Horsing Around and Other Stories: Day 3 from London

Day 3 of the first-ever World Series of Poker Europe is in the bag after fourteen hours of wholesome poker-y goodness. The third day of competition from the Casino at the Empire in London's Leicester Square saw the tournament's first gold bracelet handed out and the beginnings of the Series' second event (or, according to Commissioner Jeffery Pollack, the 2007 WSOP's 57th event).

It's final-table time!

The day began at 2 p.m. local time with two events on the docket, the completion of the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event and the commencement of the two-day, £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha contest, with the former having reduced itself to a final table the night previous and the latter expecting a much larger, much more Eurocentric turnout than its half-priced predecessor.

Filling out the feature table in the Shadow Club at the Empire were eight of the horsiest nags in poker, led by chip-leader Jennifer Harman and including the likes of Kirk Morrison, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Joe Beevers, Alexander Kravchenko and Thomas Bihl. Also joining the table were American Razz specialist Yuval Bronshtein and green-haired goblin Gary Jones.

Hair: 10. Chips: 0.

Jones, who entered the day last in chips with a mere $30,000 to his name, was first to go, falling to Jesus' wrath during a Limit Hold'em segment after getting all of his chips in the middle on fourth street with A-K to Fergie's middle-pair and gutterball straight draw. The river would give Jesus the straight and the Green Goblin the boot, sending him home in eighth place with £9,188 in supplementary funds.

Next to hit the rail would be Hendon Mobster and H.O.R.S.E. neophyte Joe Beevers, who brought only one $10 mixed-game tournament to the tables at the beginning of the event but who managed to translate that lack of experience into an £11,812 payday after three days of intensive field training. Beevers would bow out in seventh place after watching Kirk Morrison table the nut-flush to bust him in an early Omaha round.

Southernplayalisti- cadillacbustout.

ATLien Yuval Bronshtein was next to go, despite finding himself the popular sleeper pick for Atlanta-based journalists of the Associated Press. Bronshtein would hit the bricks, ironically, during a Razz segment after getting into a war with Thomas Bihl and committing his stack with a 9-5 low. Bihl would table the 8-7 for the win and Bronshtein would cash out, earning £14,438 for his sixth-place finish.

Fifth place would go to Alex Kravchenko, the KGB-looking barnacle of a man who seemed to fold his way into millions at the 2007 WSOP Main Event and who exhibited more of his trademark tenacity at this final table. Kravchenko would fight valiantly, but eventually succumb to Kirk Morrison when the Captain made a queen-high flush and the nut-low during an Omaha segment, consigning the Russian to the rail with a £17,850 consolation prize.

He is risen.

It would be Jesus who would ascend from the table next as Chris Ferguson would succumb in fourth place. Like Kravchenko, Ferguson fought valiantly with the short stack but couldn't hold on forever. He'd fall with ace-high against Thomas Bihl's rolled-up kings in the Stud segment and take home £21,700 in a losing cause.

That left but Kirk Morrison and Jennifer Harman to do battle with Bihl. Morrison had told PokerListings.com the night previous he expected to play Harman heads-up for the bracelet, but Captain Kirk proved himself no prophet on this day, finding himself rendered eliminato a distant third at Harman's hand after the diminutive pros scooped the pot in a round of Eights with a pair of jacks and Morrison unable to muster a low hand. K-Mo earns £26,250 for the runner-runner-up finish.

Heads-up!

Harman and Bihl were thus pitted against one another at last, the combatants nearly neck-and-neck in the chip-counting department as the heads-up match got underway. Both players, egged on by the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Marcel Luske, Marco Traniello and Commissioner Pollack, seemed primed for an epic match and they got one, battling back and forth for the better part of three hours and trading the chip lead like heavyweight fighters before Bihl finally gained a dominating advantage.

Winnar.

The German pro would take a 9:1 chip advantage into the final Hold'em segment and it wouldn't take him long to capitalize, getting the last of Harman's chips into the middle on the turn of a K 7 7 T board with 9-8 and a spade to Harman's 10-x for two pair. The river card would be a glorious six, making Bihl's straight and awarding him the first-ever WSOP bracelet won on foreign soil. Bihl also receives £70,875 and the honor of an exclusive PokerListings.com interview for his victory.

Meanwhile, out on the crowded gaming floor of the Empire, Day 1 of the £5,000 PLO event had played out over the previous twelve hours. The tournament saw 165 hopefuls pony up the funds, including American superstars Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Negreanu and Johnny Chan and an increased complement of European professionals (Michael Greco, Alan Smurfit, Johan Storakers, Ben Roberts, John Duthie, Juha Helppi, David Ulliott, etc.) to fill out the Eurorounders affair.

The day would also mark the tournament Omaha debut of one Jamie Gold, who entered the event having just learned the game in question two nights before but who jumped out to an early chip lead while playing every pot at his table with fearless audacity. Eventually, Gold's ultra-loose-aggressive habits would catch up to him, and within three hours Hollywood Jamie was no more.

If you can't spot the American Hold'em player at the table within thirty minutes, Jamie...

Joining Gold on the rail during the day's proceedings would be players like Annette Obrestad, Negreanu, John Juanda, Chan, Greg Raymer, Hellmuth, Gus Hansen, Annie Duke, Kirk Morrison's chair and the aforementioned Brunson, while success stories on Day 1 included Tony G, Eli Elezra, Roland De Wolfe and Nenad Medic.

Payouts for this event are quite tidy: with 165 players the prize pool is £825,000, of which eighteen players will partake. Lowest earners will take home £8,580 while first prize is a very nice £234,390. As this is a two-day tournament, we'll play down to that six-figure award by early tomorrow morning.

PLO Day 2 is the only event on the schedule for Sunday, and as such you can bet that PokerListings.com will be giving it our full and undivided attention throughout the day. We'll bring you comprehensive hourly updates as well as our trademark jaw-dropping photography, exclusive interviews and the trashy bits of gossip nobody else sees fit to print. Goodnight from London!