In 2007, 37 years after the first-ever World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and four years after Chris Moneymaker’s epic victory in 2003, the WSOP moved into Europe. It had been a long time coming, and many poker players and fans were surprised that it had taken so long for the WSOP to cross the Atlantic. And when it arrived, drama followed.
JOIN THE POKER TABLES AT THE WSOP!
An Introduction to European Poker
After the better part of four decades in Las Vegas, the WSOP came to Europe, specifically to the Empire Casino in London. England’s capital was the scene, and with just three events, each one needed to hit the target to bring the WSOP back to the hearts and minds of European crowds in the future.
Thankfully for everyone involved, each tournament was a terrific tribute to poker’s ability to travel well. Ask someone you know who loves poker if they know the name and nationality of the world’s first WSOP bracelet winner outside of Las Vegas. You can almost guarantee that they won’t know that it was relatively unknown German player Thomas Bihl.
Qualifying for the opening £2,650 ($3,450) H.O.R.S.E. event through tournament sponsor Betfair, the event attracted 105 players and paid out the top 16. On his way to victory, Bihl beat some big names, including John Juanda (14th), Barny Boatman (12th), Joe Beevers (7th), and Yuval Bronshtein (6th).
Three Americans stood between Bihl and his title of the first-ever WSOPE champion, and he saw them all off. Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson, the 2000 WSOP Main Event champion, fell in fourth place for £21,700. Out in third was Kirk Morrison for £26,250, which left only Jennifer Harman standing between Bihl and immortalized glory. Given Bihl’s career trajectory and Harman’s, it might have been even bigger for poker if Harman had won the bracelet, but she fell in second when Bihl’s straight and flush draw came in on the river to give him the top prize of £70,875, which remains the biggest score of his career.
“It’s every poker players’ dream to win a bracelet,” Bihl said after achieving his dream. “I hope the good run continues.”
Alioto Adds to Non-American Winners
Despite an influx of American players, the series’ second event saw a final seven comprised entirely of non-U.S. players. Players put down £5,000 ($6,500) to play Pot Limit Omaha, and just 18 poker players would cash. Some legends of the felt made a profit on their buy-in, with John Duthie (13th), Roland De Wolfe (11th), and Andy Bloch (8th) all finishing in the black.
Bloch was the last American standing before Antanas Guoga or ‘Tony G’ missed out on a WSOP bracelet in just two places. His exit in third for £94,380 was followed by the heads-up battle for the bracelet between Italy’s Dario Alioto and the Hungarian player Istvan Novak. Eventually, Alioto became the third player from Italy to win a WSOP bracelet, having been beaten to the accolade by Valter Farina, who won Italy’s first in Seven Card Stud in 1995, and ‘The Italian Pirate’ Max Pescatori, who won gold in No Limit Hold’em in 2006.
“I want to be the best player in the world at this game,” Alioto told reporters after his win. “This is very special.”
Alioto may not have quite met his expectations, but he has won over $2 million in live poker events, including many PLO tournaments. Still a big player close to 20 years later, Alioto loves Pot Limit Omaha, and PLO loves him right back.
The Main Event Maxes Out
Entries were strong in the first two events, but nothing gets poker players excited like the thrill of a £10,350 ($13,450) WSOP Main Event! With 362 entries, 36 poker players would make the money. Players who ended on the positive side of the ledger included the 2006 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold (35th for £27,150), Finnish star Patrik Antonius (29th for the same amount), Erick Lindgren (26th for £30,770), Annie Duke (21st for the same payout), Gus Hansen (10th for £41,630), and Hansen’s fellow Dane, Theo Jørgensen, who came 8th for £85,070).
The pay jumps were brutal, as was the action. Just three hands in the short stack, James Keys, shoved from the small blind with an offsuit Queen-Ten and was called by Magnus Persson, holding Ace-Nine of clubs. An ace on the flop followed by a clean run out was the end of Keys’ run as he hit the rail in 9th. Next to head home was the most experienced player at the final table, Theo Jorgensen, who got it all in with pocket tens. He was immediately looked up by John Tabatabai, who had been playing very aggressively, holding pocket kings. There was no help for Jorgensen, who was left very short and was knocked out 3 hands later in 8th by Annette Obrestad.
Magnus Persson was the next poker player to find themselves all in and on the wrong side of Tabatabai’s kings. After starting the day second in chips, Persson was all in preflop with an offsuit King-Ten. The board ran out, and Tabatabai’s dominating hand held. This was shortly followed by Dominic Kay shoving from the big blind with pocket sixes. Matthew McCullough woke up with snowmen and made the call. The flop brought a third 8 and a straight draw for Kay. Unfortunately, no further help arrived, and Kay was out in sixth.
