The Casino at the Empire: scene of epic heads up which ended at 5.20 am

  PICTURE: Tom Boyle  

Shulman sees off Negreanu after epic heads-up at WSOPE

THE CEO of Card Player Magazine Barry Shulman won the £10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event after a marathon heads-up battle with four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu.

The 63-year-old, who was born in Seattle and now lives in Las Vegas, collected the gold bracelet and £801,603 - he becomes the third winner of the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) and the second player from the United States to win the event. In 2001 Shulman won his first bracelet in the $1,500 seven card stud hi-lo spilt or better event,

Shulman made his fortune in real estate before retiring to Las Vegas to play poker professionally in the mid-1990s. He bought Card Player Magazine, the industry's leading publication, in 1999.  

He said:  "It's a lot of fun for me to be here right now.  It's been great.  When I moved toVegas, I took up poker.  I tried to prove that I could beat the best in the world.  I got pretty good for a while, but then I started to focus more on my business at Card Player (magazine).  Since then, I have not been playing as hard.  Now, I'm back on the winning trail and feeling very good about it.

"When I broke into poker, the big tournaments had like 100 people.... and when I would sit down at the table I would know 6 or 7 of the players at my table.  But since the days of Chris Moneymaker and Internet poker, now I only know maybe one-third of the people.  This tournament - because it was a relatively small field (compared to regular WSOP events in Las Vegas) - attracted the best players in Europe and brought over the best player in the United States.  So, there just were no weak spots, to use a poker expression - at least at my tables."

The nine-handed final table included six former WSOP gold bracelet winners - Daniel Negreanu. Chris Bjorin, Jason Mercier, Praz Bansi, Matt Hawrilenko and Barry Shulman.
 
Also at the finale were two players who are set to make up the final table at the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas in November.  Englishman James Akenhead and Everest Poker sponsored Antoine Saout. 

A total of 334 players took their chance in the six day tournament at The Casino at The Empire in Leciester Squarefor the highlight of the Betfair-sponsored WSOPE. The top 36 finishers were paid and there were notable performances from former England and Manchester United ace Teddy Sheringham who finished 14th (£40,481) and poker legend Doyle Brunson who was 17th (£31,198).

After some thrilling jousts infront of a packed house the final heads up was played at 5.20am - Shulman's pocket 10s hold against Negreanu's pocket fours.

1st - Barry Shulman (£801,603)
2nd - Daniel Negreanu (£495,589)
3rd -  Praz Bansai (£360,887)
4th - Jason Mercier (£267,267)
5th - Markus Ristola (£200,367)
6th - Christer Bjorin (£150,267)
7th - Antoine Saout (£114,228)
8th - Matt Hawrilenko (£87,074)
9th - James Akenhead (£66,533)