James Bord Wins 2010 World Series of Poker Europe


GBP 830,401 payday for Londoner
 
It took just twelve hours of poker action to decide the main event of the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe Tuesday, with Londoner James Bord turning a fifth place starting position into a bracelet win and a truly rewarding paycheck of GBP 830,401 when play ended in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
 
The faves going into the nine-man final table appeared to be chip leader Dan Fleyshman and New Yorker Ronald Lee, who had turned on a formidable display of skill and determination and dominated much of the action. However neither reached the heads up.
 
That was reserved for Italian high stakes pro Fabrizio Baldassari, who gave a spirited performance against Bord, but was not quite good enough…or sufficiently lucky…to prevail, and had to be content with a still-generous second placing payday of GBP 513,049.
 
Lee's third place finish brought him GBP 376,829.
 
A relieved but delighted Bord said after his victory: "I knew I could win or I wouldn't have bought in. There were some great players in the field; Phil Ivey and Viktor Blom are amazing players, but at the same time, not every live player is that good. It's as simple as that.”
 
In the final table tussle, the first to go were Brian Powell from the USA and Frenchman Marc Inizan.  They were followed by the flamboyant Dan Fleyshman, whose aggressive play strategy failed him, resulting in a relatively rapid departure. Fellow American Daniel Steinberg followed after a clash with Lee, who at that point was on fire, and then French player Nicolas Levi headed for the exit after a day of hills and valleys.
 
The highly experienced UK pro Roland De Wolfe went next in fourth place, leaving what seemed to be a clear path to the top for the still strongly running Lee. The New Yorker continued to dominate the action, at one stage holding a third more chips than either Bord or Baldassari.  It was at that point that the Italian player suddenly powered forward, and Bord responded, ramping up the action to the raucous delight of a large contingent of pro-Brit railbirds.
 
The Italian player repeatedly pushed Lee, whittling away his chip stack until the New Yorker was vulnerable and fell to Bord, setting up a hectic heads up between Bord and Baldassari, with the latter holding the lead with a stack of 6.26 million lead over Bord's 4.12 million.
 
In an entertaining grand finale that left some supporters hoarse from yelling, the two talented players wrestled for supremacy until Bord managed to double and take the lead, which he then steadily extended with one big pot after another, busting the Italian in a pair vs. pair confrontation of fives to tens to take the title.