EPT London’s Latest Champions; WPT London Latest

EPT’s Main Event Conclusion

EPT London’s frivolities came to a joyful end for two players over the weekend as the Main Event and £10,000 High Roller came to a conclusion.

First to litter the Victoria’s casino with confetti after six days of action was the £5,000+£250 Main Event and its winner, Ruben Visser.

Having navigated his way through a field littered with potential stack busting landmines, Visser eventually emerged from the debris and into the clear as the newest EPT Champion.

After besting 647 runners, including some of the game’s toughest pros such as Daniel Negreanu, Jake Cody and Chris Moorman, Visser raised the trophy and a cheque for £595,000.

The Dutch student’s success came after a three-way deal at the final table guaranteed him at least £455,000. Then, with just Olof Haglund and Mantas Visockis in his way, he proceeded to dominate the match and scoop the remaining £140,000.

Indeed, with Haglund watching from the rails, Visser finally collected Visockis’s remaining chips when his [Ad] [Qs] caught a pair on the river against his opponent’s pocket tens.

*Denotes a deal

…Elsewhere at EPT London

While Visser and his crew celebrated his largest tournament win to date, Talal Shakerchi was busy proving that “pro” status doesn’t always win you tournaments.

Having come through a tough £10,000 High Roller field of 112 runners, the British amateur saw off challenges from Faraz Jaka and Fabian Quoss to claim his second live title.

While Shakerchi is no stranger to High Roller tournaments, having previously taken down High Roller title at last year’s EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final, the hedge fund manager doesn’t class himself as a pro.

However, regardless of how he’s branded, the amateur player managed to win the event and add another £436,330 to his lifetime earnings.

WPT National London

In the wake of this season’s EPT London a number of pros took the opportunity to stay in the UK’s capital and compete in the WPT’s first National event in the city.

Over the course of two starting days the cashiers’ desk inside Aspers Casino welcomed a total of 218 players, pushing the prizepool beyond the £300,000 mark.

That meant when play resumed on Day 2 the 115 survivors had only one figure on their mind: £80,000.

In a field that saw former sporting stars, such as Teddy Sheringham, sitting alongside the likes of WSOPE bracelet holder Scott Shelley, it was Daniel Bergmann who would leave the most disappointed.

Having survived until just 28 players remained, the German player thought he was in a fine spot to improve his chances of progressing past the bubble when he moved all-in with [As] [Kh].

However, his assumption proved premature as Sebastian Muller was able to quickly call with pocket aces and put his tournament life (and that of the bubble) in jeopardy.

A five card spread from the dealer did nothing to change Bergmann’s fortunes and, before the rest of the field could mentally spend their guaranteed £3,000, he was heading for the exit.

Today’s session kicked off earlier with just 27 players remaining and already a handful of players have hit the rail, including Jack Salter who was almost as concerned about his cup of tea as he was his elimination: “I busted out and now I have no cup of tea. It’s been a bad day.”