Busy week: The Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square, London
PICTURE: Tom BoyleWorld Series of Poker Europe round up
Finns dominate WSOPE Pot-Limit Omaha Championship
Jani Vilmunen from Helsinki won the $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha championship, an event which saw Finns take three of the top five spots.
The 36-year-old professional poker player was formerly in the catering business and only started playing poker seriously about six years ago.
Vilmunen is primarily a cash-game pro who spends most of his time playing in high-limit Pot-Limit Omaha games online.
This week's result secured Vilmunen his first WSOP gold bracelet victory and £204,048.
Vilmunen said: "Of course, I feel great. I thought it would be an even greater feeling. But I felt all the time that I could win, and that I would win it.
On the Finnish strength in PLO events and cash games, he said: "There are a lot of crazy guys (who are Finns), but they are solid guys. Solid players can learn how to play against other good players (in Finland). Maybe they are just a little bit crazy.
"The new generation is playing Texas Hold'em, of course, because of the Internet. But whenI started to play, we just played PLO and cash games. It's a fast game over here."
The runner up was 45-year-old Howard Lederer, from Las Vegas. Lederer's last victory at the WSOP came back in 2001. As the runner up, "the Professor of Poker" collected £126,134 in prize money.
The third-place finisher was 54-year-old poker and pool pro Kivelio Aarno, from Lahti, Finland.
Ross Boatman, from Hendon was fourth. And fifth went to 23-year-old poker pro Ville Haavisto, from Kotka, Finland.
Brit breaks continuous poker session world record
English poker pro Paul Zimbler set a new world record for the longest recorded continuous poker session - 74 hours, 20 minutes and 21 seconds.
Zimbler was visibly fatigued and barely able to walk away from the table following his achievement. He had invited players to join him over a four-day series of 20-minute heads-up sessions. Competitors donated money to play, with all proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The match took place at the Empire Casino and finished at 8pm onThursday.
The marathon poker session kicked off with Zimbler facing poker legend Doyle Brunson. Poker pro Mike "the Mouth" Matusow was Zimbler's final adversary.
He played a total of 183 sessions. Incredibly, despite his fatigue, Zimbler managed to win the majority of the matches, posting a record of 102 wins and 81 losses. More than £35,000 was raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The previous mark for recorded consecutive playing time was 74 hours.
Europe wins inaugural Caesars Cup
Team Europe won the inaugural Caesars Cup by four games to one at The Casino at The Empire at Leicester Square.
The cup is a showdown between the best poker players in Europe and in the Americas is run along the lines of the Ryder Cup for golf. The trophy is won by the first team to win four of seven games of No-Limit Hold'em. The series is split - early games are comprised of competitions between of two-member teams - concluding rounds consist of single heads-up matches.
WSOP president Jeffrey Pollackstated: "The Caesars Cup is a tournament that brings together some of the most elite players from Europe and the Americas, who will all compete for national pride, international bragging rights, and a new trophy called the Caesars Cup."
Daniel Negreanu said: "My view of the Caesars Cup is similar to what is going on in golf with the Ryder Cup. There are players representing their country on each team. And that helps to create a very special event that people will care about. So far, it has gone that way."
Caesars Cup teams
Europe: Annette Obrestad (team captain), Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, John Harvey (Betfair qualifier)
America: Daniel Negreanu (team captain), Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Jr. Phil Ivey, Huck Seed, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Barry Greenstein (late replacement for Chris "Jesus" Ferguson)
How it happened: Game 1
Phil Ivey and Huck Seed v Patrik Antonius and Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies Europe 1 - Americas - 0
Game 2
Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth v Bertrad "Elky" Grospellier and John Harvey Europe 2 - Americas - 0
Game 3
Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson and Jennifer Harman v Dario Minieri andAnnette Obrestad Europe 2 - Americas - 1
Game 4
John Juanda and Barry Greenstein v Gus Hansen and Peter Eastgate Europe 3 - Americas - 1
Game 5
Huck Seed v Annette Obrestad Europe 4 - Americas - 1
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