Event 3, No-Limit Texas Hold'em Main Event - Live Updates

This tournament is over and the first-ever winner of the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event is an 18-year-old girl. Annette Obrestad has defeated John Tabatabai in heads-up play to win her first World Series of Poker bracelet!

The climactic hand saw both players see a flop come 7♣ 6♣ 5♥. Obrestad immediately moved all-in and after a few moments of thought, Tabatabai made the call, turning up 6♦ 5♠ for bottom two pair to Obrestad's pocket sevens for top set.

The Londoner was drawing nearly dead, and after the board finished out 2♣ Q♥ and the chips were tallied Tabatabai was officially dunzo, giving Obrestad game, set and match and turning the young online phenom into a champion!

Annette_15 sat motionless for a few minutes as she struggled to retain her composure behind her massive sunglasses. Eventually she lost the battle as the magnitude of her accomplishments overwhelmed her and as she was congratulated by a pair of well-wishers the waterworks started in earnest.

Obrestad has good reason to be overwhelmed: aside from becoming the youngest person ever to win a WSOP bracelet, she has defeated 361 other competitors and earned a £1 million first prize for her efforts. Meanwhile, second-place John Tabatabai earns £570,150 for his own tenacious effort.

Congratulations to both finalists and to Jack Effel, Jeffrey Pollack and the entire Harrah's/WSOPE staff for an amazing start to what looks to be a welcome addition to Europe's poker tournament calendar. See you next year!

Stay tuned for more highlights and analysis from today's final table.

The mood is a little antsy in the crowded confines of the Shadow Bar, with announcers and even Annette Obrestad getting a little restless.

"This is boring," Annette_15 observed a few minutes ago, and nobody on the rail bothered to disagree. If the girl playing for £1 million is bored, how restless must the railbirds be?

Blinds Up!

The blinds have gone up and we're now playing at $15,000/$30,000 blinds with a $4,000 ante.

Very Little Action!

After the increase in blinds and antes we've seen a decrease in action, with neither player seeming particularly eager to see a flop and both players getting a roughly equal number of walks.

A few of the more involved hands:

Obrestad raises to $100,000 and John Tabatabai calls. The flop comes 6♣ 6♠ 2♠ and Tabatabai check-calls Obrestad's $160,000 wager. The turn is the 2♦ and Tabatabai bets out $225,000. Obrestad calls and the river is the 9♦. Tabatabai checks this time and after Obrestad bets out $300,000, folds the hand and cedes the pot to Annette_15.

Tabatabai limps in and Obrestad checks her option. The flop comes A♣ J♦ T♦ and Obrestad checks to Tabatabai, who bets out $30,000. Obrestad calls and the turn is the A♦, prompting a check from Obrestad and an $85,000 bet from Tabatabai. Annette_15 makes the call and the river is the T♣ and Obrestad bets out $275,000. Tabatabai folds and it's another pot for Obrestad.

Obrestad limps in and then calls Tabatabai's $105,000 raise. The flop comes 4♥ 3♠ 2♣ and both players check. They check again on the turn, which is the 7♠, but after the river is the 6♣ Tabatabai bets out $80,000. After some heavy thought Obrestad makes the call and both players turn up K-Q for king-high. They chop the pot.

Chip Counts!

Here are the latest chip counts, courtesy www.worldseriesofpoker.com:

Annette Obrestad	$3,751,000
John Tabatabai	$3,489,000

Here are the highlights from a largely tentative first hour of heads-up play:

Good Read for Tabatabai!

John Tabatabai raises to $75,000 and Annette Obrestad makes the call. The flop comes T♣ 5♣ 5♦ and both players check. The turn is the A♥ and Obrestad check-calls a $90,000 wager from Tabatabai. The river is the A♣ and Obrestad bets out $150,000. After a very long period of rumination, Tabatabai makes the call. "I play the board," says Annette_15, and Tabatabai shows king-high to take the pot.

Huge Pot for Annette_15!

Obrestad limps in and Tabatabai checks his option. The flop comes A♣ K♦ T♣ and Tabatabai checks to Annette_15, who bets out $40,000. Tabatabai makes the call and the turn is the T♦, prompting an $80,000 bet from J.T. and a $275,000 raise from Annette. Tabatabai makes the call and the river is the 2♦. Again Tabatabai bets out and this time his $100,000 wager is re-raised to $400,000 by his teenage opponent. Tabatabai makes the call and Annette_15 shows Q♥ J♠ to rake a substantial pot.

Restraining Order One Time?

