With hold’em and HORSE in the bag, it was time to buckle up and enjoy the roller coaster ride that was event 3’s £5,000 Omaha double-chance freezeout. And what a star-studded event it was too! As we scoured the arena, almost every table was brimming with familiar faces including Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow, John Phan, Patrick Antonius, Phil Hellmuth, Freddy Deeb and John Juanda, not to mention WSOP hero Marty Smyth. Even eventual bracelet winner Sherkhan Farnood had bought a ticket, his chips gradually dwindling as the HORSE final table played out simultaneously.Within the 165 thick field, there were of course multiple handfuls of fearsome Brits, many of whom would fall early doors. Karl Mahrenholz missed a flush draw against Chris Bjorin’s two pair, Roy Brindley took out Nick Gibson with a flopped flush, and Jerome Bradpiece was sent home by Shaun Deeb’s pocket kings. Neil Channing, Joe Beevers and Devilfish made it to day two, but would ultimately miss out, the latter seeing his flopped set of kings out-gunned by Markus Golser’s wrap and a flush draw.
One man who did flourish, however, was Europe’s top ranked Omaha tournament player Dave Penly. (pictured) Never really threatening the chip lead, Penly grinded his way through the three days before reaching a final table line up that included recent hold’em/Omaha bracelet winner Max Pescatori:
Seat 1: Erik Friberg -- 189,000
Seat 2: David Penly -- 162,000
Seat 3: Jason Mercier -- 650,000
Seat 4: Sorel Mizzi -- 290,000
Seat 5: Tomi Nyback -- 434,000
Seat 6: Theo Jorgensen -- 897,000
Seat 7: Max Pescatori -- 126,000
Seat 8: Eric Dalby -- 277,000
Seat 9: Chris Ferguson -- 282,000
With Tomi Nyback snapping up ninth, it would be the shock exit of Jason Mercier (right) that would emerge next, the San Remo EPT victor enduring a torrid final table before finally being taken out by Theo Jorgensen. All in on a Td-Jh-As flop with Ts-7s-8d-9d versus Theo Jorgensen’s Ac-Ah-5s-5d, Mercier hit his straight on the turn, but couldn’t out-gun the Dane who made quads on the river.As Chris Ferguson, Dave Penly, Max Perscatori and Erik Friberg picked up seventh to fourth respectively, Jorgensen continued to increase his lead, at one point boasting a three to one lead over his nearest competitor. Meanwhile, Sorel Mizzi and Eric Dalby were doing their best to stay in touch, and after both competitors enjoying crucial double ups, the chip positions were as such:
Theo Jorgensen -- 1,400,000
Eric Dalby -- 990,000
Sorel Mizzi -- 920,000
Sadly for the British contingent on the rail, it was Dalby who took second. He moved in with top pair and an open ended straight draw, but found himself drawing dead to Jorgensen’s made straight. However, at the ripe old age of 78, retiree Dalby put on a monumental performance and, as with the continual heroics of Brunson, once again proved that the old guard could still compete with the game’s new blood.
Jubilant in victory, Jorgensen launched into the arms of fellow countryman Martin Vallo and gleefully celebrated his nation’s second bracelet of the week. With multiple EPT finals, a final table in Vegas, and an eighth in last year’s main event, Jorgensen was understandably overjoyed to have finally sealed a first place finish and could barely contain his excitement. Mizzi, meanwhile, looked inevitably dejected to have missed out on bracelet gold, but with youth and talent both on his side, his time will come, and we’ll no doubt be seeing him pick up a bracelet in the upcoming years.
1st Theo Jorgensen (Denmark) -- £218,626
2nd Sorel Mizzi (Canada) -- £132,000
3rd Eric Dalby (UK) -- £84,562
4th Erik Friberg (Sweden) -- £66,000
5th Max Pescatori (Italy) -- £51,562
6th David Penly (UK) -- £41,250
7th Chris Ferguson (USA) -- £33,000
8th Jason Mercier (USA) -- £26,812
9th Tomi Nyback (Finalnd) -- £22,688