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19.01.09 - Jani Valkeinen won the Helsinki Freezeout main event
In the Helsinki Freezeout main event, Texas Hold’em No Limit Freezeout 2850 + 150 €, the largest prize pot of all time, 638 400 euros, was handed out. The event was sold out, and 224 players competed to win the pot. After two hours of aggressive playing, only three players remained.
Rifat Palevic from Sweden, who made it to the competition from a queuing spot, was eliminated right after supper break as a result of Ilari Sahamies's succesful suckout. Sahamies played heads-up against Jani Valkeinen, who had made it to the tournament through a satellite organized in a online poker community. He did not have much previous experience in playing live nor playing Texas Hold'em. In his own words, the game does not suit him well!
Sahamies started the heads-up at a clear lead, but the game balanced out after only a few hands. The weariness from two days of playing affected the palyers' concentration. In the end, Valkeinen won a record pot of over 200 000 euros with a pair of aces against Sahamies's pair of nines. After his victory, Valkeinen was clearly baffled about what had just happened, also the interest of photographers and media appeared come as a surprise to him. But despite the celebration, he kept his feet firmly on the ground.
"I am not going to play live more in the future, but will continue to concentrate on online telesina," Jani Valkeinen stated after the game. Nonetheless, Valkeinen promised to come to the Midnight Sun poker tournament next summer to display his skills.
In addition to the stands of Fennia Salonki, the Helsinki Freezeout tournament main event was also a great success at the casino web page, where a new record in the number of visitors was set. The quantity was propably boosted because for the first time in the history of poker tournaments the game was shown live on the casino web site for a limited audience. The shooting was a foray that will most likely be continued in upcoming events.
Main event results can be found here.
Pictures from the event can be found here.
More information about the event:
Anna-Kaisa Halme
Communication Manager
Tel. +358 9 4370 8081
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