The final hours of the 2012 WSOP Main Event are finally here and Team 888poker are ecstatic to have 2 of the top 3 vying for the coveted bracelet. Yesterday was a slow starting table but quickly ramped up in the 3 rd hour with our Russell Thomas taking out Gee with a pair of ladies. Then Team 888poker struck again when our man Sylvia crushed Salaburu's with yet another pair of ladies that came on the anticipated river. Shortly after Esposito and Koroknai were busted by Greg Merson. After a slow down in action, Sylvia strikes again taking out Las Vegas local, Ausmus with A high. With 4 players left and 3biding Team 888poker, the unfortunate yet unavoidable happened..Two Team 888poker guys had to battle it out heads up.  
Jake raised All-In and Russell Called. Jake showed the lead with AsKsagainst Russell's Ah9d. The flop didn't show Russell any relief and the first Team 888poker October Niner was eliminated in an impressive 4th place. Great Job Russell! 

Now it is time for history to be made with the final 3 about to Shuffle Up and Deal. 
It is anyone's game...
Greg Merson – 88,350,000
Jesse Sylvia – 62,750,000
Jake Balsiger – 46,875,000

Who do you think will win? 

The time has come for the 2012 final table. The atmosphere is insane and the fans are ready to get crazy! It's an amazing time for 888poker with not one, not two but THREE members of Team 888poker at the final table. Jake, Russell and Jesse have trained, meditated and who knows what else to prepare for this amazing moment in sport history! 
Team 888pokers starting chip counts are as follows ;
Jesse Sylvia- 43,715,000
Russell Thomas- 24,190,000
Jake Balsiger- 13,315,000
The action is about to begin and we will keep you updated on @888poker twitter! 
We wish our guys the best of luck!
Go Team 888poker!

 

Sam Holden, Last Brit Standing WSOP 2011 and 2012, joins the Poker Millionaire club upon outlasting 6,544 players, busting out at 55th place and being awarded $128,384 for his performance.



Sam's total live tournament winnings now add up to  $1,098,326 - making him a Poker Millionaire and a part of an elite group of players that made consecutive deep runs in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Sam Holden outlasted at total of 13,398 players in back-to-back years 2011/2012- an amazing demonstration of skill and mental stamina.

Sam's final hand of the tournament was a brutal bad beat, as he was all-in holding pair of eights versus a pair of fives, with the pair of fives hitting a set on the flop. That's poker, and variance place a huge part in the game, making Sam's achievements even more impressive.


We congratulate Sam on his amazing performance - GG and WP M888!

While Jesse was busy picking his 5bet spots on the ESPN Featured table here at the WSOP Main Event, we sat down with Deepak and Harrisson - his long time friends and poker buddies.



Jesse, 26, originally from Martha's Vineyard island US-MA, has been living in Vegas for two years now and is a fulltime high-stakes player, a regular in the $10-$20 NL games found in various Vegas casinos.

Primarily a cash game player, Jesse's run in this year's WSOP was largely resultless... up until now - but as his friends put it, he has been saving up his RunGood for the Main Event.  The RunGood is strong with Jesse, and he is now sitting with over 4.2 Million in chips in front of him and is one of the remaining 62 players in the world's biggest, most important and prestigious poker tournament.

Good Luck M888!

It has been an amazing run for Team 888poker at the World Series of Poker 2012 Main Event, and we are proud to announce that:

Sam Holden - Sussex, UK



Niels van Alpen - Westkapelle, Netherlands


and Nicolau Villa-Lodos - Rio de Jineiro, Brazil



Are officially the last players standing from the UK, the Netherlands and Brazil, respectively! This year's World Series of Poker Main Event attracted 6,598 players, with only 84 players remaining at the tables as we enter Day 6 of the world's largest, most important tournament of the year.

With a total prizepool of $62,021,200 and a massive $8,527,982 first prize, Team 888poker members are vying not just for life changing money, but the prestige of being the Official Poker Champion of the World.


Good Luck M888s!