‘Skalie’ comes third at Ladbrokespoker.com Caribbean cruise

Nice guy Jonathan ‘Skalie’ Kalmar saw victory sail away at the Ladbrokespoker.com Caribbean Cruise in January. Kalmar, from Lancashire, had led the field throughout until he got hijacked by Eirik Bjorklund’s pocket Queens with land in sight. Kalmar, who came 82nd in the World Series of Poker Main Event last year, had taken 919,000 chips into the final – nearly a third of the 3.2m in circulation at the $5,500 tournament.

Sinking feeling

However, his luck turned when he went moved all-in on Bjorklund. The Norwegian had flat-called a short stack’s 205,000 attempt to steal the blinds and had to think long and hard before calling the notoriously aggressive ‘Skalie’ with pocket Queens. Kalmar gleefully turned over pocket Kings to make him 80% favourite for the mammoth side pot, which would have given him over half the tournament chips and made him big favourite to win the $371,275 first place. But four diamonds on the board gave the Norwegian a dream flush and put him in a strong position to win the tourney. Kalmar eventually finished in third but still pocketed $170,000.

‘I dominated the tournament and played the best poker I ever have. If you could measure my buzz factor by the dollar, I won $2m,’ he told PokerPlayer.

Not one to be bitter, Kalmar is off to the WSOP in Vegas this summer. If you’re looking to stick a long shot punt on someone for the Main Event, then look no further. If he can play scintillating poker with the distractions afforded by a Caribbean cruise such as Leilani (pictured) then he’s got to be worth a bet.