News
TRISTAN WADE WINS NO-LIMIT SHOOTOUT IN CANNES
Oct 13 2011 09:57 AM EST
Photo Caption: New WSOP gold bracelet champion Tristan Wade, from Boynton Beach, Florida playing at the final table of Event #4 at WSOP Europe, now taking place in Cannes, France.
Cannes, France (13 October 2011) – Tristan Wade made poker history tonight as the latest gold bracelet champion at the 2011 edition of World Series of Poker Europe.
Wade won the 3,000 (Euro) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Shootout, which was the fourth of seven events on this year’s schedule at Cannes. The tournament, which was played along the French Riviera, attracted 258 entrants from more than two-dozen different nations.
In the end, it was an American poker pro from Boynton Beach, Florida who walked away with the most prestigious prize in the game. This was Wade’s first WSOP victory, after pretty much destroying the competition in online poker games in recent years. He has in excess of $1.5 million winnings in online poker alone. This was Wade’s third final table appearance and 14th cash in WSOP events. His best previous showing was a fourth-place posting in the $10,000 Six-Handed World Championship, held earlier this year in Las Vegas. Wade collected 182,048 (Euros) in prize money for this well-deserved victory, giving him combined lifetime earnings of more than $800,000 in WSOP events.
The runner up was Michael Watson, from Toronto, Ontario (Canada). He is a 27-year-old poker pro. Watson has a number of big finishes on his poker resume, including a win at the Bellagio Cup and a third place finish in the High Roller event at EPT London three years ago. This was his highest WSOP finish, which paid 112,526 (Euros).
Among the other players who made things interesting, but fell short of gold bracelet glory was Bertrand Grospellier, better-known for his anomalous moniker, “ElkY” (that’s not typo – the Y is capitalized). Grospellier, who is from France but now resides in London, is the perfectly-packaged global poker superstar who finally won his first WSOP gold bracelet earlier this year in Las Vegas ($10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud World Championship). Grospellier finished fifth in the Shootout, which somewhat illustrates the disappointing results of French players so far that this, the first-ever WSOP event held in France.
Attendance at 2011 WSOP Europe continues to exceed everyone's expectations and smash previous records. Through the conclusion of the first four events, overall attendance is up a staggering 48 percent over the first four events held last year, in London. No doubt, wherever it’s held -- the WSOP continues to surpass all expectations and overcome every challenge, no matter how daunting.
This was the first time that a No-Limit Hold’em Shootout tournament has been included as part of the WSOP Europe schedule. The event was played over three consecutive days and nights, ending on a perfectly warm and mild Thursday evening along the Mediterranean Sea. With ocean waves surging up the nearby beaches, the new poker champion began the early celebration by posing with his first gold bracelet out in front of the Hotel Majestic Barriere, in front of a swarm of curious onlookers and fellow players offering their congratulations.
There’s a lot more poker still to come. The world’s most exciting and prestigious poker series has three WSOP gold bracelet events remaining, including the internationally-televised Main Event Championship, which runs 15-20 October in Cannes.
For more information about the WSOP and WSOP Europe, please visit the portal page at wsop.com. A full official report of this tournament, with more notes and winner quotes, will be available shortly.