Fifth place went to Johannes Korsar, who was Tabatabai’s next victim. Shoving all in over a raise with two callers, Korsar, with King-Jack off, was called by Tabatabai with six-six. The board again ran clean for the better hand as Tabatabai continued to grow his stack. Oyvind Riisem was the next to fall when he shoved with pocket nines only to see Matthew McCullough flip A-A. Riisem earned £257,020 for finishing in fourth.
Obrestad Makes Poker History
With nine making the final table, Jordan Griff had the chip lead with 143.7 million chips, 23.7% of the chips in play. That was a strong lead over both Brian Kim (94.6m) and Niklas Astedt (94.2m), with only Joe Serock (83.6m) having more than half of the chip leader’s stack as the final got underway.
An early exit for French player Malo Latinois earned him $1 million for ninth place. This was followed by the bust-out of popular professional player Joe Serock in eighth for $1.25m and the exit of Brian Kim in seventh for $1.5m. That period of play left just two Americans in with a chance of victory, and somehow, they reached the heads-up stage still in their seats.
Spanish player Andres Gonzalez was the next man to go, earning $2m for losing in sixth place. As Niklas Astedt took control, the Bulgarian Boris Angelov lost out in fifth for $2.5m. The payout structure was altered from 2023 where the winner Daniel Weinman was awarded $12.1 million. The top prize in 2024 was lower despite more entries, at just $10m but allowed for a flatter division of the prize pool.
After Canada’s Jason Sagle busted in fourth for $3m, Niklas Astedt led the final three but he was to be the next man to leave after a bad run ended with him missing out on the final battle. All-in with top pair and a flush draw on the turn, he lost to Griff’s set of nines, as the American faded the river and went into the final duel with an almost 3:1 chip lead.
Tamayo Takes Title
With three players remaining, John Tabatabai led with 3,500,000 chips, and Matthew McCullough in second on 2,600,000. The teenager Annette Obrestad was the short stack on just 1,100,000 chips. Over the course of the next couple of hours, Obrestad’s aggression and fearless nature at the felt paid dividends, putting her ahead at the final dinner break of the event.
Matthew McCullough was the first of the final three to bust, earning £570,150 in third place when his flopped flush draw with top pair led to all the chips going in. John Tabatabai only had middle pair, but an ace to go with it, which paired up on the turn. Play moved to heads-up, with the Englishman ahead on 4,244,000 chips to Obrestad’s 2,966,000.
Poker history was assured, with the Londoner Tabatabai looking to become the first from England’s capital to win the WSOP Europe Main Event. On the other side of the table was Obrestad, and if she could do it, she’d become the youngest WSOP bracelet winner in history. A £1,000,000 in cash – the top prize – was brought into the Empire Casino by The Corps of Commissionaires, with their white hats and white gloves, carrying in bundles of £50 notes on silver platters before sliding them onto the red poker felt, to the amusement of both heads-up players.
Heads Up for Gold
Over 70 hands, both players duked it out with marginal movement in the stacks. Obrestad slowly built a slim lead and grew that in the tentative affair before the pivotal hand. A flop of 7-6-5 saw all the money go in, with the Norwegian holding top set to Tabatabai’s six-five for a flopped two-pair. The board ran out, and the British player drew dead on the river. After a thrilling 210 hands of action in the WSOP Europe Main Event of 2007, the youngest-ever bracelet winner, Norway’s Annette Obrestad, won the top prize, one million pounds.
After her landmark victory, Obrestad continued to play poker for some years, building her winnings to just under $4 million. She played in high-profile games against legends of the felt, such as Doyle ‘Texas Dolly’ Brunson and Phil Hellmuth. Now semi-retired, she has a successful YouTube channel called Annette’s Makeup Corner, which focuses on her love of eye shadow and makeup. In 2022, she turned to competitive live Scrabble and is currently recognized as one of the top 100 players in North America.
The first WSOP Europe festival consisted of just three events, but thanks in no small part to Obrestad’s phenomenal victory, it inspired generations of players to take to the WSOP tables outside of the United States of America. In 2008, a very famous poker player became the first person in poker to reach the Main Event final table in both Las Vegas and Europe.
| Player | Country | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Annette Obrestad | Norway | £1,000,000 |
| 2nd | John Tabatabai | United Kingdom | £570,150 |
| 3rd | Mathew McCullough | United States | £381,910 |
| 4th | Oyvind Riisem | Norway | £257,020 |
| 5th | Johannes Korsar | Sweden | £191,860 |
| 6th | Dominic Kay | United Kingdom | £152,040 |
| 7th | Magnus Persson | Sweden | £114,030 |
| 8th | Theo Jorgensen | Denmark | £85,070 |
| 9th | James Keys | United Kingdom | £61,540 |
2024 WSOP Main Event 2008 WSOP Europe
About the Author: Paul Seaton has written about poker for over 10 years, interviewing some of the best players ever to play the game such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Over the years, Paul has reported live from tournaments such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the European Poker Tour. He has also written for other poker brands where he was Head of Media, as well as BLUFF magazine, where he was Editor.