James Akenhead wins Poker Million VIII

When will this young poker player realise that he does not have to feature in every large poker events final table? James Akenhead showed fantastic poise and excellent poker playing skills to beat out a quality final table including Taylor Caby, Luke Schwartz and his heads up opponent Juha Helppi to claim the title of Poker Million Champion for 2009.

The Hit Squad member has established himself as one of the best poker tournament players in the world and has had such a good 2009 that you can argue that such achievements in one year may never be equalled again by any player. Players may win more money that what James has achieved in one year, but the skill he has shown in making the three major final table appearances and one major tournament win (his first) leaves Akenhead as officially the new marquee player for the UK Poker scene.

Anyone watching the live final table on Sky Sports were treated to a master class from James in how to play poker tournaments. If you have any sceptical friends or family show them the video of the Poker Million final table and this will help dispel any doubts they have that poker is not a game of skill. James has developed a real presence at the poker table and a sign of how far he has come in poker was that players like Luke Schwartz, Juha Helppi and Taylor Caby did not want to engage him in pots. He has a massive table presence now.

Taylor Caby was eliminated after shoving with 77 and receiving a courageous call by Dag Martin Mikkelsen with K4. Dag Martin him hit a set of kings sending Caby to the rail. Caby earned $50,000 for his efforts. Next out were Peter Vasiliou and online qualifier Craig Wakeham picking up $75,000 and $100,000 respectively. A special congratulations to Craig who was obviously the least experienced player at the table. $100,000 will be a massive win for him and he did well against a quality table.

Business picked up with the final four players all big names in their own right in poker. In a side note every time Luke Schwartz opened his mouth the microphone was muted. It was amusing to note that tournament director “Mad Marty” Wilson was very quick to apprehend Luke for splashing the pot on an all-in shove to try and keep the bad boy of pokers behaviour in check. Luke was eliminated in fourth place earning $150,000. It was a muted performance from Schwartz who could have won it all and was particularly unlucky in two pots that led to him eliminated with a couple of bad beats.

Finishing in third place was Dag Martin Mikkelsen who earned every cent of his $200,000 with courageous play throughout the final table. He showed early on that he was willing to kill or be killed and this made him both a threat and a target. He was a game competitor and I am sure we will see plenty from him as he uses his newly padded out bankroll to secure probable sponsorship and more tournament appearances in the future.

The heads up battle saw Akenhead and Helppi square off with Helppi with around a two to one chip advantage. Akenhead fought back with excellent timing and re-raises to gain a small advantage in chips before the final hand. The inevitable big confrontation saw Akenhead hold pocket tens and Helppi shoved all-in with his own pocket sixes and was immediately called by Akenheads overpair. The tens held off an open ended straight draw with a blank King on the turn and Ace on the river, handing the $500,000 first prize to Akenhead and Helppi settling for another big cash of $250,000 for his runners-up finish.

James Akenhead looked very emotional after his win and said it was a big relief to finally win a big poker tournament. He said he was looking forward to 2010 and was going to buy a house with his winnings.

Here are the final standings for the 2009 Poker Million.

Full Tilt Poker Million VIII Final Result
1 James Akenhead $500,000
2 Juha Helppi $250,000
3 Dag Martin Mikkelsen $200,000
4 Luke Schwartz $150,000
5 Craig Wakeham $100,000
6 Pete Vasiliou $75,000
7 Taylor Caby $50,000

By Malcolm Clarke

Popularity: 1% [?]

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tags: hit squad, james akenhead, poker million 2009, poker tournament