News
17.06.09 - Midnight Sun Poker Tournament prize pool totals over one million euros
The nine-day Midnight Sun Poker Tournament at Grand Casino Helsinki saw a total of 859 players competing for their share of the tournament prize pool. This year the prize pool of the seven different events totalled over one million euros.
The clear majority of participants in this international event were Finns, although there were a number of players from abroad as well. ”This must be an indication of the level of Finnish poker, considering that 90 % of players who finished in the money were Finnish. All the first places and prize money from all the events stayed in Finland”, says Poker Manager Jukka Räsänen, who is clearly pleased with the success of the event.
The largest prize pool was the Main Event’s prize pool of approximately half a million euros. The final was played on the third day of the event, with nine participants vying for their share of the prize money. The finalists included familiar poker faces from the international tournament circuit, such as Jens Kyllönen, who won almost a million euros in the Copenhagen EPT, and Jussi Jaatinen, who recently placed third in the San Remo side event. Teresa Nousiainen, one of Finland’s best-known female poker players, was also among the finalists. Two well-known Swedish poker pros, Johan Storåkers and ”Nalle” Hedlund made the final an exciting Finland-Sweden championship. A similar two-nation contest was seen in the Copenhagen EPT, where Kyllönen went heads-up with Hedlund. This time, it was Jaatinen who walked away with the win, 159,600 euros.
”We always try to cater to different player groups when making the game selection for the tournament week. There’s an event for players of Sökö (a variant of 5 Card Stud), as well as one for loyal fans of 7 Card Stud. The majority of games are either Texas Hold’em or Omaha, which are the best-known and most popular poker variants at the moment. The aim of this poker week was to better cater to audience needs as well. The final of the Main Event was broadcast live on the Internet. This online broadcast got a lot of viewers and we received positive feedback for it”, says Räsänen.
The share of women taking part in the tournament week has not increased, and there were only a few female participants per event. However, women featured more often than ever before among the finalists, placing in the money in five different events. The highest placed was the winner of the 7 Card Stud tournament, Milja Pensola, who also placed in the money in the Texas NL Terminator event. Johanna Pyysing placed in the money in three different events.
See the results of the Main Event
> here
