History was made in the early hours of this morning for UK poker, as Full Tilt Poker Pro Roland De Wolfe become the second Brit to win a bracelet at the 2009 WSOP. Just three days after JP Kelly won his first bracelet, the 29 year old from London won his own debut bracelet in event 27, the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low Split, good for $246,616.
De Wolfe has been knocking on the door of a big result at this series, having cashed in three events already including the deuce to seven championship, a game he rarely plays. This was equally impressive, in that Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo is not a game he has played that often either:
"I played quite a lot of (Limit) Omaha High-Low. And, I played a lot of Pot-Limit Omaha. And, I just tried to mix the two strategies. Normally when I play No-Limit Hold'em or Pot-Limit Omaha I am trying to look for situations where I can gamble because I will be the better player at the table. But in this situation, I knew I was not the best player. I was obviously the least experienced player of the final three. I knew I had to use my spots to gamble and had to go with hands….I couldn't just sit there and chip away."
This also an impressive feat by merit of the final table, which is arguably the toughest of the series so far, with Scott Clements, Andy Black and Alexander Kravchenko amongst the last nine.
But what is really impressive and historic about this result is that it makes Roland only the second player to complete to poker triple crown, of an WPT, EPT and WSOP title. Gavin Griffin was the first, and now WPT Paris and EPT Dublin champion De Wolfe becomes the 2nd to complete pokers grand slam:
"Ever since I won the event in Dublin at the EPT, I have been wanting the bracelet, which is the missing link. Three years I have been here at the finals, and today I finally got a few breaks. I am very much aware of the history behind this, and the best thing of all is to win all three (major poker titles)."
"I remember when I finished fourth in the event Erick Lindgren won last year. You could see the pressure was all on him, even though he was a brilliant player. The pressure to get that first one (a gold bracelet) gets you nervous. When we got here, heads-up I had a 4 to 1 chip lead. I felt very nervous and I am not someone who gets nervous. I won the WPT and EPT without being nervous. But here, I didn't have the experience in this game. Thankfully, it went my way."
De Wolfe is currently 2nd behind the Devilfish in the England all time money list with over $4 million in winnings. He has already confirmed he will be back at the Rio today for the next event to make an early start on his quest for bracelet number two:
"I'll be back tomorrow. I'm only six (wins) behind Phil Ivey now."
Final Table Results
1 DeWolfe, Roland $246,616
2 Richey, Brett $152,618
3 Clements, Scott $101,063
4 Campbell, Robert $72,121
5 Kravchenko, Alexander $53,881
6 Black, Andrew $42,993
7 Racener, John $36,200
8 Ruiz, Armando $32,105
9 Lellouche, Anthony $29,965
Congratulations to Roland De Wolfe on this massive score for himself and UK poker. Roland is a great ambassador for the UK game, a popular figure on the circuit and on TV, he proudly wore a brilliantly trashy Union Jack hoody when he received his bracelet.
"Poker is alive and well in Britain….I hope my win and (John-Paul Kelly's win) will push the game over the line and continue to help the game grow in Britain."
Fantastic result not only for our WSOP record, but generally for the brits as not many players will ever win the triple crown. Roland was certainly due a result
Fantastic result not only for our WSOP record, but generally for the brits as not many players will ever win the triple crown. Roland was certainly due a result