EPT Dublin - Live Updates

This tournament is over! In one of the biggest upset wins we've seen on the EPT, Reuben Peters has defeated Annette Obrestad to claim the title and the first-place cash prize! Before the conclusion Peters had pulled near dead even with Obrestad.

The final hand began with Peters raising to $52,000 from the button and Annette re-popping to $190,000. Peters made the call and the flop came down T♣ 6♥ 3♦ and Obrestad pushed $230,000 across the line. Peters counted out chips, what looked to be about $600,000, before simply announcing all-in. Obrestad was clearly unhappy with the situation as she showed just the faintest glimmer of apprehension, a rarity from Annette_15.

After a bit of time in the tank she said call. It wasn't clear who had more chips but the cards were rolled regardless. A♠ T♥ for Peters was in the lead against Obrestad's 7♥ 7♠ and the crowd was on its feet as the dealer burned for fourth street. The turn brought the 4♣, which gave Obrestad a few more outs for the win, but the river came the 3♥ and the pot was awarded to Peters.

After a count by Lee Jones and the dealer it was confirmed that Reuben Peters did indeed have Annette covered and just like that, we had a winner. Annette Obrestad receives €297,800 for her runner-up finish and Reuben Peters, after battling back from a 7-1 chip deficit, takes the title and the €532,620 first-place cash prize.

Reuben Peters had seen his stack slip somewhat since heads-up play began but has just doubled to around $920,000. It began with Peters calling from the button and Obrestad checking her option in the big blind. The flop came 9♥ 6♦ 4♥ and Obrestad fired out $29,000. Peters announced raise and made it $85,000 to go. Obrestad moved all-in and Peters made a quick call. J♦ 9♣ for Annette was trailing Reuben's 6♠ 4♦ and after the turn and river missed both hands he was good for the double.

A few posts ago we called Annette Obrestad the undisputed heavyweight of running good but apparently that was a bit of an understatement as she just knocked out Trond Eidsvig and added to her already-immense chip lead. It began with Reuben Peters raising to $45,000 from the button and Obrestad re-raising to $130,000.

It may be helpful to add that Obrestad had re-raised multiple hands leading up to this pot and, in our eyes at least, had very little credibility when she re-popped this one. Trond Eidsvig, in the big blind, may have been thinking along the same lines as he shipped it for $286,000. Peters got out of the way and Obrestad quickly called. Pocket jacks for Eidsvig were in bad shape against Annette's pocket aces and the board ran 5♣ 2♠ 2♥ T♠ Q♥. Eidsvig is out in fourth for €127,630.

Annette Obrestad has just cemented herself as the undisputed heavyweight of running good after taking a massive pot from Reijo Manninen courtesy of a rivered inside straight. The hand began with Obrestad opening to $30,000 from the button and Manninen calling from the big blind. The flop came down 8♠ 5♥ 3♦ and after a check from Manninen, Obrestad bet out $43,000.

Manninen raised to $110,000 and Obrestad re-raised to $243,000. Manninen made the call and the turn paired the board with the 3♣. Both players checked and the river was the 4♦. Manninen checked and Obrestad bet out $300,000. Reijo tanked for only a short time before making the call. Obrestad turned over A-2 for the rivered straight. For some reason the dealer forced Manninen to show his hand, Q-8, which was strange because he was the one to call the bet on fifth street.

Reuben Peters was just one card away from becoming the latest Obrestad-related fatality but managed to flop a monster draw which hit on the river. It began with Peters raising to $35,000 from under the gun and Obrestad re-raising to $92,000 from the button. The blinds got out of the way and Peters quickly announced all-in. Obrestad called just as quickly and we went to showdown with Reuben's tournament life on the line. Q♦ J♦ for Peters needed to improve to beat Obrestad's A♦ K♥ and he got part of the way there when the flop came 9♦ 8♦ 2♥. Any diamond, ten, jack or queen would do it. The 3♠ hit the turn, no help, but the Q♣ on the river paired him up and he doubles to about $420,000.

Daan Ruiter started the day second in chips but quickly found his stack chopped down before being ousted by Annette Obrestad. The majority of his stack found its way across the felt to Reijo Manninen in a huge $1.1 million pre-flop all-in. Pocket aces for Manninen were in great shape against Ruiter's A-K and after he failed to suck out he was left with about $220,000. Not long after he found himself all-in with A-T in bad shape against the A-J of Obrestad with the jack that hit the flop spelling disaster for Ruiter. The board finished with no change to the situation and he is out in fifth for €105,510.

In yet another short-stack-induced fatality, Anders Pettersson now finds himself on his way to the rail. He was relatively short-stacked and moved in for about $75,000 after it was folded to him in the small blind. Trond Eidsvig made the call from the big blind and turned over A♥ 4♠ which was leading Eidsvig's Q♥ 7♠. The board improved neither hand and Pettersson is out in sixth place for €83,380.

Michael Durrer of Germany just had a big pre-flop all-in confrontation with Trond Eidsvig which left him completely crippled. The money went in with Eidsvig's pocket queens in good shape against the A♠ Q♣ of Durrer. The board went 9♣ 8♦ 6♣ 4♥ K♣ and the pot is shipped to Eidsvig, leaving Durrer with just $20,000 to his name. On the very next hand he moved all-in from under the gun and it was folded around to Annette Obrestad who re-raised to $50,000. The blinds got out of the way and we saw Annette was ahead with A♣ Q♦ to Durrer's K♠ 5♥. The dealer turned over T♠ T♣ 2♣ 6♣ T♥ and just like that we are down to six. Michael Durrer is out in seventh place and will take €66,370.

