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EXCLUSIVE! Noah Boeken Stages Stunning Comeback to Win Copenhagen EPT Tournament
January 31, 2005 - Event: Scandinavia Open, stage four of the European Poker Tour (EPT), sponsored by PokerStars.com
Venue: Casino Copenhagen, Hotel Scandinavia Radisson SAS, Copenhagen, Denmark
Noah Boeken of Holland won the Scandinavian Open poker tournament after beating one of England top tournament professionals Ram 'Crazy Horse' Vaswani in an epic 'heads up' battle.
Boeken won a million Danish Kroner (150,000 euro) when he finished first in a field of over 150 of Europe's top poker players, with second place Vaswani picking up 75,000 euro.
The top professionals among the field included World Champion Greg Raymer and well-known British professional Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott.
Boeken, a 24-year-old poker pro from Amsterdam, has long been a prominent figure within the online gambling community, where he is best known by his PokerStars username 'EXCLUSIVE'.
He was cheered on in Denmark by fellow Dutchman Marcel Luske, a well respected poker professional who was the top money winner in Europe last year. Luske, 51, finished 9th in Copenhagen, but was delighted to see his younger friend win such a prestigious televised event.
This EPT victory, Boeken's first significant 'live' success, confirms that 'EXCLUSIVE' is capable of transferring his remarkable online success into live tournament poker against Europe's finest.
Half an hour into the final table, Boeken did not look like the next EPT champion as Vaswani, 34, built up a massive chip advantage in double quick time. At one stage Vaswani, winner of the second EPT event in Dublin last November, held a ten to one chip lead over his Dutch opponent.
But while most observers considered a Vaswani victory to be a formality, Boeken had other ideas. The younger professional knocked out England's Julian Thew (4th place) and Cypriot veteran Bambos Xanthos (3rd), which gave him enough chips to challenge the favourite.
After a protracted two handed contest, Boeken gradually edged into the lead, eventually securing the title when he persuaded Vaswani to call with Ace Jack. Boeken turned over Ace Queen, and the top prize was his when he made an unbeatable straight.
The Scandinavian Open was the fourth event of the European Poker Tour, sponsored by PokerStars.com. As well as 150,000 euro, Boeken wins a seat worth 10,000 euro in the EPT Grand Final event in Monte Carlo 15-19 March, 2005.
You can read a detailed account of Boeken's victory on: http://europeanpokertour.blogspot.com/
All EPT events are filmed for broadcast on Eurosport. The Scandinavian Open is due to air in April 2005.
Final Table Results:
1st - Noah Boeken (Holland)
1,098,340 Kroner (147,584.56 euro)
2nd - Ram Vaswani (U.K.)
549,170 (Kroner) (73,792.28 euro)
3rd - Bambos Xanthos (Cyprus)
271,695 (Kroner)
4th - Julian Thew (UK)
173,442 (Kroner)
5th - Eirik Kolaas (Norway)
115,615 (Kroner)
6th - Mikael Westerlund (Sweden)
101,163 (Kroner)
7th - Dan Pedersen (Denmark)
86,711 (Kroner)
8th - Aleksander Cooper (Norway)
72,259 (Kroner)
