Phil Ivey managed to come third in the EPT over in London, so how are Europe’s top players faring against an All-American field? The Bellagio, for those whose wallets can take it, is both pleasantly sumptuous and hosting the WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic this month, and quite a few have traded December here for December there. And I don’t blame them.
It was the day of the Devilfish in the $2,000 hold’em event last week, with top spot going to
someone with a nationality other than American; there have been relatively few Europeans popping up in the cash lists (with some very notable exceptions). Dave Ulliott wins a $25,000 seat in the WPT finals for his top finish, as do the winners of all the events apart from the Seniors No Limit Hold’em (hard luck Tikay wannabes). His quarter of a million dollars must be satisfying too, although that’s about £1,500 at present, so I hear.
A Dutchman, Steve Wong, topped the field in the $2,500 event, while the $3,000 was taken down by Ralph Perry, with a top form Roland de Wolfe coming second for a healthy $125,000. The final table also included paisley aficionado Peter Gould (who came 6th) and the outspoken Mr. David Plastik. David Daneshgar won the $5,000 event – remember him from this year’s EPT Barcelona? He finished fourth back then, adding to his pretty steady set of results stateside. And with him came France’s Fabrice Soulier finishing 6th, with Noah Boeken and Erik Seidel cashing too (the latter not European, but thought you’d be interested).
Peter Gould popped up in 6th place again, this time in last week’s $2,000, on what must have been an interesting final table, stocked as it was with David Pham, Men The Master, Barry Greenstein and winner JC Tran.
The Main Event ($15,000) is probably just getting underway right now, and runs until December 19th. We’ll be keeping an eye out for UK and European players hidden like in Where’s Wally among the hordes of local players and famous faces. And (advance warning) there may well be a blonde live update from the WPT Final in April… watch this space.