Ole Schemion, one of Germany’s finest poker professionals, bulldozed his way through the six-handed final table of the inaugural WPT European Championship to capture another big poker title. The player also added €218,435 to his already impressive poker bankroll that now exceeds $13.8 million.
The young German marked three important firsts with his participation and performance in the WPT European Championship €3,300. He scored his first cash in a WPT Main Tour event, he made a first final table appearance in a WPT Main Tour event, and he scooped his first WPT Main Tour Main Event title.
The player entered the official six-handed final table of the tournament, which was played on Monday afternoon at Spielbank Berlin, as the chip leader and he very much maintained his momentum throughout the day.
The Main Event was part of the first-ever WPT European Championship. The €3,300 buy-in tournament drew a field of 339 entries. The event was played from January 10 through January 15. The six-handed final table was took place on Monday afternoon. Here it is important to note that the Main Event, and its final table, in particular, was the first televised WPT event to be held on European soil in five years.
Final Day Action
The six finalists returned to the host venue at 3 pm local time on Monday to play down to a champion. Action did not unfold quickly and by the time the first break of the day was reached, no player had been eliminated. Despite the lack of eliminations, Schemion managed to extend his chip lead and to eventually get hold of half of all the chips in play.
The first elimination of the day occurred five hands after the first break. Amjad Nader left in sixth place, scooping €39,010. Han Kuo Yong and Michael Behnert were the next to go. The players collected €46,705 and €60,730, respectively. Patrice Brandt then busted in third place, good for €93,105.
That set the heads-up match between Schemion and Czech poker pro Michal Mrakes. Mrakes has quite some poker accomplishments himself. Last month, the player finished third in the PokerStars Championship Prague €5,300 Main Event for his career’s best live cash of €332,000.
Schemion entered heads-up with two times more chips than his final opponent. The German did not waste any time and quickly extended his advantage to force Mrakes into an all-in confrontation only ten hands after the beginning of their duel.
Hand #83 turned out to be the final one of the day and the tournament as a whole. It saw Schemion raise to 180,000 pre-flop and Mrakes re-raise to 600,000. The flop ran out [Kh][Qs][9s] and Mrakes shoved. Schemion gave it some thought before calling and tabling [Kc][7c] to his opponent’s [7s][5s].
Mrakes needed a spade to survive, but one never came. The [8h] appeared on the turn and the [4d] arrived on the river to secure Schemion with the title and to send Mrakes to the rail. The player still received a six-figure payout of €143,845 for his runner-up finish.
