Event #1 – Phil Laak Wins First Bracelet

Going into the final table of Event #1, the £2,650 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Event, Andrew Pantling held an almost 2 to 1 lead over the field. Chris Bjorina and Phil Laak both headlined the final table with Laak just being a month removed from a near-fatal ATV accident.

Phil Laak Wins First Bracelet

Laak navigated his way through the field to make it heads-up with Andrew Pantling, with Pantling holding the lead. The lead flip flopped for a while but eventually, Laak took the lead after flopping two pair against the top pair of Pantling. He won the event shortly afterwards when his K-5 outdrew the A-9 of Pantling. Phil Laak won his first ever WSOP bracelet and took home £170,802 in prize money.

Event #2 – Jeff Lisandro Wins 5th Career Bracelet

Event #2 was the £5,250 PLO event and heading into the final table, four big names remained. November Nine member John Racener, Chris Bjorin, Jeff Lisandro, and Jeff Madsen made the final table. This was Bjorin’s 2nd final table of the WSOP Europe.

Lisandro has now won 4 bracelets over the last 2 years

Heads-up play of this event saw pro Jeff Lisandro face off with Joe Serock. Serock held the chip lead going into heads-up play. Jeff Lisandro would overtake the lead and take a 3 to 1 chip lead when his Ks-Kd-5c-2d outflopped the As-Ad-Jh-10h. Lisandro would win the event the next hand when Serock’s Ks-7s-6h-5h failed to hit anything on the board against Lisandro’s As-Qs-6s-2s.

This was Lisandro’s fifth career bracelet and first bracelet in a variant other than stud. He won £159,514 to go with the bracelet.

Event #3 – Scott Shelley Denies JP Kelly 3rd Bracelet

Scott Shelley denies history to JP Kelly

The £1,075 No-Limit Holdem event saw defending champion JP Kelly make the final table of the event. Kelly was looking to become the 3rd youngest bracelet winner ever. He nearly got there as he made it heads-up with Scott Shelley and held the lead. However, Shelley took the lead and eventually the bracelet after calling an all-in bet pre-flop with pocket threes against Q-J of Kelly. The flop gave Shelley a set and that set held to give him his first career bracelet. In addition to the bracelet, he took home £133,857 for his win.

Event #4 – Gus Hansen Wins First Bracelet

Event #4 was the first ever heads-up event in WSOP Europe history. The £10,350 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller Heads-Up Event saw Gus Hansen make the finals against Jim Collopy. The finals were a best of three series and Hansen quickly took a 2-1 lead. He nearly swept Collopy after taking a huge lead in the 2nd game, but Collopy made a comeback to tie up the match.

Gus Hansen finally get the monkey off his back

The third match was then delayed until Sunday. Laws in the U.K. prohibit an event going past 3 a.m. Then, the two players wanted to play in the Main Event, and as such the event was delayed till Sunday. Collopy took an early 3 to 1 chip lead, but Hansen came storming back to take the lead, one which was never relinquished. The final hand saw Collopy shove with K-4 and Hansen called with pocket fours. The fours held and Gus Hansen won his first ever WSOP bracelet. In addition, he won £288,409 in prize money.

As you can see, the pros came out in force and left their mark on the WSOP Europe preliminaries. Will this trend continue into the 2011 WSOP? Only time will tell.