Canadian Success at WSOPE
Canadian Erik Cajelais, 27, has won Event 2 at the WSOPE – a Half Pot-Limit Hold’em / Half Pot-Limit Omaha with a buy-In of £2,500 that drew 158 runners creating a prize pool of £395,000. He claimed £104,677 and the Gold Bracelet . Following Two Second-Place Finishes in Majors, Montreal’s Erik finally earned his breakthrough victory. Despite the current economic climate through the first two events at 2009 WSOP Europe, the attendances are up 47% over last year. The 2009 World Series of Poker Europe is being played out at the Empire Casino, Leicester Square in London. Cajelais resembles a bodybuilder and spends many hours per week training. Most of his time is spent in the gym or at the poker table. This was Cajelais’ first WSOP gold bracelet victory. Prior to winning this event, Cajelais came close to victory a few times. He was the runner up in the $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event (with re-buys). That showing which was broadcast on ESPN, awarded Cajelais $483,755 in prize money. His combined lifetime live tournament earnings (all major tournaments worldwide) currently amounts to nearly $1.7 million. On his expectations prior to the start of WSOP Europe: “My goal was to win this one. My main focus was really on this tournament.” He said his second-place finish at the WSOP in 2007 motivated him more in this event: “It was extra motivation. I felt like I really, really, really wanted to win it. I had to do everything I could to win and today I played well and the cards came out my way.” The final table included four former WSOP gold bracelet winners – Men “the Master” Nguyen (6 wins), Chris Bjorin (2 wins), Howard Lederer (2 wins), and Hoyt Corkins (2 wins). The winner, Erik Cajelais arrived at the final table low on chips (ranked seventh out of nine). When play was susppended at five-handed, he was the shortest stack and appeared destined for a fifth-place finish. However, things changed dramatically during the later stages of play. Following a series of big pots, Cajelais regained his advantage for the first time since the end of Day One. Cajelais dominated play during the final hour of the tournament, particularly from three-handed play until the end. When heads-up play began, Cajelais enjoyed about a 10 to 1 chip lead over Mats Gavatin, who had been the favorite to win most of the day based on his stack size. Shortly into the duel, Cajelais won his first WSOP title when his Q-J-9-7 made a full house with a final board showing A-Q-Q-A-J. The runner up was 30-year-old Mats Gavatin, from Stockholm, Sweden, who had begun the final table with the chip lead. He worked as a baker before becoming a poker pro. Gavatin’s best previous showing was a win at the European Poker Tour’s Dublin championship, in 2005. As the runner up, Gavatin collected £64,705 in prize money. The third-place finisher was Robin Keston, from London, UK. He had arguably the best showing on Day Three, starting with the lowest stack and making it all the way to third place. The fourth-place finisher was six-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Men “the Master” Nguyen, from Bell Gardens, CA. Nguyen now has 66 cashes at the WSOP and more than $3 million in combined WSOP and WSOP Circuit earnings. However, his last title came back in 2003. Nguyen has come close to winning what has now become and elusive seventh gold bracelet, but came up short in this event when he ran cold in the later stages of the tournament. The fifth-place finisher was Richard Gryko, from Essex, UK. He is a 25-year-old poker pro. Gryko has a number of impressive tournament performances, mostly in Europe, which date back to 2003. But his biggest cash came in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, which he cashed for $164,932 by finishing 50th. That was the largest live poker tournament in history. The sixth-place finisher was two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Chris Bjorin, from London. Bjorin is originally from Sweden. He moved to London nearly 20 years ago, to concentrate on poker playing and sports betting (his specialties include golf matchups and American ice hockey). Bjorin won his gold bracelets in 1997 (Pot-Limit Omaha) and 2000 (No-Limit Hold’em). The seventh-place finisher was two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Hoyt Corkins, from Las Vegas, NV. Corkins is known as the “Alabama Cowboy,” as he is originally from Glenwood, AL. Corkins has been on of the game’s most popular players and is acknowledged as one of the world’s best pot-limit players. Corkins win his gold bracelets in 1992 (Pot-Limit Omaha) and 2007 (Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em). The eighth-place finisher was Ian Frazer, from London, UK. He has accrued more than $500,000 in career tournament winnings. The ninth-place finisher was Howard “the Professor” Lederer, from Las Vegas. The two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner and longtime poker advocate is one of the game’s most influential players. He is spearheading the fight to legalize and regulate online poker inside the United States. Lederer won his gold bracelets in 2000 (Limit Omaha High-Low) and 2001 (Deuce-to-Seven Lowball). Two players, Erik Cajelais and Robin Keston, played at the final table while simultaneously entered in WSOPE Event #3. When this tournament concluded at slightly past 5 pm (five hours into the next tournament), the players hurried over to their dwindling stacks in the £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha championship, destined to play several additional hours of poker.
Visit Betfair Poker NOW home of the WSOPE Main Event now
