James Akenhead’s Year

Full Tilt Poker pro James Akenhead will make his third final table appearance in as many months on Poker Million, the Full Tilt Poker sponsored tournament which airs on Sky Sports TV.

Akenhead is already a member of the November Nine, one of nine players who will play at the WSOP Main Event final table on November 7th for a first-place prize of $8.5 million. In October, he made it onto the WSOP Europe Main Event final table in London, where he finished 9th and won £66,533 (over $70,000). 

One of the UK’s leading players, Akenhead qualified for the Poker Million final table by winning the second semi-final on October 9th. His current run of good form was evident throughout, including knocking out Tom “durrrr” Dwan and decimating Antonio Esfandiari’s stack in a single hand. Poker Million’s final table will air on Sky Sports TV in December.

Asked how he feels to be part of another major final table, Akenhead said, ‘I’ve watched previous Poker Million’s on television, so to get to the final table in my first appearance is something I’m proud of’. ‘It’s the biggest tournament of this structure I’ve ever played in’.

Taking 338,000 chips into the final, he will face six other players including Full Tilt Poker colleagues Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Cardrunners co-founder Taylor Caby and Peter Vasiliou, a travel consultant from London who qualified online at Full Tilt Poker.

The seventh and last spot at the final table can still be won online at Full Tilt Poker in the Poker Million – Last Chance promotion. The winner will bypass the heats and semi-finals and win their way directly onto the final table.

Akenhead will be joined at the WSOP Main Event final table by Team Full Tilt’s Phil Ivey and fellow Full Tilt Poker pro Steven Begleiter. Akenhead is the table’s shortest stack in ninth place, with Ivey in seventh place and Begleiter holding the third most chips in play. Akenhead has come close to WSOP glory before, when he finished 2nd in a 2008 WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold ‘em event and cashed for $520,000. He has already won $1.2 million in prize money from this year’s Main Event.

For more on James Akenhead read PokerPlayer.co.uk’s exclusive interview where ‘Sickdog’ reveals all about his run to the final table, why Ivey isn’t perfect and his belief that he can win it all.