Glory for the West

Thomas Jensen, a 31 year-old online qualifier from Denmark was the star of the show as Team West grabbed victory at the PartyPoker.net East vs West Cup, a €100,000 freeroll at the Concord Card Casino, Vienna, Austria.

The televised event featured two teams of 50 made up of online qualifiers from both Eastern and Western Europe. Eastern Europe was captained by motormouth Tony G, with Western Europe led by Dave “The Devilfish” Ulliott.

Throughout the tournament the Eastern European team looked the stronger and more organised outfit. Tony G built a strong team ethic and it looked as if it would pay off when the West lost three players very quickly on the final table of ten. Among these three was Ivo Donev, an Austrian chess grandmaster with a great WSOP record.

This left Denmark’s “Butcher of Vienna” Jensen and Devilfish responsible for bringing home the bacon for the West. With two players for the West against seven for the East it seemed like it would be only a matter of time before this one sided cold war would be over. The glory was going east…

Outnumbered and bullied by the verbal onslaughts from Tony G and the chip stacks of the Eastern European side, Jensen stood tall. He made mincemeat of his opponents and kept the West in with a chance with his ability to accumulate chips on regular occasions.

His team captain Devilfish was also on song, showing great form. Eventually the Danish butcher and the Devilfish sliced the Eastern Europeans in half and carved the field down to three. It was then just the Fish, Tony G and Jensen left to battle it out.

“When it was just the Devilfish and I against the seven from the East I thought it was all over, though I was confident I was going to do well myself,” said Jensen. “Tony G tried to intimidate me but I knew that he couldn’t have had a good hand all the time and I had the chips to take him on.”

Eventually, Jensen called the Eastern European captain. Tony G was second in chips and went all-in with nine seven offsuit but ran into Thomas’ king ten off suit. The king was paired on the flop ending the Eastern European challenge. After Tony G’s elimination the celebrations started and it was just a matter of who from Team West would win.

Devilfish went all in with Jack eight suited and Thomas called with a pair of queens which held up after neither player hit anything.

“This was my first major tournament,” said Jensen, “I’m not really a big time player. Everything seemed to go right for me on the day but I felt a lot more pressure when I hit the televised table and the captains were on there with me. There was so much talking and I had to concentrate even harder.”

“I will probably try and qualify for the WSOP soon but I’m just going to see how it goes. I have no major plans or anything. One thing is for sure though, I’m always going to remember this experience.”

Tony G said: “It’s unfortunate that we lost after having such an advantage. I look forward to the rematch.”

Devilfish said: “It took every ounce of my energy when there were two of us left and five of them to get young Thomas to push his chips in the pot. He eventually did this and knocked out Csermely, the Hungarian. After that I knew that Tony G would consistently attack his big blind and told him that any time he had a king or ace to call him. It didn’t take long to send Tony “el donkey” G to the bar for three cheeseburgers and a coffee.”

A PartyPoker.net spokesman said: “Thomas looked to be the man to beat from very early on. Tony G and Devilfish were pretty well behaved throughout though they couldn’t stop talking. We’re sure the final table will make great television.”

Final results:
1st: Thomas Jensen (DEN) 12,500
2nd: Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott (GB) 10,000
3rd: Antanas Guoga – Tony G (LITH) 8,000
4th: Balazs Csermely (HUNG) 5,500
5th: Marek Kolk (EST) 4,000
6th: Dado Philapovic (CROAT) 3,000
7th: Szilard Sas (HUNG) 2,500
8th: Ivo Donev (AUST) 2,000
9th: Michael Johansson (SWED) 1,500
10th: Maxi Muller (GER) 1,000

Team West shared the remaining 50,000 euros between them.