There is young man on the rail who has been watching Annette intently and who cried when the money was presented. We've learned the man's name is Jason, and despite being labeled Annette's boyfriend, he apparently has no romantic tie to the girl but is more than a little infatuated. The broadcasters have got a hold of Jason and are interrogating him about his quarry, and forgive us if we say we think Jason is answering the queries a little too competently right now. *Awkward*

Chip Counts!

Here are the chip counts, courtesy www.worldseriesofpoker.com:

John Tabatabai	$3,275,000
Annette Obrestad	$3,350,000

We've had a slight pause to set up the table for heads-up play and after a money presentation featuring £1 million in £20 notes more or less covering the table. Heads-up play for the prestigious title of winner of the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe Main Event is underway, and here are the chip counts:

John Tabatabai	$4,244,000
Annette Obrestad	$2,966,000

Stay tuned as we crown a winner!

John Tabatabai made it $70,000 to go pre-flop. Matt McCullough made the call and the flop went J-6-3. McCullough fired out $115,000 but Tabatabai re-raised to $350,000. McCullough came back over the top and re-raised all-in. Tabatabai thought for a minute or two and then made the call, flipping over A-6. McCullough is leading, however, with J-6 for two pair.

The turn card came A♦ and changed things considerably. Tabatabai was suddenly in the lead and it was McCullough who was in serious trouble. The river fell Q♣ and McCullough was eliminated.

The dinner break is over and despite the lack of press buffet the cards are back in the air from the Shadow Bar in the Empire Casino in London. Stay tuned as we play down to a winner!

Here are the updated chip counts, courtesy www.worldseriesofpoker.com:

Annette Obrestad	$3,575,000
John Tabatabai	$2,845,000
Matt McCullough	$1,090,000

 

We've now reached the end of the day's third level and it's time for the dinner break. Action will resume at 10 p.m. London time. Bon appetit!

The Empire Casino is buzzing with energy as Annette Obrestad has doubled through chip leader John Tabatabai. Obrestad open-shoved for $2 million and Tabatabai decided to make the call flipping over pocket jacks. Obrestad surprisingly showed a weak Q-J off-suit.

The board went 7-6-4-4 and things looked good for Tabatabai to knock Obrestad out of the tournament. The only thing that could save Obrestad was a queen.

The poker gods smiled on Obrestad and the river gave her a queen. Tabatabai is in shock and Obrestad has doubled her stack.

Here's what the chip stacks look like now:

Matthew McCullough	$2,601,000
John Tabatabai	$2,358,000
Annette Obrestad	$2,219,000

Matt McCullough raises to $60,000 and Oyvind Riisem re-ups to $200,000. McCullough comes over the top with enough to put Riisem all-in and Oy-Rii makes the call, turning up pocket nines to McCullough's pocket aces. The board comes 8♥ 7♦ 5♣ 4♣ K♦ and Riisem has been eliminated in fourth place. He'll take home £257,020.

We're now three-handed and each player is guaranteed at least £381,910.

A crippled Johannes Korsar pushed all-in with K♦ J♦ and got a call from John Tabatabai who showed pocket sixes.

The flop came Q-3-6 which gave Tabatabai the beast. The turn card was a deuce and Korsar was drawing dead. Korsar is eliminated.

Dominic Kay's luck has finally run out. Kay pushed with 6♥ 6♦ and the quiet American Matt McCullough called with 8♥ 8♠.

The flop came 9♠ 8♣ 5♦ and Kay was in for a world of hurt. The turn came 2♦ and finally the river fell J♦ and finished Kay's day. Good game and goodbye!

We've seen the blinds go up and have lost another player in the last hour of play. Here's how it all went down:

Annette_15 Doubles!

Annette Obrestad gets all-in pre-flop and after some substantial thought, Magnus Persson makes the call, showing 7♦ 7♣ to Annette_15's J♣ J♦. The flop comes 3♥ 3♠ 2♠ and Obrestad asks the table, "Did anyone fold a seven?"

She gets no answer, but the turn renders the point moot, bringing the J♦ and there's no need for a river card. Persson is drawing dead and has doubled up Annette_15 while crippling his own stack.

Magneto X'd!

After struggling with the short stack for a few rounds, Magnus Persson gets all-in for his last $124,000 and Johannes Korsar makes the call before John Tabatabai re-ups to $445,000. Korsar gets out and Tabatabai shows K♦ K♥ to Persson's K♠ T♥. The board comes A♥ 7♦ 5♦ 4♠ 3♥ and Persson is out in seventh place. Magneto earns £114,030 for his time.

Chip Counts!

John Tabatabati	$2,600,000
Matt McCullough	$1,562,000
Johannes Korsar	$1,330,000
Annette Obrestad	$850,000
Oyvind Riisem	$518,000
Dominic Kay	$302,000

After being crippled by John Tabatabai, Theo Jorgensen gets all-in three hands in a row. The first time sees him quadruple up and the second time sees him chop a three-way pot with Matt McCullough, but even after chipping up Jorgensen doesn't have enough to post the blind and is all-in before the deal.

