Canadian Erik Cajelais took the spoils at yesterday's WSOPE £2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha tournament. Cajelais faced the likes of Men "The Master" Ngyuen, Richard Gryko and Mats Gavatin as he returned for the final. Despite being heavily out-chipped as the final got underway the man from Quebec fought his way to the front to claim the second bracelet of the 2009 WSOPE.
Cajelais cuts a striking and imposing figure at the poker table. The usual image of a poker player may be one of a person who is not in the greatest shape. Cajelais, on the other hand, sports a physique that would put many top athletes to shame. It seems mind and body are in good order for the man with an impressive list of big tournament results in recent years. Once play reached the heads-up stages yesterday Erik had managed to overturn his chip deficit to become a dominant chip leader over Swedish pro' Mats Gavatin. Gavatin put up a brave fight but the writing was on the wall in that contest some way before the official conclusion.
Cajelais told the WSOP; "I felt like I really, really, really wanted to win. I had to do everything I could to win, and today I played well and the cards came out my way." But he played down his physical fitness by noting; "I think once you reach 50, 60 or 70, then maybe fitness is a factor. But if you are young and in decent shape, it should not be hard to play for long periods."
There wasn't much time for Cajelais to enjoy his new bracelet and £104,677 prize money. He had already registered for the £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event which began during the latter stages of event 2. Cajelais quickly joined in the action in that tournament, despite being blinded away for the first two levels, in an attempt to re-build his stack. We'll have the news and results from that event here at Betfair very soon.
In the meantime here are the official cashing players from the £2,500 PL Hold'em/Omaha event:
1. Erik Cajelais (£104,677)
2. Mats Gavatin (£64,705)
3. Robin Keston (£47,858)
4. Men Nguyen (£35,412)
5. Richard Gryko (£26,619)
6. Chris Bjorin (£20,106)
7. Hoyt Corkins (£15,302)
8. Ian Frazer (£11,732)
9. Howard Lederer (£9,117)
10. Nikolay Evdakov (£7,643)
11. Dino Brivati (£7,643)
12. Michael Abecassis (£7,643)
13. Allie Prescott (£6,521)
14. Tristan Clemencon (£6,521)
15. Harri Suni (£6,521)
16. Brian Johnson (£5,660)
17. Vitaly Lunkin (£5,660)
18. Sampo Lopponen (£5,600)