Although British residents were probably more than content with European success at this year’s World Series of Poker, one of Europe’s most prestigious titles is finally coming home since the introduction of World Series of Poker Europe Main Event in 2007. The £10,350 buy-in championship event was won by fellow Britain James Bord, after outlasting a field of 346 players.
Widely considered one of the toughest events to win a bracelet in aside from the World Series of Poker H.O.R.S.E. Championship, Bord was sitting on the outside looking in towards a field that contained the most skilled and aggressive players on the planet. Both Viktor Blom and Phil Ivey were amongst the top of the main event leaderboard heading into day three of the final.
Although Bord knew he would have to play his way through a very difficult field if he wanted to win WSOP gold, he never doubted his ability to succeed. It wouldn’t be an easy road to the final, but going into Day 3, sitting dead in the middle at 11th in chips had to have of boosted his moral.
“I knew I could win or I wouldn’t have bought in,” said the Englishman, during a recent interview after his win. “I think I showed a bit of heart. I’ve been there before and blown up, so I had it in my head that I was just going to play well and whatever happens, happens. That’s what I tried to do every day here and I got a good result.”
Almost as expected, the London crowd was firmly behind the British star to win his first World Series of Poker bracelet in his native country of England. But despite the crowd’s support, Bord was not the biggest star at the final table, that honor belonged to his fellow countryman, Roland de Wolfe. Although Bord does have a few tournament cashes to his name, his tournament success has been meager in comparison to his counterpart. His career tournament earnings total just over $78,000; pennies in comparison to Wolfe’s $3.3 million in cashes.
Despite their differences in stacks off the felt, the two final tablists came into Day 4 less than 50,000 chips away from one another in stack size. They would both use those chips to their advantage in the late stages of the tournament.
Both players spent a considerable amount of time hanging around in the field, watching the consistent chip leaders of Ronald Lee and Dan Fleyshman eliminate opponents. Eventually however, Wolfe had to make a move, but when he did, his 
didn’t improve against the 
of Fabrizio Baldarassi. Wolfe ended up hitting the rail in fourth place, for £278,945 ($378,898).
After several players had been eliminated, it was time for Bord to make his move as well. Ace-King had been great to him throughout the tournament, and at the final table, the trend was no different. Bord managed to accumulate chips with “Big Slick” in both three-handed and heads-up play.
Bord’s wish for his first WSOP bracelet was granted soon after, as he eliminated Baldarassi heads-up when his 
held against Baldarassi’s 
.
The Main Event champion was blessed with £830,401 ($1.31 million) for his efforts, with the runner-up receiving £513,049 ($700,000).
With a WSOPE win in the Main Event, Bord’s career earnings will certainly skyrocket, and it should also cement him a place amongst the great players who have earned one of poker’s most coveted prizes, a gold World Series of Poker bracelet.
View all of the payouts below:
Winner – James Bord £830,401
Runner-Up – Fabrizio Baldassari £513,049
3rd – Ronald Lee £376,829
4th – Roland De Wolfe £278,945
5th – Nicolas Levi £208,119
6th – Daniel Steinberg £156,530
7th – Dan Fleyshman £118,643
8th – Brian Powell £90,617
9th – Marc Inizan £69,754
