It was a pair of pocket 10s—followed by a third 10 on the flop—that made 27-year-old Swedish pro Martin Jacobson the latest World Series of Poker Main Event champ and the sixth European to take the Las Vegas-based championship.
Played at the Rio in Las Vegas, the WSOP’s “November 9” final table was televised on a 30-minute tape delay. At the end, Jacobson and pro Felix Stephensen of Norway had outlasted a field of 6,683 players who had competed in July and the seven other players that had been in the November 9.
About 9:41 pm., Jacobson’s set of 10s won the tournament after about an hour of heads-up play and the new champ was mobbed by friends and supporters.
“They were a lot more excited than I was,” Jacobson said.
It was Jacobson’s first career WSOP bracelet—WSOP tournament winners win commemorative bracelets.
“It’s everything to me. I’m just in shock,” Jacobson said. “There was so much pressure leading up to this moment. I’ve been focusing on this since play ended in July. For it to finally be over and me winning it all, it’s just surreal.”
Stephensen, a London resident originally from Oslo, Norway, takes home $5,147,911. William Tonking of Flemington, N.J., was the top American finisher in fourth place earning $2.84 million
The 45th annual main event started July 5 with 6,683 players and generated a prize pool of $62,825,752.
