Barry Shulman Wins WSOP Europe Main Event

• Author: Qid
• Filed under: Daniel Negreanu, High Stakes News, Matt Hawrilenko, Online poker, Poker, WSOP, WSOPE
• Date: Oct 2,2009

Shulman (pictured), who won his first bracelet at the 2001 World Series of Poker in the $1,500 seven card stud hi-lo event, conquered the highly talented final table, beating Canadian poker superstar and fan favorite Daniel Negreanu in the heads-up battle.

Negreanu, who was in the WSOP Europe final table last year as well, had many chances for winnings his first WSOPE bracelet, fifth overall, but Shulman had better luck and eventually managed to turn the tables.

In the first big hand Negreanu held a 5:3 chip lead when shulman called all-in after flopping a flush draw with A-5 of hearts. Negreanu turned over pocket aces on the Kd-8h-6h board, but the turn filled Shulman’s flush and shulman jumped to 3:1 lead.

Negreanu fought back and took the lead again when he was dealt Q-J and players saw jack-high board. Negreanu bet out and was suprised when Shulman moved all-in. After several minutes in tank, Negreanu finally called and saw that he was against pocket aces. The turn gave Negreanu lead when he spiked a jack, but the final card crushed the Canadian as Shulman found one of the remaining two aces.

In the final hand both held a pocket pair, Negreanu had fours and Shulman tens. A ten on the flop all but sealed the tournament and after two blanks, Shulman was crowned the new WSOP Europe main event champion.

Last year November nine member and eventual WSOP runner-up Ivan Demidov made the final table of the WSOPE, but this year two members of the November Nine reached the final table! Antoine Saout and James Akenhead made the final table, but their tournament didn’t last long, as Akenhead was eliminated first in 9th place and Saout soon after in 7th place.

In November another Shulman, Barry’s son Jeff, can make history, as it would be a stunning feat if father and son could win both the WSOP Europe and the WSOP Las Vegas main events during the same year.

The final table was packed with talent as besides Shulman and Negreanu, four other WSOP bracelet winners played in the final. Matt Hawrilenko (8th), Chris Bjorin (6th), Jason Mercier (4th), the dominant chipleader going into the final table, and Praz Bansi (3rd) had all tasted the WSOP gold before.

Here are the final results of the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event:

1. Barry Shulman - £801,603
2. Daniel Negreanu - £495,589
3. Praz Bansi - £360,887
4. Jason Mercier - £267,267
5. Markus Ristola - £200,367
6. Chris Bjorin - £150,267
7. Antoine Saout - £114,228
8. Matt Hawrilenko - £87,074
9. James Akenhead - £66,533

Sources: WSOPE, pokernewsdaily