Thomas Bihl Wins Historic First World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Bracelet

Poker Writer Joe Rounder If you’re into poker, you know it’s not the first time that you’ve ever heard of a World Series of Poker bracelet. In fact, those WSOP bracelets have been around quite a long time. Take a quick trip into a Las Vegas poker room like in The Bellagio, and you might spot a couple of them. Phil Hellmuth has about 11 WSOP bracelets since he earned a first in 1989. Doyle Brunson has 10 WSOP bracelets since he won a first one back in 1976. Johnny Chan’s also got 10. Johnny Moss has 9.

However, there aren’t any WSOP bracelts being offered in Europe. If ever you wanted one, you had to be in Vegas when the World Series of Poker kicks off. Well, not until today. The 2007 World Series of Poker Europe just kicked off a few days ago, and it holds a similar set of events like the World Series of Poker in Vegas, but the only difference is that it is now in Europe. To be specific, at the Empire Casino in London, England.

The historic first ever World Series of Poker Europe bracelet was won by Thomas Bihl, who topped the WSOPE Event #1, which was a 2,500 pound buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament.

The tournament started out with a field of 105 top players had narrowed to the final eight for a final table showdown. Fulltilt Poker pro and 2-time WSOP bracelet winner Jennifer Harman started the day with the chip lead in one of the toughest final tables in recent memory. Among the big names seated at the final table of the WSOPE 2,500 H.O.R.S.E. Event #1 were British poker pro Gary “The Choirboy” Jones, The Hendon Mob’s Joe “The Elegance” Beevers, WSOP bracelet holder Kirk Morrison, Yuval Bronshtein, WSOP bracelet holder Alex Karvchenko, Fulltilt Poker pro and 5-time WSOP Bracelet winner Chirs “Jesus” Ferguson.

The WSOPE 2,500 H.O.R.S.E. Event #1 had a total prize pool of 262,500 English pounds, paying out 16 places. The first to get eliminated from the final table was British poker pro Gary “The Choirboy” Jones who had all his chips in on the first orbit when his Ah-Kh suited rain into Chris Ferguson’s 8-9. Gay Jones, who dyed his hair bright green to raise awareness on global warming and climate change, raised pre-flop, which was called by Ferguson on the big blind. Jones bet on the flop ofÂ Jc-10s-6h, which was check-raised by Ferguson. Jones called, then called all-in when Ferguson led out the bet with the 8s showing up on the turn. A 7 on the river gave Ferguson a straight, and Jones was sent to the rail in eight place with 9,000+ pounds for his achievement. Thomas Bihl Wins First WSOPE bracelet in 2,500 HORSE event

Hendon Mobster Joe ‘The Elegance’ Beevers, who is well-known to British poker fans for his performances on Late Night Poker and a London native at that, busted shortly after in 7th place with nearly 12,000 pounds in his pocket. Yuval Bronshtein lost in a Razz hand against Thomas Bihl, and was rewarded nearly 15,000 pounds for his 6th place finish.

Alex Kravchenko followed shortly in fifth place during the Omaha-8 leg ofÂ the tournament. Kravchenko was knocked out by Kirk Morrison when the river gave Morrisson a flush and the nut low to send Kravchenko to the rail with nearly 18,000 pounds for the fifth place finish.

Kirk Morrison increased his chip lead into the dinner break as former chip leader Jennifer Harman almost slid to elimination. However, it was Ferguson who was the first to be eliminated after dinner in Stud Hi when Ferguson ran into Bihl’s Kings in the hole. Chris Ferguson’s 4th place finish earned him almost 22,000 pounds.

Kirk Morrison had a commanding chip lead among the last 3 players, and Jennifer Harman was severely short-stacked. Harman, however, was able to claw her way back into contention, and even passed Morrison’s chip stack, moving her up to second position while Thomas Bihl maintained the chip lead.

Morrison was eventually knocked out during Stud Hi/Lo action when Morrison pushed all-in on sixth street hoping for a draw that could improve his high or low, but Harman’s cards remained ahead for the High, and Morrison missed his chance to hit his low. Morrison earned almost 27,000 for his 3rd place finish.

Heads up play between Bihl and Harman went for over 100 hands and several lead changes before Bihl took down the final hand during No Limit Hold’em play. Harman hit a 10 on the river to give her 2 pair with two sevens showing on the flop. She made a huge bet that Bihl called, drawing on an open-ended straight and a flush. A 6 on the river gave Bihl his straight and Harman was pot-committed with the two-pair. Harman earned over 40,000 pounds for her second place finish while Thomas Bihl took down over 70,000 pounds for his first place finish, his first ever WSOP bracelet and historically the first ever WSOP bracelet ever won outside of Nevada.

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