In the early hours of this morning (well, 4.25am to be exact), German poker pro Thomas ‘Buzzer’ Bihl defeated American superstaress Jennifer Harman in the £2,500 HORSE Freezeout to win the first ever World Series of Poker Europe bracelet and take home a cheque for £70,825.105 players turned up to the Series’ opening event, many being American pro’s shipped in from across the pond. In fact, a quick glance at the field and the sea of recognisable faces, and one soon realised that this was perhaps the toughest pound-for-pound field in the history of British poker. The likes of Annie Duke, John Juanda, Allen Cunningham, Doyle Brunson, Erik Seidel and Patrik Antonius were all there, with only a handful of players missing in action, one of them ironically being this year’s WSOP HORSE Champ, Freddie Deeb.
However, there was plenty of homegrown talent looking to take on the Americans, Dave Colclough, Joe Beevers and Gary Jones probably with the best chance of snatching glory. Even Dusk Till Dawner Richard Ashby was a factor early doors, at one point holding the chip lead with just over 20k before seeing it dribble painfully back down to the felt.
Although all eyes were fixed on our American friends, the final table was actually an eclectic selection, 5 countries in all being represented: Alex Kravchenko (Russia), Kirk Morrison (New Zealand… just) and Thomas Bihl (Germany) fighting it out against Joe Beevers and Gary Jones of the UK, and Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman and Yuval Bronshtein of the US.
Although holding a commanding chip lead for much of the tournament, Kiwi Kid and WPT Final second placer, Kirk Morrison, would eventually fall in third for £26,250 leaving Harman and Bihl to lock horns for that top spot.
It took 4 hours in the end to rid the tournament of our final player, but with Harman down to just three or four big blinds, she pushed in with the best hand but found herself rivered by an 8 outer when the dealer threw out a 6 to give the German a straight, and ultimately, the title.Another player to taste glory was Aussie Millions runner-upper Jimmy ‘Gobboboy’ Fricke (right), but although he took home £5,250 for his 16th position, his triumph was more within the confines of the record book, officially becoming the youngest player to cash in World Series history.
However, the day belonged to Bihl. A well known player among the Betfair community, Bihl is more used to causing a stir online, his biggest victory coming in the big Party Poker comp just weeks before WSOP 2005 for a quite spectacular 250k.
Stoic, although possibly exhausted, in his acceptance speech, Buzzer was modest in victory but deep down surely elated. I certainly would be if I’d just won a bracelet.