WSOP 2008
John Juanda Wins!
by Court on 10.04.08, 5:58 am
Over 21 hours is what it took for John Juanda to overcome Stanilav Alekhin and the other players at the World Series of Poker Europe, presented by Betfair. Epic is a pretty hefty word, often overused in situations not so grandiose, but the heads up battle between Alekhin and Juanda fully qualifies as an epic heads up contest.
The heads up play had length, excitement, ups and downs and the title going to the victor being one of the most coveted in the game. After a grueling back and forth battle where both players took turns as the chip leader and the short stack and both were within a card or two of claiming victory, John Juanda was able to double up to take the chip lead and then go on to close the deal. Juanda had to fade a flush draw with his two pair to double up, and after that he had the chip advantage to take a shot or two at the short stacked Alekhin.
As Stanislav was forced into push or fold mode, the chips ended up all in preflop with Alekhin slightly ahead with his A-9 against Juanda’s K-6. The flop brought two sixes for Juanda though and 2 card’s later the marathon was over.
Alekhin put on an impressive performance, being the dominating player for the first part of the final table and showing he had staying power and the ability to change gears and adapt in the monstrous heads up battle. His second place finish has to leave him somewhat disappointed but he will be banking a nice £533,950 to take the edge off.
Longtime pro John Juanda adds another title to his resume along with the £868,800, which translates to somewhere in the range of $1,546,000 in US dollars.
Double Double
by Court on 10.03.08, 12:30 am
As heads up play goes on, the trend so far has been for John Juanda to chip away and then for Stanislav Alekhin to get a big double up. Juanda started the heads up play with a decent chip lead and was able to add to it until he had enough to take a shot at Alekhin and even if he lost be back where he started heads up play.
That scenario played out when the two got all in preflop with Alekhin’s AQ dominating Juanda’s A2. 
The AQ was good enough for a double up that brought Juanda back down to around 4.4 million chips while doubling Stanislav back up to 2.8 million.
The next double up was more costly for Juanda though, and turned the tables on the chip counts. From the button Juanda raised to 100k (blinds 25k/50k) and Alekhim made it 300k to go. Juanda called and on the T
7
5 flop Stanislav led for 350k. After taking a while to make a decision Juanda moved all in and Alekhin called. Juanda had flopped top pair with his Q
T but Alekhin was sitting on an overpair with pocket jacks. The jacks made a set on the river to end any hopes of a suckout for Juanda and put Alekhin (left) back in the chip lead with 4.6 million chips to Juanda’s 2.6 million
Back to the grind as the night wears on. After the double double for Alekhin, he stayed hot
and won a majority of the next ten hands, small to medium small pots, but enough of them to eat away at Juanda.
That made it John’s turn to get the double up, and he did. Juanda made it 100k from the small blind and Stanislav raised to 300k. Juanda called and the flop came TT4 making the action and flop eerily similar to one of Alekhin’s earlier double ups. Stanislav led for 400k and Juanda wasted no time making the call. With the 2 on the turn Stanislav put Juanda to the test with an all in bet, but there was no question for Juanda who immediately called with flopped trips, holding the AT
. Alekhin again had pocket jacks, but this time there was no jack on the turn for him and Juanda (right) was able to double through to even things up.
Both players are now in the mid 3 million chip range. Juanda finished the hand with roughly 3.4 million while Alekhin lost the all in but still has a slight chip lead with 3.8 million chips.
Good Practice for November
by Court on 10.02.08, 10:37 pm
The buzz around Ivan Demidov in the last 48 hours has been tremendous. Ever since it became likely he would make the final table at the World Series of Poker Europe, presented by Betfair, people have been talking about the amazing, historical (poker history at least) accomplishment of making both WSOP Main Event final tables in the same year.
Could he possibly pull off the greatest poker feat of all time and win both? How will his play here help and hinder him in the November final table? Will his marketability skyrocket? 
Well, the first question turns out to be a no, but it took almost 15 hours to find that out. The other two questions are still up in the air and will likely be hotly debated and discussed in the month between this final table and the November table.
Demidov (left) had a shot here, holding the chip lead in 3 handed play but being up against two tough competitors that gave nothing up easy. John Juanda ended up finishing Ivan off with pocket aces against Demidov’s QT that had a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw when the money went in on the turn.
In a battle of the blinds, which is not uncommon in 3-handed play, Juanda raised to 105k from the small blind and Demidov called the additional 65k. On the 853 flop Juanda checked to the November Niner who bet 170k. John called and then checked again after the J hit on the turn.
Demidov fell right into Juanda’s trap when he bet 450k. John raised all in over the top and Demidov found himself pot stuck with queen high but enough of a drawing hand that he had to get the rest of it in there. The Poker Gods must have decided that Demidov had enough practice for his November table and the J hit on the river ending Demidov’s amazing run in 3rd place for £334,850.After eliminating Ivan, John Juanda now has the chip lead going into heads up play with the other Russian that has been such a force at this final table. Stanislov Alekhin has done the lions share of the work today eliminating 5 of the 7 players that have busted out so far, but even with that impressive feather in his cap he still goes into heads up play at a significant disadvantage in the chips.
John Juanda’s 4.6 million chips give him almost twice the 2.6 million of Alekhin .
Turned Upside Down, But Still Evenish
by Court on 10.02.08, 10:08 pm
As the night wears on the crowd has that was overflowing has started to fall off a little bit. In the section of seating just in front of the media are one group broke out their own deck of cards to play a few hands while keeping the corner of their eye on the final table action. There have not been a whole lot of huge hands in the last bit (at the final table I mean, not at the game in the stands), but a few bluffs here and there and a lot of reraising to win pots.
As the chips have moved around Ivan Demidov has went from the bottom to the top and Stanislov Alekhin from the top to the bottom with John Juanda (right) staying right in the middle of the Russians. 
Though they have moved around places in the chip counts, they are still relatively even in chips with Demidov pulling away slightly at the expense of Alekhin.
The most exciting thing recently was a set over set situation, but that was in the game in the stands. Over at the final table Ivan Demidov showed down a bluff to get some ooh’s and ahh’s from the crowd and there has been some tension after a reraise or two, but no massive all in pots have developed recently.
Daniel Negreanu’s prediction of a 15 hour+ final table is working on becoming a confirmed forecast. Players started at 1pm local time and play has been going on for 14 hours so far as Big Ben dings out 3am here in London.
Here’s where they stand:
Ivan Demidov - 2,949,000
John Juanda - 2,450,000
Stanislav Alekhin - 1,807,000