Turning up for an international poker tournament these days can feel like you’ve stumbled into a college frat house. The latest leg of the World Poker Tour (WPT) showed that these young pretenders can’t half play too. Whilst much of the city of Barcelona would have still been partying, that was the last thing on the mind of 18-year-old Lukas Berglund. That is until he finished his demolition of the WPT Spanish Championship field.
On his way to the title, the young pretender eliminated all seven of his final table opponents. The last of these was Roman Matteoli. There was no mammoth WPT heads-up to be found though. Berglund finished off his opponent in a frenetic 15 minutes that must have left Matteoli wondering what day it was. It was Sunday and Berglund had just walked away with €206,000. You’d imagine he’ll be back in the playground telling all his friends on the jungle gym today.
The latest stop on the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) saw the other end of the age spectrum flourishing. Sam Barnhart won the first World Series of Poker (WSOP) of the year after taking down a field of 100 qualifiers at Caesars Palace at the ripe age of 50.
The Arkansas native won a $180 satellite and $1,500 main event at Harrah’s in Tunica, Mississippi to get into the event. After playing like a lights out pitcher, the final out came in the shape of James Anderson in heads up. It delivered him the first place prize of $300,000 and a place in WSOPC and WSOP folklore.