We are down to seven here at the Royal Dublin Society with the elimination of PokerStars qualifier Thierry Van Den Berg. It began with Van Den Berg opening to $25,000 and Daan Ruiter making the call. The flop came down K♦ Q♣ 2♥ and Van Den Berg fired again, pushing in $18,000. Ruiter called again and the turn brought the A♠.

Van Den Berg fired a second barrel for $46,000 and Ruiter again called. The river was the A♦ and Thierry moved all-in for $245,000. Ruiter tanked for some time before making the call. The second Ruiter announced call, Thierry stood up from the table and began to shake hands, clearly on a bluff. The dealer turned over both hands and we saw Ruiter's A-4 had Van Den Berg's 8-3 absolutely crushed. Van Den Berg is out in eighth and will take €47,650.

Just a short time into the afternoon we have our first elimination! After taking a bad beat and doubling-up Reuben Peters just a short time ago, Casper Hansen got his money in bad against Annette Obrestad. Annette raised from under the gun and Hansen moved in with pocket queens. Obrestad snap-called and tabled pocket aces. Hansen was not treated to the same miracle card as Peters and becomes our ninth-place finisher for €30,630. Obrestad, meanwhile, is up over $900,000.

Reuben Peters came into the day as one of the shorter stacks but has managed to get his money in and get extremely lucky to double-up on one of the first hands of the day. He had moved in on the very first hand but got no callers. This time, however, he shipped it and got looked up by one Casper Hansen.

When the cards were rolled we saw he was in terrible shape with pocket nines to Hansen's pocket kings. A nine on the flop changed things considerably, putting Peters way ahead in the hand. He improved to a full house when the board paired on the turn and Hansen was down to just two outs on fifth street. It was a blank though and Peters doubles to about $360,000.

Reijo first took up poker in the early 1970s. He says he then had to give it up again in the 1980s "because no one else was playing" but is now enjoying a comeback with success in a wide variation of games including final-tabling in the Sökö (a kind of Scandinavian Five-Card Stud) championships. He's now enjoying a two-month break from work and is focusing on playing online SNGs on PokerStars. He said: "I don't normally have time to play live tournaments but I'm enjoying EPT Dublin!"

After studying business and IT at college, Michael has since devoted himself to a lifetime of gambling. Billiards, sports betting, cards - Michael has done the lot. But a few years ago he broke his leg and, while convalescing, decided to take up poker. He said: "It was only after losing around €20,000 that I decided I'd better start playing properly. I bought books, started studying and now I'm getting results." Michael came 12th at EPT Baden last month for €30,000 but his biggest win to date was €60,000 in Enschede in Holland last May.

Trond, who comes from the tiny village of Ǻlesund on the west coast of Norway, is making his second EPT final table in less than three months after winning €250,800 for fifth place in Barcelona at the start of EPT Season 4. Trond turned professional 18 months ago and played at EPT Dortmund last season but got knocked out early in the second day. Since his Barcelona success, Trond has hit a hot streak in the cash games in the last couple of months.

This poker pro from Copenhagen bought in direct to the EPTs in London and Barcelona - without getting any return on his investment. Now he's in Dublin after winning a satellite on PokerStars - and has finally secured the cash position his talent deserves. Of his table image, Casper says: "I like to play relaxed, a bit sloppy, like I can barely count to 10." Are his final-table opponents going to fall for that old line?

Just after he turned 18, Anders qualified for the Swedish Pokermiljonen televised tournament in Tallin, where he found himself on the same table as Mats Rahmn and Peter Eicchardt. He plays a lot online and has been to a few EPTs - but reaching the EPT Dublin final table is his best result so far.

The "Annette_15" rumors began surfacing last year, about how a Norwegian teenager was spreading fear and panic on the Internet with a super-aggressive and highly lucrative style of play. Reputations were destroyed and egos crushed. For many, the first public sighting of this Internet phenomenon was at the EPT Grand Final last March, but her early forays into live play were unspectacular. Clearly, she was waiting for the top prize in Europe, which she landed when picking up the WSOP Europe title and a cheque for £1m.

Reuben "seaanchor" Peters comes from the U.S. ski resort Telluride where he trades stocks for a living and plays $100 online re-buy tournaments for fun. He's a serial PokerStars qualifier. As well as winning numerous WSOP and PCA seats, he also qualified for the EPT3 Grand Final in Monte Carlo in April. In WSOP 2006, he cashed in 65th place for $90,000. Reuben's wife Amy hasn't come to support him in Dublin as she was here just a few weeks ago with some friends - they came to The Police reunion concert in Croke Park.

Daan turned pro at the start of EPT Season 4 and immediately got a good result - by coming 25th in Barcelona for €16,700. He is also studying for his Masters degree in real estate at Groningen University. Online he only ever plays cash games but he loves live tournaments and the chance it gives him to get a read on his opponents. Today's final-table appearance in Dublin is his best tournament success so far.

Thierry, a former chef from Almere, is a regular PokerStars qualifier and won four EPT seats last year on PokerStars, as well as four WSOP seats. He turned his WSOP satellite success this year into a place at the final table. He also qualified for EPT Baden in October - and came fifth for €132,900, and now he's on his second EPT final table in less than a month. Thierry, who has a six-year-old daughter, turned pro a year ago.