There were a lot of firsts this week on the World Poker Tour (WPT). You had the inaugural WPT European Championship, which, held in Berlin, was also the first WPT Main Tour event to be held in Germany. It was the first televised Main Tour event in Europe in five years (so much for “World” Poker Tour) and it was the first WPT win for Ole Schemion, who just happens to be a Berlin native.
Schemion was the chip leader going into the final table, but it was a close race for the top spot. He had 2.840 million chips, while Michael Mrakes had 2.640 million and Hanyong Kuo had 2.505 million. After those three, it was a steep drop to the next three: Amjad Nader had 1.095 million, Michael Behnert had 600,000, and Patric Brandt had 470,000.
It was as easy of a final table for Schemion as you will ever see on the World Poker Tour. From the get-go, he extended his lead, and while he didn’t win every hand he got involved in, he was never really at risk of even taking a big hit.
Though there were some short stacks to begin the final table, it took until after the first break for anyone to be eliminated. On Hand 37 (thank you, WPT.com), a crippled Nader shoved pre-flop with K-Q and both Schemion (A-T) and Mrakes (9-9) made the call. The flop of A-6-5 gave Schemion the lead, so he bet to force a fold from Mrakes. It’s too bad for Mrakes that he did that (though quite reasonable), an 8 on the turn and 7 on the river would have given him a straight. As it were, Schemion won the hand and eliminated Nader in sixth place.
Twenty hands later, Kuo moved all-in pre-flop for just 170,000 chips with K-9 suited. Schemion called with a dominating A-9. Nothing on the board helped Kuo and his kicker and he was out in fifth place.
Then, just three hands later, Behnert was gone. He shoved pre-flop with A-9 suited, called by Brandt and his K-3 suited. A 3 landed on the flop and nothing else showed up to improve Behnert’s hand, so the tournament was down to three players.
The knockouts kept coming, as on Hand 61, only two hands after Behnert’s ouster, it was time for Brandt to go. Honestly, I don’t know exactly what happened, as WPT.com’s account was incomplete, but the money got in on the flop with Brandt holding J-9 suited and Schemion holding at least a 4. As none of the board cards helped Brandt, I’ll guess that Schemion had A-4 or 4-4 and it held up.
At any rate, Schemion went into heads-up against Mrakes with a 6.685 million to 3.465 million chip lead. Mrakes was able to close the gap a bit after Schemion initially grew his lead, but it wasn’t enough. On the final hand, Schemion raised to 180,000 pre-flop with K-7 of clubs, Mrakes three-bet to 600,000 with 7-5 of spades, and Schemion called. The flop was K-Q-9 with two spades, giving Schemion top pair and Mrakes a flush draw. Mrakes shoved and after much thought, including the use of two time bank extensions chips, Schemion decided to call. The flush never appeared for Mrakes and Ole Schemion won the WPT European Championship.
2018 World Poker Tour European Championship – Final Table Results
1. Ole Schemion – €218,435 ($255,352)
2. Michal Mrakes – €143,845 ($178,892)
3. Patrice Brandt – €93,105 ($115,077)
4. Michael Behnert – €60,730 ($74,088)
5. Han Kuo Yong – €46,705 ($57,118)
6. Amjad Nader – €39,010 ($47,323)