EPO2012 Final Table Recap – Mickey Petersen wins

What began four days ago with 137 players has now come to an exciting conclusion with Mickey Petersen winning the 2012 English Poker Open. The Dane defeated Sweden’s Chris Bjorin heads-up to win a £78,660 ($127,807) top prize and become “England’s King of Poker.” As for the details of Petersen’s run to the EPO2012 title, here’s a final table recap.

First Eliminations

The day began with Igor Kurganov quickly busting out in ninth place. This was no big surprise since the Russian came onto the final table as the short stack.

Thomas Laumier was the next player to be eliminated after he shoved preflop with Js-8s; this steal attempt was foiled when Surinder Sunar called from the small blind with Kd-Qd. The board failed to help either player and Laumier was sent to the rail. The seventh place finisher was Niels Ladefoged, who went all-in preflop with K-J suited, only to run into Jamie Roberts’ pocket jacks.

The preflop shoving continued when Ben Jackson went all-in from late position with A-5 suited. Little did he know, Bjorin had pocket aces and called; Jackson got no help from the board and settled for sixth place. Not long after this, Nicola Lategano busted out in fifth when he shoved with 10-6 offsuit while chasing a gutshot straight draw; Petersen called with pocket queens and won the hand when Lategano’s straight never came.

Four-handed Play

The action slowed down considerably as play became four-handed, and it was a few hours before the next elimination. Jamie Roberts (A-K), who came onto the final table with the chip lead, called Petersen’s (A-T) all-in move. The board came out 9-8-A-T-Q, which gave Petersen a two pair and the win.

With his chip stack dwindling, Surinder Sunar put all of his chips into the middle with 5-7 suited; he was called by Bjorin, who paired an ace to win the hand.

Heads-up

This set up a heads-up match between the noted online pro Petersen (2,780,000 chips) and the Swedish poker legend Bjorin (610,000). Petersen came into the heads-up portion with a 4.5-to-1 chip advantage, which really helped him push an aggressive style. Bjorin did manage to double up a couple of times, but he was never able to pull even.

The final hand provided plenty of drama as Mickey shoved with 9c-9h and Chris called from the big blind with As-Kc. The board was dealt 7h-Td-8h-5s-5h, which made Petersen’s pocket 9’s the better hand.

Humble Winner

Following his big win, Petersen said that the English Poker Open may not be the UK’s biggest tournament, but it’s definitely one of the tougher events because “everybody wants to win this one.” The Dane was very humble in victory as he said, “It just came down to the cards and it was my day.”

This EPO2012 title definitely goes nicely along with his EPT Copenhagen victory back in February. He now has $875,978 in live poker tournament winnings.

EPO2012 Final Table Results

1. Mickey Petersen – £78,660
2. Chris Bjorin – £49,690
3. Surinder Sunar – £35,880
4. Jamie Roberts – £28,290
5. Nicola Lategano – £20,700
6. Ben Jackson – £15,180
7. Niels Ladefoged – £10,350
8. Thomas Laumier – £8,280
9. Igor Kurganov – £6,210