PKR Live 2008 crowns champions - 18th November 2008

LONDON, England -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Poker magazine editor Philip Conneller (PKR username: escalope) bested a field of 150 players to take down the first ever PKR Live main event and the $20,000 first prize this weekend.

After twenty hours of play over two days, Conneller's 7-2os hit runner-runner to make an unlikely straight and take down the title. As he made the call, the monster chip leader said "I've always wanted to win a tournament with seven-deuce". It appears the poker gods were listening.

The first event of its kind, PKR Live saw players make their way from all over the world to London's Loose Cannon Club to play for a share in over $90,000 in prizes while soaking up the uniquely friendly atmosphere. The event was a phenomenal success, with player comments including "Better than sex", "a success of mammoth proportions" and "an awesome weekend" (full player comments can be viewed online at http://snipurl.com/5qx5l).

PKR Live kicked off with a friendly $60 welcome tournament. With 138 runners, the prize pool grew to over $8,000 with the top prize being scooped by popular forum poster Gareth 'ChivalrousGent' Rees.

The $500 Main Event started on day two, and with every seat filled it meant a juicy prize pool of $75,000.

The third day provided the conclusion of the main event plus another shot at glory in a special $10,000 bounty freeroll that offered extra prizes for players eliminating one of the twelve PKR staff enrolled in the tournament. After a fun filled eight hours, Demetris 'magicmoves' Theophanous prevailed to take the final title of the weekend.

The first foray into the live realm saw members from all tiers of PKR.com staffing including Malcolm Graham, CEO and PKR creator, Jez San, mixing it up with the players. The three-day festival was captured by a professional TV crew and highlights will be available to watch exclusively on PKR.tv
PKR Live 2008 Main Event Final Standings


1. Philip 'escalope' Conneller (London, UK) $20,000
2. Henrik 'Pokey85' Eklund (Stockholm, Sweden) $12,000
3. Daniel 'Dappadan777' Moosah (London, UK) $8,500
4. Raymond 'callmebabe' O'Mahoney (Dublin, Ireland) $6,500
5. Thomas 'OleEinar' Gunia (Weimar, Germany) $5,250
6. Pieter 'EurootJE' Salet (Tilburg, Netherlands) $4,250
7. Andrew 'Alfiemyster' Miles (Southampton, UK) $3,250
8. Barry 'Bazultra' Cole (Southampton, UK) $2,500
9. Kent-Ivan 'GreenFaith' Danielsen (Arendal, Norway) $1,850
10. Michael 'TheSqueeze' Panayiotou (London, UK) $1,400

The main event proved an extremely entertaining affair with the final table attracting a remarkable rail of observers soaking in the action as it drew to a close. Here's a closer look at the final tablists:

The PKR Live November Ten

1st place in seat 2: escalope (Final table starting stack 219K)

A veteran of the poker industry and seasoned live poker player, the very first PKR Live champion took down the main event in outrageous fashion – hitting a straight on the river after calling his opponent's all-in pre-flop. His hole cards – 7-2 off-suit (obviously) improved on the final card to beat off pokey85's J-8 and top two pair.

Having gone into the final table in fine shape with a 219,000 stack, escalope showed solid play to become chip leader by some margin, gaining a formidable presence behind the wall of chips he built over three and a half hours of final table action.

Prior to the start of the final table he revealed his slightly sinister side claiming that his favourite hand had to be pocket sixes looking to improve to trips. The ultimate victory with Texas Hold'em's worst starting hand suggests some kind of 'divine intervention' may have indeed been involved! But escalope truly deserves his $20,000 for first place and a massive congratulations for emerging triumphant after more than twenty hours of intense tournament poker.

2nd place in seat 4: pokey85 (232K)

Beaten at the last by home-grown escalope, pokey85 was gracious in defeat making him a true champion in his own right. Always the underdog in the heads-up battle against the eventual winner - who enjoyed a 5-1 chip lead - his defeat whilst ahead until the river adds a degree of weight to 'chip gravity' theories.
A native to Sweden's capital city, pokey85 plays both online and live games back home and recently enjoyed a trip to Macau after winning his way to an APT qualifying package on PKR.com. He claims to be a firm follower of Phil Ivey and judging by his current form it might not be long until he's giving his pro-idol a run for his money.

PKR.com is offering the chance to book a flight to Manila for the next leg of Asia's richest ever poker tour, the APT. Satellites are rolling right now up until the event takes place in January 2009.

3rd place in seat 5: dappadan777 (188K)

Another player on home soil, dappadan777 started the final table with a healthy stack of 188,000 in chips. He held firm to walk away with $8,500 and a commendable third place finish.

Although the 'Dapper Dan' likes to play in big tournaments, he is well-known on PKR.com as a cash game king with a super tight-aggressive style.

