These days, it's rare to see some genuine emotion at the tables. So often our game is marred by the excessive celebrations and fist-pumping that make so many of us cringe and roll our eyes, but moments after Ville Wahlbeck won his first WSOP bracelet, he shed more than a few tears of joy and had to take a moment in the corner of the final table area to collect himself and let his accomplishment sink in.
Wahlbeck already made it to one final table this week, finishing third in the $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud event for a nearly $153,000 payday. He can now add $492,375 and a gold bracelet to his 2009 WSOP winnings.
A soft-spoken young man from Helsinki, Finland, 33-year old Wahlbeck is a regular on the European Poker Tour, but this is his first stateside tournament victory. His win tonight also marks the first WSOP bracelet for a Finnish player. Recently, he posted in his blog that he was thinking about quitting poker, but we have a feeling that after his win tonight, he'll be a force on the felt for a long time to come.
Congratulations to Ville Wahlbeck on a very well-deserved win.
David Chiu was all-in again preflop with against Wahlbeck's
The flop came down which looked good for Wahlbeck but the turn put Chiu in the lead, the river was the though, giving the Finn the straight to win the bracelet.
David Chiu raised, Ville Wahlbeck three-bet and Chiu called. Wahlbeck bet in the dark before the flop came down . Chiu called and they went to the turn, which fell the . Walhbeck bet, Chiu raised and Wahlbeck called. The river was the and Wahlbeck check-called one more bet.
Chiu turned up but it was no match for Walhbeck's . Wahlbeck has now re-assumed his more than 5-1 chip lead.
On a flop of , David Chiu checked, Ville Walhbeck bet and Chiu called. The turn fell the and Chiu bet out. Wahlbeck raised and after a bit of a think, Chiu called. The river was the and Chiu check-called Wahlbeck's bet.
The board is reading and Ville Wahlbeck is facing a 550,000 chip bet from Scott Dorin. It's the most substantial pot we've seen in a while, and Wahlbeck tanks for a few minutes before calling. Dorin mucks when Wahlbeck shows for the straight.
Dorin is down to about 1 million chips and the Finn is the chip leader by some distance now.