players electing to check. The turn brought the Qs and yet again both players checked. The river brought the As giving Smith 2 pair but meaning any spade completed a flush. Both players checked yet again and Smith showed down his 2 pair, without re-checking his cards Ivey mucked his 8s, despite holding the 8 of spades which was good enough to take down the pot.

Moon Vs Kopp

Darwin Moon had to get his monster stack from somewhere heading into the final table, and Billy Kopp is certainly someone Moon will have to thank for his extraordinary run. With both players sitting with enormous stacks already, Kopp raised in early position holding 3d 5d and Moon called out of the small blind with Qd Jd. The flop came Kd 9d 2d – with both players flopping the flush there was sure to be fireworks. Moon decided to slow play and check-called Kopp’s 750,000 flop bet. The turn was the 2h and moon checked again, it seemed his trap had worked when Kopp bet 2 million into the pot, Moon raised to 6 million and the rest of the table was stunned when Kopp decided to push all in for over 20 million in chips. Moon pondered his decision and decided his second nut flush was good enough and called, leaving Kopp drawing dead and Moon well on his was to the final table.

The Final Table

After losing a massive hand with AJ to Schulman’s AK, Joseph Cada found himself treading water with the short stack at the table. It was going to take good cards, good fortune or both to propel him to victory from here. It seems fortune was smiling upon Cada as that’s exactly what happened. These are some of the key hands in Cada’s incredible run to WSOP glory.

Cada wins the Game-Changing Coinflip

Cada was sat at 5.8 million when he three-bet shoved over the top of Phil Ivey’s 1.25 million raise holding pocket fours. After a great deal of deliberation, Ivey made the call with A 8 and found himself in a 50/50 situation. Cada’s small pair held up and so he leapfrogged Ivey in the standings to survive and double up.

Cada outflops Shulman

Shulman raised in early position to 1.75 with pocket Jacks and the action folded round to Cada in the small blind holding pocket 3s. With 10.8 million in chips, Cada decided to shove all in and was looked up instantly by Shulman and was looking in bad shape with less than a 20% chance to win the pot. This quickly changed when he spiked a 3 on the flop, crippling Shulman’s stack and doubling up to 22.5 million.

Cada’s small pairs strike again

Down to 3 players, Cada opened the action with a 2.55 million raise and Saout raised to 7.3 million. Cada came back over the top and moved all in for just over 39 million and Saout immediately called and flipped over his pocket queens, Cada, holding 22, once again had over an 80% chance of being eliminated until he flopped yet another set with his deuces.

Cada’s support had barely finished celebrating when 4 hands later, Cada was to find himself in another all in situation. This time however, it was Saout who was all in for his last 40 million chips holding pocket eights. Cada showed his AK and needed to improve to eliminate Saout. The board came down a safe 5h 5c 4s 10d until painfully for Saout the Kc landed on the river sending Cada and Moon into heads up play and ultimately, Cada to WSOP victory.

The World Series of Poker Main Event has finally been brought to a close and the final heads up battle between Darvin Moon and, 21 year old, Joe Cada turned out to provide far more excitement than many had anticipated.

Heads up play began around 10:30pm PST after a congratulatory ceremony for the other seven final table finishers and as soon as play began there were indications this could prove to be an exciting heads up encounter. With the first board reading 3s Ks 2d Ad after plenty of raising on the flop, Cada checked and Moon fired 10 million into the pot – Cada called instantly and the Kc fell on the river. Both players checked and Moon showed pocket queens which were good enough to take the pot against Cada’s nines.

This early takedown seemed to spur Moon on and he pressed the opportunity to steamroll through every pot. Every time Cada tried to play back, it seemed Moon had enough to come right back over the top. It seemed Cada was struggling to pick his spots and the old adage that the most aggressive player would usually come out on top during heads up play was proving to be accurate.

The turning point finally came when Cada had had enough of being bullied off every pot by Moon and decided to make a stand. Cada raised to 3 million from the button and Moon called. The flop came 10c 5d 9h and both players checked. The turn came 10d and Moon checked again. Cada led out for 3 million and Moon announced almost immediately that he was all in. Moon now had Cada covered so this was a decision to be made for all his chips. After a couple of minutes deliberation, Cada made the call and showed Jh 9d for 2 pair. Moon showed 7s 8s for the open ended straight draw and would need either a jack or a six to claim the title. The atmosphere was tense as their was a long pause for the river to be dealt which came as the 3h – Cada’s 2 paid held and he was back up to 108 million in chips for the chip lead.

Cada managed to galvanise his position as the chip leader not long after when he hit 2 pair on a 10d Ks 7h 8h 9d board with his 9c 10c putting the stacks at 120.1 million – Cada and 74.7 million – Moon.

Just 8 hands after the double up Cada managed to deal the final blow he had been looking for. Cada raised to 3 million from the button and Moon re-raised 5 million more. Cada re-checked his cards and announced that he was all in. Moon checked his cards again and made the call. Cada flipped over 9c 9d and Moon had Qd Jd.

The crowd went wild with Cada and Moon’s respective supporters all calling for cards to come. The anticipation was great as everyone knew this could be the final hand of the main event. Each player had roughly a 50% chance of winning the hand, essentialy making this a $3.3m coin flip for Cada.