The only exception to his strict starting hands rule, he claims, stem from his love-affair with J-10 of clubs – apparently "heads up you can get a lot of pocket pairs into trouble with the draw options…"

Besides being a hugely successful online player, you can also find dappadan777 hitting the real-life baizes. An avid attendee of The Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London (The Vic) and sometimes The Empire, Leicester Square, he adorns the £2 / £5 tables twice a week, looking for shark-feed in the "juicy action" on offer.

4th place in seat 8: callmebabe (340K)

Rolling in late on the first day, callmebabe used his hyper aggressive style to maximum effect, recovering well and building his stack into the chip lead by the start of the final table. Unfortunately the overnight favourite lost some big pots early on and slid down the rankings as the game progressed.

A considerable payday still came his way with $6,500 for a fourth place finish – a result he says has inspired him to move more into the live poker realm and away from the £3 / £6 cash tables he frequents online.

A big fan of Andy Black and of 10-7 suited in the hole (for the disguise value of course), his experience at PKR Live has shown callmebabe the value of the live tournament because of the interaction you get over a long period of time. Finishing fourth, he was battling wits for over 14 hours of tournament poker – a priceless addition to his experience library.

5th place in seat 9: OleEinar (86K)

A very colourful character from Weimar in Germany, OleEinar started the final table as one of the shorter stacks and in complete fear of callmebabe.

After a manic first day in the main event he admitted that fatigue was affecting him but the thought of jetting off to Vegas with the grand prize in his pocket kept spurring him on.

OleEinar is no stranger to the live game but plays the majority of his poker online – both cash and tournaments. Notably, he recently registered a respectable fifth place in the Oktoberfest 2008 'TV Sunday' and is looking forward to his moment of fame on PKR Tournament Television.

All TV tournaments, including the TV specials from Oktoberfest can be viewed 24/7 on PKR.tv. PKR Live footage will also soon be available to watch exclusively on the web channel.

6th place in seat 3: Eurootje (84K)

Eurootje finds a place somewhere in the PKR.com record books having raked enough to make Platinum member level of Club PKR within ten months. Club PKR is unprecedented in the industry with its 'always up, never down' policy and Platinum status made sure Eurootje received VIP treatment at PKR Live as well as entitlement to a host of other exclusive benefits for life.

A live game aficionado, Eurootje finds the selection on offer not quite up to scratch in his home town of Tilburg, Holland. Nonetheless, he frequents live card rooms up to four times a month and was all too happy to make the trip over to London for PKR Live.

Rewarded handsomely with a cool $4,250 for his sixth place finish, the 'push-fold' strategy he has based around calculated players, like Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer, proved to be a worthwhile investment.

7th place in seat 6: Alfiemyster (87K)

Alfiemyster considers himself a cash game titan and only signed up to PKR.com after seeing PKR Live featured in a respected poker magazine. A week later he made the final table of the very event he signed up for, successfully transferring his tight-aggressive ring game strategy from the UK circuit to the tournament scene.

Playing across a range of casinos and card rooms nationwide, including Grosvenors and Stanleys, Alfiemyster enjoys the offerings on PKR.com because, "PKR brings the fun factor back into poker. When I saw the preview for the live event I thought it was amazing value, so here I am!"

Adopting a 'raise-fold' strategy into the second day of the main event, his short stack didn't go too far but cashing over $3,000 for his efforts should take his bankroll up a rung or two.

8th place in seat 1: Bazultra (120K)

Also hailing from Southampton, Bazultra took the trip northbound to PKR Live with mixed expectations. After running bad for weeks he made three final tables in the week prior and then took down the coveted 'TV Showdown'.

A frequent player across brick and mortar card rooms, 'Baz' as he is known in the PKR forums, is looking to raise his stakes in live play – PKR Live giving him a decent bit of practice on his way up.

His game in the run up to the final table proved him to be a hard rock to crack and, inevitably, he admitted that his favourite hand was indeed bullets. Eighth place and $2,500 of winnings left him happy to return to the south coast after what he described as a "top notch weekend."

9th place in seat 7: Greenfaith (50K)

"When I win I'll buy a new car and travel a bit, probably to Vegas, but I have to make a move soon!" Unfortunately at the final table the 'faith' only went so far for a rock solid player who likes to use the 'bluffer' stereotype commonly associated with Scandinavian players to his advantage.

Greenfaith is a massive live tournament player, getting involved in live Sit & Go action three or four times a week when at home in Norway. Favourite hands include low pairs, especially 3-3 and 4-4 which he moves with ultra-aggression pre and post flop.

10th place in seat 10: TheSqueeze (45K)

The earliest exit on the final table, TheSqueeze went from nothing to something and back to nothing again – trebling up early on with a pair of threes which held, blind, against two over cards – the insurrection of the shortest stack was, however, short lived.

Forum favourite and ever the entertainer, TheSqueeze graced the table with character reminiscent of his avatar (he often dons a clown suit on PKR.com) and took home $1,100 – a sum just a fraction of his epic win in the PKR.com Sunday Classic a week earlier.

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