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WSOPE Main Event: Juanda Victorious

By Simon Hopper

3rd October 2008

It is Juandas fourth bracelet of a glittering career

John Juanda captures the 2008 WSOPE Main Event after an epic final table....

It took almost 22 gruelling hours of final table play but at 10:30am John Juanda emerged as the WSOPE Main Event Champion of 2008, earning a cheque for £868,800 in the process.

It is Juanda’s fourth bracelet of a glittering career which has spun over 10 years and has now earned more than $8million in live tournament winnings.

Though given his last WSOP win was back in 2003, he says he has had to put up with some banter in the intervening years: “It's so long ago when I won my last bracelet, I can't remember. It's embarrassing. Some people have to keep up with the Joneses. I have to keep up with the Iveys and Cunninghams and Negreanus!”

Juanda did battle with young Russian Stanislav Alekhin in an epic heads-up confrontation that lasted the best part of 7 hours (this marked the most hands ever played at a World Series final table at 484). The key hand occurred when the Full Tilt pro doubled up with K6 on a KQ7 board against his opponents flush draw, which failed to hit. This crippled Alekhin, who shortly after pushed his depleted stack in with A9 only for Juanda’s K6 to river quad 6’s and lock up victory.

The final table had been loaded with talent, and the likes of Scott Fischman (6th, £171,950), Daniel Negreanu (5th, £217,200), Bengt Sonnert (4th, £271,500) & Ivan Demidov (3rd, £334,850) all enjoyed a hugely successful 2008 ME at the Empire.

But hats off to Juanda, a legend in his own right and a worthy successor to Annette Obrestad. Now all attention will turn to the PokerStars London EPT across at the Vic as tournament season well and truly hits top gear.