World Series Of Poker Europe

Since kicking off in London’s glittering Empire Casino last Friday, 410 of the world’s best poker players have been battling it out in the first bracelet event of the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe, the £1,500 No Limit Hold’em. The four-day event eclipsed all previous records in becoming the largest poker tournament ever held in London.

Although poker greats such as Phil Ivey, Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu all flew over the pond for their chance at glory, none of them have made it into today’s final table where the winner will walk away £144,218 richer.

Instead, the lineup for this afternoon’s play looks like this;

1. Fuad Serham, UK, 61,000
2. Daniel Nutt, UK, 207,000
3. Yevgeniy Timoshenko, USA, 345,000
4. John Dwyer, Ireland, 511,000
5. Ian Woodley, UK, 153,000
6. Jesper Hougaard, Denmark, 89,000
7. Linda Lee, USA, 121,000
8. Neil Channing, UK, 199,000
9. Adam Junglen, USA, 795,000

Coming into the table with a commanding chiplead is online superstar Adam Junglen. After displaying a ferocious and aggressive style all week to accumulate this stack, the 20-year-old will be looking to finish the job off and become the second-youngest bracelet winner in WSOP history (behind only Annette Obrestad of course).

Two other notables looking to challenge the young American are Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Neil Channing. Timoshenko is fresh off a stunning victory in August’s APT Macau, before another great performance at the Barcelona EPT where he finished 2nd.

Channing will be no stranger to any follower of European poker either. A high-stakes cash game player for many years, 2008 has been somewhat of a breakthrough year in tournaments for the likeable Londoner as he took down the Irish Open and has consistently performed well. Always popular with the rail and his fellow players, ‘Bad Beat’ Channing will be looking to put the icing on a very special year by claiming his first WSOP bracelet.

Play begins at 1pm GMT and check back here for full results tomorrow.