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March 29, 2024

World Series of Poker live blog: Martin Jacobson plays flawlessly to win $10 million

Felix Stephensen comes in second with Jorryt van Hoof in third

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Steve Marcus

Martin Jacobson, 27, of Sweden celebrates with supporters after beating Felix Stephensen of Norway to win the $10 million first-place prize during the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at the Rio.

Updated Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014 | 10:31 p.m.

2014 WSOP Final Table Day 2

Martin Jacobson, 27, of Sweden stands with cash after beating Felix Stephensen of Norway to win the $10 million first-place prize during the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at the Rio.  Launch slideshow »

Main Event final table chip counts and results

  • Martin Jacobson: $10,000,000 (1st)
  • Felix Stephensen: $5,147,911 (2nd)
  • Jorryt van Hoof: $3,806,402 (3rd)
  • William Tonking: $2,848,833 (4th)
  • Billy Pappas: $2,143,794 (5th)
  • Andoni Larrabe: $1,622,471 (6th)
  • Dan Sindelar: $1,236,084 (7th)
  • Bruno Politano: $1,622,471 (8th)
  • Mark Newhouse: $730,725 (9th)
  • Blinds at 500,000-1 million with 150,000 ante

Three 10s fell for $10 million.

Sweden’s Martin Jacobson became the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Tuesday night at the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio, winning heads-up when his pocket 10s held up against Felix Stephensen’s Ace-9 of hearts.

Jacobson caught a third 10 on the flop to lock up the second biggest prize in the 46-year history of poker’s world championship. It was well deserved, as Jacobson put on a masterful performance over the final 16 hours of play Monday and Tuesday.

Coming into the November Nine final table eighth in chips, the 27-year-old from Stockholm, Sweden, had to fight to survive Monday. He made it into Tuesday’s final three with the second-most chips, finally enough to open up his game.

He outplayed Stephensen and Jorryt van Hoof, a 31-year-old from Eindhoven, Netherlands, who exited in third for $3.8 million after leading most of the final table. Jacobson ousted van Hoof with another 10 — a pair of 10s to beat a pair of 5s.

Stephensen sat at more than a 3-to-1 chip disadvantage with heads-up beginning, and could never make up the differential. The 24-year-old cash-game professional from Oslo, Norway, got $5.1 million for second place.

Check below for a live blog from the Main Event final table and come back for more coverage of the event.

Poker’s world championship bracelet is headed to London.

Now it’s time to figure out who’s going to bring it on the transatlantic journey. The three players returning in the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event for tonight’s final day of play all reside in the capital of the United Kingdom, emigrating from their home countries.

Jorryt van Hoof from the Netherlands, Martin Jacobson from Sweden and Felix Stephensen from Norway will play for the $10 million first-place prize starting in minutes with ESPN joining in to air the action on a delay at 6.

The pay jumps are substantial, with second due nearly half of first at $5.15 million. Third place claims a payout of $3.81 million.

Unlike most past November Nine years, none of the three finalists is saddled with a miniscule chip stack. They all have enough to battle with the blinds standing at 500,000-1 million with a 150,000 ante.

Stephensen has the shortest stack, yet still possesses 23 percent of the chips in play with a tad more than 46 million. Jacobson, the most decorated player on the table and ranked No. 13 in the world, has 32 percent with 64.75 million.

Van Hoof has the remaining 45 percent with 89.6 million, which might sound favorable, but he’s lost nearly 20 million since his high point Monday. Van Hoof made no secret of his strategy on the first day, which he also planned to carry into Tuesday.

He wants to be flexible, and alter his style based the approaches of his opponents. If he can implement his plan as flawlessly as he has over the last several hours of play and continues to hit as many cards, van Hoof won’t be beaten.

Stephensen will likely be the one needing to push the action and get into big pots early given his stack size and relative inexperience compared with Van Hoof and Jacobson. The 31-year-old van Hoof has played professionally for 11 years, almost three times as much as the 24-year-old Stephensen.

While they both mostly made their living off cash games before the deep WSOP run, Jacobson is a total tournament grinder. His second-nature grasp on the format could make him the favorite despite coming in with fewer chips.

Jacobson is my pick on the final night, after I initially picked him second before the final table.

Stay tuned to lasvegassun.com for live coverage of the final table all night. Please note, our coverage will be live and not corresponding with the ESPN2 broadcast.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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