Midway through yesterday evening, Danish poker professional Christian Grundtvig became the Paris World Poker Tour Champion for 2006, netting himself a lucrative €712,500 and a free passage into the Bellagio €25,000 Grand Final.
Grundtvig, from Hellerup in Denmark, started the final table in 4th place, but, with just 28,000 separating the first four, it truly was anyone's game.
As expected, it was start-of-the-day chipleader Thomas Whalroos who took the early initiative, being the first to break the 1 million mark. But, he was to eventually fall foul to the might of Grundtvig and Finnish star Jani Sointula, finally being forced to settle for 3rd spot and a cheque for €243,750 when his A-3 off ran into Christian's pocket ladies.
Henrik Witt took 4th, Patrick Schuhl 6th, but the top prize for most dejected has to go to Philip Yeh, who genuinely appeared gutted with his 5th place finish. Head in hands, the devestation in his face was clear to see as he exited the cardroom to the flashing cameras of the press.
Although all 6 players put in top notch performances throughout the 5 days (to which they were rewarded with T.V exposure and running commentary from Patten and Sexton), the limelight was to eventually fix upon the gleaming smile of Grundtvig. Fully supported in the press room, Grundtvig wasn't short of fans, all of whom were glued to the T.V monitor, cheering every scoop and dropping shoulders to every loss.
Although his name isn't a household one, Grundtvig isn't short of success. In addition to his 4th place Baden finish of the EPT's Season 2, Christian has surpassed the six figure mark before (although to not such an excessive extent), when he made 8th spot in the 2006 PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure.
As one of his friends screeched, 'Another victory for Denmark', it made me think back to recent Scandinavian successes and the incredible victories that members of this section of Europe seem to be amassing. With Mads Andersen, Mats Iremark, and Thomas Middelthon, the Scandies are really out in full force, and showing no signs whatsoever of slowing down. They bombard these European events, and often find a winner.
Something tells me that the near future will see more Scandinavian victories, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Christian and Jani making final table returns, adding more Euros to their already impressive backlog of cashes.
Watch out Europe!