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Event #29:

No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Location: Rio, Las Vegas
Buy-in: $2,000
Number of Entries: 1,072
Total Prize Money: $1,972,480

Anyone who doubts that poker has crossed international boundaries would be advised to glance at the players who made it to the final table of the $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event at this year's World Series of Poker. Of the nine finalists, five reside outside the United States.

The winner was Lawrence Gosney, a 41-year-old professional poker player from Leeds, England. At the start of play, Gosney arrived second in chips to Danish player, Jarl Lindholt. Gosney seized the chip lead midway through the eight-hour battle, and finally defeated Lindholt in heads-up play.

The entry fee for Event #29 was $2,000 per player. There were 1,072 entries, resulting in a total prize pool of nearly $2 million. This was the 8th event (to date) to attract in excess of 1,000 players. Contrast this to record-setting 2004, when only a few events broke the thousand-mark. The final table included an interesting mix of players, many of whom were making their first-ever WSOP final table appearance.Players were eliminated in the following order:

9th Place: Bjorn Isberg, $39,450
Bjorn Isberg was the first player to exit. His A-K missed the board completely and Dustin Woolf's J-J dragged a 300,000 pot. Isberg is a Stockholm-based poker player who holds a PhD in finance.
8th Place: Carlo Citrone, $59,175
Carlo Citrone fell low on chips and went out next. Citrone is a poker pro from Newcastle, UK.
7th Place: Alan Purdy, $78,900
Another Englishman went out next. Alan Purdy was dealt A-10 on his final hand. Unfortunately, he moved all-in and was called by J.C. Tran, with A-Q. Both players caught an ace for top pair, but the queen out-kicked the ten.
6th Place: Tony Rila, $98,625
Tony Rila expected to double up when he was all-in with A-9 versus Lawrence Gosney's A-5. Things looked good after the flop came with three blanks. But a five surfaced on the turn and Rila was out.
5th Place: J.C. Tran, $118,350
Another (pre-flop) dominated hand won when J.C. Tran got hammered holding K-J versus Jarl Lindholt's K-8. The Dane had two clubs in his hand and caught a perfect flop - all clubs. Tran won a gold bracelet at the WSOP in No-Limit Hold'em and also won an event at the Rio on this year's WSOP Circuit.
4th Place: Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf, $138,075
Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf had about 200,000 in chips remaining when he made an all-in re-raise with A-K. Shack Ko thought for a long time and finally called with 9-9. If Ko could have known what was coming on the flop, he would have called in an instant. A third nine gave Ko the 430,000 pot and Woolf was out.
3rd Place: Shack Ko, $157,800
Korean-born Shack Ko finally had enough of Lawrence Gosney's short-handed bullying tactics. He decided to make an all-in raise with A-5 suited. He picked a very bad time to get brave, as Gosney had A-Q of hearts. Neither player made a pair, which meant the A-Q played, and Ko locked up 3rd place.

Runner up: Jarl Lindholt, $258,000
It may have been foreseeable that the last two players were the chip leaders coming into the finale. When heads-up play began, Gosney enjoyed a 4-to-1 chip lead over Jarl Lindholt. The end came very quickly. Only a few hands into play, Gosney was dealt 9-8 and moved all-in on an outside straight draw after the flop came J=10=x. The board also showed two diamonds, and Gosney had the A-Q of diamonds. Two overcards and a flush draw made Gosney the favorite. The Englishman didn't need any help, but a king fell on the river, crowning a new No-Limit hold'em king.

The runner up was Jarl Lindholt, a poker pro from Aarhus, Denmark. Before turning pro, Lindholt worked as a sales manager.

1st Place: Lawrence Gosney, $483,195
Lawrence Gosney has only been playing poker for about three years. He normally plays in private games around London and travels regularly throughout the U.K., playing in major poker tournaments. Until now, his best finish had been fourth place at the British Poker Open (won by David "Devilfish" Ulliott).

Gosney was thrilled with his first victory at the World Series of Poker. Cheered on by a rowdy group of fellow Brits, Gosney kissed his gold bracelet and smiled for the cameras.

 View final results.

Tournament reporting by Nolan Dalla / worldseriesofpoker.com