World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) has crowned its second champion in Paris after Henrik Johansson defeated Adriano Torre-Grossa in heads up action to capture the €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Re-Entry Title, and €129,700 First Prize.
From World Series of Poker (WSOP) the video game to a WSOP bracelet win in Paris. The young 21-year old Swede, Henrik Johansson, has decided to continue dreaming with his eyes open after capturing the hardware and €129,700 in prize money in Paris.
The online cash game player hardly ever plays tournament poker, which makes his run even more impressive, as he outlasted 659 entrants to hit the poker news headlines after winning his most significant pot of gold to date.
Here is a recap of the final tables main stories:
Final Table Starting Chip Counts
1. Henrik Johansson – 587,000
2. Daniel Weinman – 408,000
3. Daniel Laidlaw – 357,000
4. Adriano Torre-Grossa – 155,500
5. Jean-Philippe Tuffery – 142,000
6. Jose Obadia – 119,000
7. Andrei Konopelko – 101,000
8. Yaniv Jacque Botbol – 85,000
9. Serge Ekert – 28,500
Andrei Konopelko Eliminated in 9th Place: €12,134
The first player to eat dirt was the Belarusian Andrei Konopelko, and predictably it was Johansson who would take the role as vanquisher. The all-in and call confrontation pairing off the pocket sevens of Konopelko against the pocket jacks of the Swede, and the jacks would have their hand held aloft at the end of five cards of fury.
Jean-Philippe Tuffery Eliminated in 8th Place: €15,285
Jean-Philippe Tuffery will always remember his first live tournament cash as he took €15,285 for his eighth place finish. Tuffery was staring at a short stack before moving all-in holding [Qd] [9d], and his fellow countryman Adriano Torre-Grossa found the call with ace-queen. An ace on the flop cutting off the supply to excitement and Tuffery was out.
Jose Obadia Eliminated in 7th Place: €19,498
Once again it was Henrik Johansson shattering dreams as this time he needed the services of lady luck to eliminate the Spaniard Jose Obadia in seventh place. When the chips went in it was Obadia looking likely to double with his ace-seven dominating the ace-five of the chip leader, until the [7h] [4s] [3s] [Jc] [6d] peeled off a straight for the young Swede to send the Spaniard sauntering off to the sidelines.
Daniel Laidlaw Eliminated in 6th Place: €25,190
Adriano Torre-Grossa made sure there wouldn’t be back-to-back Australian bracelet winners after eliminating the impressive Daniel Laidlaw in sixth place.
Torre Grossa opened up the small blind and Laidlaw called in the large. The flop fell [9h] [6d] [2s], Grossa bet 17k and Laidlaw made the call. The turn card was the [Jc], and this time Grossa check-called a 45k Laidlaw bet. Finally, we saw the [Kh] on the river, Grossa once again checked, Laidlaw moved all-in for 216k and was quickly called. It was ace-seven for the bluffing Laidlaw and [Kc] [Qc] for top pair for Grossa.
Serge Ekert Eliminated in 5th Place: €32,992
There was more French on French action as Yaniv Botbol ended the hopes of Serge Ekert. Botbol finding [Ah] [Kh] in an all-in and call confrontation with Ekert holding the dominated ace-nine; two hearts on the flop, one heart on the turn and a cracked heart inside the ribcage of Ekert ending the action.
Daniel Weinman Eliminated in 4th Place: €43,772
Johansson would step on the gas with four players remaining, and the first player to melt under the pressure was Daniel Weinman.
When the pair played for stacks it was ace-nine for Weinman, ace-ten for Johansson and the latter rivered Broadway to sort that little entanglement out.
Yaniv Botbol Eliminated in 3rd Place: €58,860
Yaniv Botbol was the next player to face the might of Johansson after the Frenchman found pocket fours and a shove, only for the chip leader to find the cowboys. Revolvers were removed from holsters and when the smoke cleared Botbol was no more.
Adriano Torre-Grossa Eliminated in 2nd Place: €80,250
When the heads-up action started it was the Swede with all the momentum and the chip lead with 1,229,000 chips playing 752,000.
It took just 22-hands of action before the final all-in and call. Johansson opening the button and Torre-Grossa made the call. The dealer placed [Ts] [9d] [7h] onto the deck and Grossa made his move with a check-raise all-in. Johansson made the call and was streets ahead with [Th] [9s], for top-two, squaring off against [7c] [6s] for bottom pair and the gutter; Johansson never happier to see a pair of aces as both the turn and river contained rockets that fired the Swede into his first ever number one position.
“It feels good. I thought I was coming into the final table with a decent chance to win and I really enjoyed it.” Johansson told PokerListings after his victory.
Final Table Results
1st – Henrik Johansson – €129,700
2nd – Adriano Torre-Grossa – €80,250
3rd – Yaniv Botbol – €58,860
4th – Daniel Weinman – €43,772
5th – Serge Ekert – €32,992
6th – Daniel Laidlaw – €25,190
7th – Jose Obadia – €19,498
8th – Jean-Philippe Tuffery – €15,285
9th – Andrei Konopelko – €12,134
