Eight Players Play Live on the Web for a $1 Million First Prize at 3.30 p.m. CET
Peralada Spain — May 7, 2008 — The final table of the $3 million 888.com World Poker Crown will be broadcast live on the Internet this afternoon at 3:30 CET (2.30 p.m. BST / 9.30 a.m. ET) at www.worldpokercrown.com.
The tournament, which saw over 2,200 players take part in the no limit hold’em freezeout at 888.com on Apr. 26, played down to the final eight online and today reconvenes in Peralada Castle, Spain, to play out for the $1 million first prize in a live environment.
The event will set two ‘world firsts’ For the first time ever on a poker tournament streamed live on the web viewers can bet on the action at 888sport.com and viewers will also be able to see playe rs hole cards during the stream for the first time ever.
Players from Canada, Netherlands, Poland, and Germany make up the final eight in this unique online/live hybrid tournament which had an overlay of $800,000.
The final table consists of:
1. Jack Hinchey (Canada) — 365,000
2. Michael Lawson (Canada) — 255,000
3. Bart Wetsteijn (Netherlands) — 123,000
4. Piotr Skiba (Poland) — 87,000
5. Mark Castonguay (Canada) — 78,000
6. van Bavel (Netherlands) — 70,000
7. Gijsbert van Doesburg (Netherlands) — 68,000
8. Arjan Mark Rossler (Germany) — 65,000
Biographies
Username: bialy331
Name: Skiba Piotr Stanislaw
Nationality: Poland
Skiba, a student from Poland (he's not majoring in poker yet, but if everything goes his way, he might retire a millionaire before he's even got started) bought into a $35 satellite and played a quiet game throughout the WPC qualifier, protecting his ever-growing stack by hedging risks and betting smart. He's a big Gus Hansen fan due to the Great Dane's "aggressive game". Primed and ready for the $1,000,000 final, it's clear that this student has learned a few lessons from Gus about owning the table.
Username: MrMr82
Name: Bart Wetsteijn
Nationality: Netherlands
"Tranquil, but also enterprising" is how this young businessman describes himself. Having seen his share of poker players since getting hooked on the game in Spain a few years ago, he has learned to above all to respect gentlemanly behavior at the tables. So far in the WPC tournament Bart has shown some spontaneous aggressive play from his generally conservative corner. Let's see what he does offline when he comes face to face for the first time with his 9 worthy competitors in Barcelona!
Username: papajac9
Name: Jack William Hinchey
Nationality: Canada
Papa Jack is the world's proudest papa. When he's not spending time with his granddaughter playing softball, or managing a pump and electric motor service, he's trying to win a million dollars online. Papa Jack's been playing stud poker for 30 years, moving over to hold 'em in the last 5. Just a month ago or so he won $38,000 in an offline tournament at the Great Blue Heron Charity Casino in Ontario, Canada. Now he's ready to show 9 WPC upstarts a trick or two in Barcelona.
Username: meeelosh
Name: Michael Lawson
Nationality: Canada
Michael Lawson names Annette O! brestad as his coach, mentor and friend (Ms. Obrestad won close to $2,000,000 in the WSOPE 2007 No Limit Hold 'em Championship). She'd certainly be proud of him now. The 21 year old from Canada has turned his $20 Pacific Poker satellite buy-in into a serious shot at the $1,000,000 first prize at the WPC final table. Who knows, maybe he'll catch up with Negreanu some day?
Username: Caszman8
Name: Marc Castonguay
Nationality: Canada
Marc "Caszman8" Castonguay was looking for a first-class online poker deal when Pacific Poker's Welcome Bonus caught his eye. He joined, got his bonus, and bought straight into a $10 WPC satellite. Focus and patience was the name of the game for Marc. And mind reading (Marc suspects Negreanu of having telepathic superpowers). Still immersed in his table image, Marc had to be practically begged to send in a photo of himself, and when we asked him to describe himself in 5 words, all we got was "can't, w on't." He's keeping everybody guessing for now, but we'll check him out live at the WPC final in Barcelona.
Username: does888
Name: Gijsbert Gerardus Christianus van Doesburg
Nationality: Netherlands
"Patience is very important. You have to find the right spot to put your chips in the middle," says Bert from the Netherlands. Bert plays a lot of heads up Sit & Go on Pacific Poker, which is how he knew about the WPC $3,000,000 guaranteed tournament right from the start, and decided he was going to claim his share. Modeling himself on the mentality of his favorite poker player, Patrik Antonius, Bert has already won over $10K in tournament play, and plans to add a WSOP bracelet to his hoped for $1,000,000 of World Poker Crown glory.
Username: Bjorjan
Name: Arjan Hieronymus Johan Patricius Carolus van Bavel
Nationality: Netherlands
Arjan Hieronymus Johan Patricius Carolus van Ba vel may sound like noble aristocracy, but rest assured, he's! a frien dly, outgoing guy. Except when it comes to high stakes poker tournaments. Then he turns into a ruthless calculating machine. Entering a few local Benelux WPC satellites Pacific Poker was offering, he found himself one Friday with a cheap $27.50 ticket to the WPC qualifier! Taking full advantage of a deep stack, "Bjorjan" played looser than most, seeing more flops. The first few hours were pretty swingy, but the bubble period let him steal and re-steal blinds till he built a stack 2 1/2 times the average, as most people were tightening up to make it in the money. Arjan hopes to be able to put the same kind of assertive pressure at the final table and take home the $1,000,000 first prize!
Username: damnDonk
Name: Mark Kerime Rößler
Nationality: Germany
Mark has been "addicted to poker" for two years now, after he saw it on TV and "fell in love". We're not sure how his current occupation (law stud ent), hobby (badminton) and passion (poker) go together, but Mark seems to take it all in stride with his love-to-party attitude. Proud of his playing style, Mark noticed early on that his opponents were playing ultra tight and so he played a lag style throughout the qualifier on his way to wearing the crown.