The flop came 8c 2c 7s putting Cada only 2 cards away from the most prestigious prize in the world of poker. The pressure was too much for Cada who was over in the stands with his railing support. The Kh peeled off on the turn, a face card providing a fleeting scare before team Cada recognised it as being safe.

The river fell as the 7c, not the queen or jack needed by Darvin Moon to keep him in the tournament and the room erupted in another wave of celebration as Joe Cada was crowned the youngest ever WSOP Main Event champion.

This week sees the conclusion of this year’s most anticipated tournament in the poker calendar, the World Series of Poker Main Event. To celebrate this occasion pokerchanneleurope.com will be taking a look at who comprises the final table, how they currently stand and how much they stand to win in this 40th World Series of Poker!

The current standings

1. DARVIN MOON – 58,930,000
2. ERIC BUCHMAN – 34,800,000
3. STEVEN BEGLEITER – 29,885,000
4. JEFF SHULMAN – 19,580,000
5. JOSEPH CADA – 13,215,000
6. KEVIN SCHAFFEL – 12,390,000
7. PHIL IVEY – 9,765,000
8. ANTOINE SAOUT – 9,500,000
9. JAMES AKENHEAD – 6,800,000

These are the by now infamous ‘November Nine’ battling it out for a share of $27,220,989 starting this weekend with the overall champion looking to take home an incredible $8,547,042, even the 9th place finisher can look forward to bagging a very impressive $1,263,602.

The November Nine

James Akenhead

James Akenhead is a professional poker player from London, England. Although he will be joining the table as the short stack – currently 9th place in chips – his impressive record in major live tournaments speaks for itself. Akenhead recently made the final table of the WSOPE main event cashing for $109,687. With the blinds at $120,000-$240,000 when play returns there is plenty of life left in this tournament so it could well be a mistake to write off Akenhead’s shot at a bracelet too readily.

Antoine Saout

Antoine Saout is a former engineering student who hails from Saint Martin des Champs, France. Saout takes a highly analytical and mathematical approach to his game and often plays many tables at a time online. He qualified for the main event through Everest poker through a $50 satellite and amongst those pleased to see him make the final table are 50 other Everest poker players who each received $19,000 thanks to a promotion run by the room. Saout joined Akenhead on the final table for the WSOPE main event and cashed for $186,039 for his 7th placed finish earlier this year.

Phil Ivey

Phil Ivey is a man known to almost anyone who has sat at a poker table. Held in the highest of regard by his peers, Ivey is often regarded as the best poker player alive today. With 7 WSOP bracelets to his name (the youngest player ever to achieve this) including 2 bracelets from other tournaments in the 2009 world series of poker Ivey will be looking to make history as the youngest player to ever win 8 bracelets. Ivey has amassed over $12m in lifetime winnings placing him 3rd on the all time money list. Finishing 5th or better in the main event would see him propelled to 1st place on the all time money list. Although Ivey is only 7th in chips going into the final table, many bookies have placed Ivey amongst the favourites to win given his phenomenal ability to read people.

Kevin Schaffel

Kevin Schaffel is the most senior player at this year’s final table at 52 years of age. Having played poker for 40 years and every WSOP main event since 2004 and already cashing twice previously, Schaffel will be looking to make a big impression at the final table. Schaffel finished 2nd in a tournament in LA this August cashing for $471,670 so joins a number of players at the table who have already had a very successful 2009.

Joseph Cada

Joseph Cada is already a highly successful poker pro at the age of 21. Prior to 2009 Cada already boasted nearly $500,000 in lifetime tournament winnings and has already cashed in 2 other WSOP events this year. Should Cada win the event this year he will beat Peter Eastgate’s record (set last year) of youngest ever winner of the WSOP main event.

Jeff Shulman

Jeff Shulman is no stranger to the pressures of a World Series of Poker final table having finished 7th in the 2000 main event. Shulman is an editor of cardplayer magazine and has an incredible record at the World Series of Poker, cashing in numerous events and boasting more than $2m in career winnings.

Steven Begleiter

New Yorker Steven Begleiter has been playing poker most of his life, but is not a professional poker player unlike most of the November Nine. A successful financier for 24 years, Begleiter qualified for the main event through a 22-person home game league – he also plans to donate 20% of his winnings to the participants in the league.

Eric Buchman

Poker pro Eric Buchman started out playing poker at college and hasn’t looked back since. With $900,000 in tournament cashes already in his name prior to the main event Buchman will be looking to capitalise on his position as the second largest stack at the table and go one further than his 2nd place finish at the 2006 WSOP limit hold em event.

Darvin Moon

Darvin Moon of Oakland, Maryland will begin the final table as chip leader with 30% of the chips in play. This is the first WSOP event Moon has played in – he won his seat in a live satellite and almost opted for a cash alternative instead of the seat. Moon has only been playing Hold’em for 3 years having learned to play 7 card stud as a child. Moon has never played online and doesn’t even own a computer! Moon’s run to the final table never saw him put all his chips at risk and he will be hoping this cautious approach will serve him well on his bid for bracelet glory!