The hand sees Annette Obrestad attempt to raise from the cut-off, but the young Norwegian pro throws in the wrong amount and is limited to a call. She and Jorgensen are joined in the pot by Dominic Kay and Matthew McCullough, and all live players check the flop and the turn as the board comes 7♠ 5♠ 4♥ J♠ 7♦. Obrestad bets out $75,000 on the river after McCullough is her only caller, Annette_15 turns up A-7 for trips, getting a muck from the American and from Jorgensen as well, who is eliminated in eighth place and will take home £85,070 for his time.

Here are the latest chip counts, courtesy www.worldseriesofpoker.com:

John Tabatabai	$2,258,000
Matt McCullough	$1,267,000
Johannes Korsar	$1,152,000
Magnus Persson	$850,000
Annette Obrestad	$800,000
Oyvind Riisem	$700,000
Dominic Kay	$320,000

 

 

Kay Doubles Through Tabatabai

Dominic Kay gets all his chips in pre-flop and action is folded to John Tabatabai. Tabatabai goes into the tank and ponders a call. At one point he says, "Do you want me to call or fold? I'll do whatever you tell me to do."

Kay says nothing and puts his hands over his face. After a few more minutes Tabatabai calls and flips over 6♣ 5♣ but Kay shows a dominating A♥ A♠.

The board comes 10-9-3-7-2 and Kay's aces survive.

Tabatabai Takes Monster from Theo Jorgensen

Jorgensen pushed all-in and Tabatabai called after thinking for a few minutes. Tabatabai showed KK while Jorgensen flipped over 10-10. The board went A♦ 9♣ 9♦ 6♠ Q♥ and Tabatabai is now the huge chip leader. Jorgensen is crippled and it's unlikely he will survive much longer.

We've played to the end of one level and eight players still remain. Here are the major moments from the last hour or so:

Huge Pot for Tabatabai!

Magnus Persson raises to $29,000 and is called by four players, including John Tabatabai. The flop comes 8♥ 4♠ 3♣ and the action checks to Persson, who bets out $65,000 and is called by Tabatabai only. The turn is the 2♠ and Persson check-calls a $145,000 bet from Tabatabai. The river card is the A♠ and Persson again check-calls, this time to the tune of $400,000. Tabatabai shows down 6♦ 5♣ for the straight and Persson mucks, giving Tabatabai a massive pot.

Chop Chop!

Oyvind Riisem raises pre-flop and John Tabatabai calls before Annete Obrestad re-ups to $135,000. Riisem gets out of the way and Tabatabai makes it a cool million. Obrestad calls all-in and shows A♥ K♣ to Tabatabai's A♣ K♦. The board comes 7♠ 6♥ 5♦ 2♦ 5♣ and the players chop it up.

Chip Counts!

Here are the updated chip counts, courtesy www.worldseriesofpoker.com:

John Tabatabai	$1,755,000
Matthew McCullough	$1,250,000
Johannes Korsar	$1,210,000
Theo Jorgensen	$900,000
Oyvind Riisem	$725,000
Magnus Persson	$680,000
Annette Obrestad	$550,000
Dominic Kay	$400,000

James Keys came into this table as the short stack and he's leaving as the first to go. Keys got all-in for his last $119,000 over the top of a $35,000 Magnus Persson opening raise. Persson makes the call and turns up A♣ 9♣ while Keys has Q♥ T♠. The board comes A♦ 7♣ 3♥ and Persson extends his advantage. The turn is the T♣ but the river is the 3♦ and Keys cannot make it stick, losing to Persson's pair of aces and busting in ninth place for £61,540.

The cards are in the air from the Shadow Bar in the Empire Casino and there's no stopping till Bracelet-Town. All aboard!

It's almost time for the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event and PokerListings.com is here to save you. Stay tuned right here throughout the day for hourly updates as well as as-they-happen elimination posts, thrilling photography and atrocious puns with little to no relevance to the topic at hand. The action will begin momentarily, so don't go anywhere!

Seat 1	Johannes Korsar	$1,134,000
Seat 2	Oyvind Riisem	$664,000
Seat 3	John Tabatabai	$982,000
Seat 4	Annette Obrestad	$697,000
Seat 5	Dominic Kay	$490,000
Seat 6	Matthew McCullough	$1,278,000
Seat 7	Theo Jorgensen	$605,000
Seat 8	Magnus Persson	$1,231,000
Seat 9	James Keys	$172,000