German Open results

Rather intriguingly the the inaugural PartyPoker.com German Open was held in London recently with Hamburg poker professional Sebastian Ruthenberg scooping the €50,000 first prize from a total prize pool of €117,000.

Ruthenberg was the youngest player in a field of 36 German speaking players that included world class professionals, celebrities and players who have made a name for themselves on the internet.

“This was one of the toughest fields I have ever played in,” said Ruthenberg. “I have been playing poker seriously now for the past 3 years. However, this is my biggest win to date. Previously, my biggest win had been around €12,000 in an online tournament at PartyPoker.com. I plan to use the winnings to keep me in buys-in for a while but hopefully it won’t be long until I win again!”

The tournament, as well as being a first for German speaking players, also provided some thrilling heats, with the final heads-up encounter between Ruthenberg and Frankfurt’s hardened pro Thomas Bihl, a particular highlight.

Ruthenberg went into the final showdown with half the chips of Bihl and made some fantastic plays to turn the tables on his rival. Bihl was the big story of the final table and really rode his luck. On at least three occasions he looked dead and buried before the flop only to be saved by the cards on the table. Everyone thought it was going to be Bihl’s day but his luck run out against the impressive Ruthenberg.

The final hand saw Ruthenberg go all-in with a pair of 8’s against Bihl’s king of hearts and queen of spades but the young gun’s pocket 8’s held up.

Ruthenberg, who was all set for a career in Informatics after completing his studies until he went professional, certainly understood the informational phenomena of his rivals:

“I was always confident going into the final, but I was aware that it was a very tough field. I would say Florian Langmann was my toughest opponent in the whole event, he was very skilful and very hard to read. German poker is on the up and I expect the standards to continue to rise.”

Ruthenberg now plans to play in events around Europe until the end of the year.

A PartyPoker spokesman said: “This was an excellent tournament and exhibition of top quality German poker action. Sebastian played with a lot of heart and I am sure all would agree that he was a very worthy winner who is set for more success in the future.”

The buy-in for the PartyPoker.com German Open was 2,500 euros, with PartyPoker.com adding the rest of the prize money. Amongst those who took part were Uli Stein, Ramon Vega, Lou Richter, Klaus Baumgart, Rudiger Abramczik, Edward Scharf, Michael Keiner and Lothar Landaeur.