Jesper Hougaard wins WSOP Event 36

Jesper Hougaard played and coached table tennis for the National Team in his home of Copenhangen, Denmark for years, but after poker exploded there he decided it was the game for him. During his early poker career it was Gus Hansen that inspired him to take game seriously, and now a few years later he can call himself something the Great Dane cannot, a WSOP bracelet holder.

Hougaard’s quest for a bracelet started a few days ago when he and 2,446 other players showed up for 2008 WSOP Event #36 - $1500 buy-in NLHE. At the end of this first day he was about 20th in chips, and the following day he secured himself a spot on last night’s final table where he began with the big stack.

When the final table started the chip counts were:

Jesper Hougaard: 1,582,000
Cody Slaubaugh: 1,419
Danny Wong: 1,105,000
Rick Solis: 900,000
Justin Wald: 873,000
Owen Crowe: 674,000
Doug Middleton: 356,000
John Shipley: 269,000
Aaron Kanter: 165,000

In the end it would be the two starting chip leaders surviving, as their seven final tablemates hit the rail, to play heads up for the $610,304 top place prize and the coveted gold bracelet. Before we get too far ahead in this report let’s first cover the eliminations which got us to heads up play.

John Shipley was eliminated in ninth place receiving $56,783, when on final table hand #14 his KsQs failed to outrace Cody Slaubaugh pocket jacks. Six hands later he was followed to the rail by Owen Crowe who caught a bit of a tough beat on a hand that played out like this: Crowe opened the pot for 55K, Danny Wong called, the flop came Ac 9c 8s, Wong checked, Crowe bet 70K and Wong again called. Fireworks then occurred when the As fell on the turn, first Wong checked, but when Crowe bet 225K, Wong immediately responded with an all-in, and Crowe called putting his tournament life on the line, but he was in good shape when he turned over Ad 7s and was up against Wong’s Kc 6c. Unfortunately for Crow he was out in eight place collecting $81,833 in prize money when 5c was the river card.

On final table hand #34 Rick Solis put all his money in dead on the turn with a pair and four to a straight up against Jesper Hougaard’s flopped nut flush. He received $106,884 for his seventh place finish. It took quite some time before the next players to drop, but eventually on both final table hands #60 and #63 the table lost a player getting us down to four handed play. The first of these elimination hands saw Justin Wald hit the rail in sixth place collecting $140,286, he got all his money in on the river with the board reading Js 4d Jd Kd 5c but found his flopped trip jacks with a queen kicker was second best to Danny Wong’s turned diamond flush. The next to go was Doug Middleton who collected $177,028 after his AQ failed to outrace Jesper Hougaard’s pocket threes, sending him to the rail in fifth place.

Four handed play lasted an amazing 61 hands and finally came to an end on what was not such a fun finish for Danny Wong; He got his money in with pocket kings only to see Jesper Hougaard flop a nut flush. This is certainly a tough beat to cope with on a final table but at least Wong took home $217,110 for his fourth place finish.

Aaron Canter, who is best know for his fourth place finish in the 2005 Main Event, had his money in bad on the first hand of this final table with A7 vs AJ and managed to spike a 7 on the river to stay alive. Well that lucky river ended up being worth $202,079, the difference between the $258,862 he received when he was eliminated in third place and the $56,783 he would have received had that seven not hit on the river. It was a bad beat that would send him to the rail, much similar to the beat he laid on his opponent the first hand of this table. On final table hand #135 Kanter pushed all in with QQ, was called by Hougaard who held KJ, and it was a river king that ended his lucky run.

The heads up match lasted 31 hands, when It had started Jesper Hougaard had a 7.5 to one chip lead over Cody Slaubaugh, but it did not last long. Slaubaugh doubled up on the first hand of heads up play and then went on to take four of the next five pots. With the momentum having swung to the side of his opponent, Hougaard insisted on a 60 minute dinner break. Once the dinner break was completed the momentum would swing back and on final table hand #165 it was over, on a hand that played out like this:

Cody Slaubaugh raises to 150K, Jesper Hougaard re-raised to 500K, Slaubaugh made it 1.3 million, Jesper moved all in and Slaubaugh called turning over AT which was behind Hougaard pocket queens. The board ran Q-2-8-5-A and Cody Slaubaugh was eliminated as the runner up receiving $389,128 making Jesper Hougaard the 2008 WSOP Event 36 winner where he picked up his first career bracelet and the $610,304 top place prize