In 2008, the longest World Series of Poker final table took place. At the WSOP Europe Main Event in London, the finalists played for over 22 hours (19 hours and 10 minutes, excluding breaks), with half of that time spent heads-up.
John Juanda became the champion, defeating Stanislav Alekhin and Ivan Demidov on his way to victory. Both players, the second and third place finishers, played for GipsyTeam:
"We didn't watch the final—we just fell asleep. I was upset for Stanislav because it was a prestigious tournament back then, and it wasn't about the money, even though the difference between first and second place was about $500,000. I wanted Stanislav to win the bracelet."
John told reporters that he drank 80 cups of English breakfast tea during the final table. There's about 42 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, in a standard 8 ounce cup, meaning he consumed 3,360 mg of caffeine through the final table.
Apparently, up to 400 mg of caffeine is safe for an adult over a single day.
Chip Count of the Finalists:
The game started at 6,000/12,000, and Juanda recalled his feelings as the action began.
"We all started with a lot of chips at the final table and when everybody has a big stack, I tend to play like it's a cash game, playing suited connectors and small pairs.
Usually, it's only towards the end, when the blinds are so high, that you have to start to shift gears into more of a tournament playing style.
I was very happy to have Bengt and Daniel to my right as I had position on them. I've been playing with Daniel for over 10 years now, so I know his game pretty well. He's said many times that he's not able to play his normal game when I'm on the table, especially to his left, and I think I was able to take advantage of this.
I wasn't happy to have Ivan on my left, though. He played really great poker and was able to take away some of my weapons."
Chris Elliott was the first to bust. Alekhin moved all-in with a flush draw and found his outs on the river.
Ivan Demidov won a big pot from Juanda.
John opened with a raise from UTG+1, and Ivan immediately three-bet. Juanda called and check-raised the flop, then led in on the turn. He immediately folded to a shove.
After this hand, Demidov became the chip leader.
Almost immediately, Demidov was dealt kings to aces. Surprisingly, this hand didn't deprive him of his stack.
Scott Fishman called a preflop raise and made a small bet on the flop, which was enough to finish the hand.
Alekhin knocked out the short-stacked Hiltunen in 8th place in a preflop all-in.
And Ivan Demidov knocked out Robin Keston in 7th place.
Thanks to this, our players strengthened their leadership.
For Fishman, the tournament ended in 6th place.
Demidov opened from UTG, Alekhin and Fischman called. On the flop, Fischman bet, and Alekhin reraised. Demidov folded, Fischman shoved, and got a quick call.
Negreanu, who had previously tried to avoid major confrontations, used his image to bluff Alekhin.
Alekhin opened from early, Negreanu called on the button. Alekhin check-folded on the flop to a bet.
Soon after, Sonnert doubled up against Demidov in a preflop all-in.
A little later, Alekhin won a huge pot from Juanda.
John raised from the button, Alekhin defended the big blind, and then check-called the flop and turn. He took the pot with a check-push on the river.
Juanda later reflected on this key hand.
"I had less than 600K left, so it was really tough to fold, but I decided to lay the hand down. I just went with my read – I didn't think he was capable of check-raising me with nothing, and at the end I was told he had a flush, so I would have been out of the tournament."
In one of the next hands, John doubled up against Sonnert.
Stanislav Alekhin took first place with almost a two-fold lead over Ivan.
He further strengthened his lead by knocking out Negreanu in 5th place.
Immediately after him, Alekhin sent the Swede Sonnert out of the tournament.
At the very beginning of the 3-max, Juanda won a big pot against Demidov.
At the 12,000/24,000 level, John limped in. Ivan reraised to 65,000 and called a reraise to 165,000. The flop was checked, John check-called 200,000 on the turn, and check-called 333,000 on the river.
After a few more hands, John outplayed Alekhin.
Alekhin defended the big blind and check-called the flop. On the turn, he led 230,000 into a 387,000 pot. John called. On the river, Alekhin bet again and folded to the all-in.
After this, Alekhin and Ivan Demidov played the key hand between themselves.
At the 20,000/40,000 level, Ivan limped and called a raise to 120,000. Postflop, he check-called every street.
After the tournament, Sergey Rybachenko explained that the outcome of the hand wasn't solely influenced by poker factors:
"Everyone knew they were playing for me, and many already knew Ivan Demidov. During the 3-max, Ivan called me and said they'd had something to say about softplay during the break... But what could I decide over the phone?"
I later discussed this with John Juanda—I've always had a good relationship with him. He never even considered it, and he never complained to anyone.
There was a hand in three-max where Alekhin hit trips and beat Ivan on all the streets, while Ivan had top pair. Ivan told me later that he knew how Alekhin played, and when he made a big bet on the river, Ivan knew he was behind. But he knew that if he folded such a strong hand now, there would be suspicion. The pressure they were under affected the game.
Sergey Rybachenko also played in this tournament, but was unable to make it to the final table, even as a spectator:
"I left Maine and went to Paris on a train that went under the English Channel. And there I was robbed—they stole my wallet from my pocket, where all my documents, credit cards, and money were. So, I was left with absolutely nothing. Naturally, there was no way to return to London.
That trip to London was memorable because it turned out to be my last. I haven't been back since. Until 2008, I flew there every week!
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Chip count after the key hand:
Ivan soon dropped out in 3rd place.
John raised, Ivan called. Juanda check-called on the flop, and after betting on the turn, he started thinking out loud.
"I don't think you even have a pair. You wouldn't call a raise with a three or a five. All-in."
"Call," Ivan answered instantly. "I played the last few hands poorly, it's my own fault."
By this point, the final table had been going for about eight hours, but none of the finalists suspected they would be stuck at the table for even longer. Heads-up play began at 11 PM, and the champion was crowned at 10:32 AM. Play started at 20,000/40,000, with Juanda's stacks at 4.5 million to Alekhine's 2.7 million.
Stanislav Alekhin's stack gradually dropped to 1.3 million, but he doubled from against .
Juanda remembered this period:
I ground him down to 1.3M, then I rushed it a little bit as I wanted to finish, so I made a couple of boneheaded plays. I went crazy with A-2 when he had A-Q and doubled him up.
At the start of the 25,000/50,000 level, Stanislav doubled again.
John raised to 100,000 and called a three-bet to 300,000. Alekhin continued betting on the flop and quickly moved all-in. The turn was a jack, leaving Juanda with no outs.
But Juanda regained the lead almost immediately.
John opened and called a 3-bet of 300,000. Alekhin bet 400,000 on the flop, got called, and shoved all-in on the turn.
The stacks were even.
Alekhin won several big hands without a showdown and gradually increased his advantage to 6.3 million against 940k.
In one of the hands, Alekhin 3-bet all-in with suited, and John called with . The flop had a , but Juanda found a runner-runner straight.
In another hand on the board , the players checked the flop. Juanda bet the turn and river. Alekhin announced all-in. John rose from his seat and, after much deliberation, called with . Alekhin had .
Juanda re-took the chip lead with 3.85 million to 3.37 million.
"After a few hours he had me down to one million or so. I wasn't going to give up, but I started to have doubts about winning.
When I had A-K and he had K-J and flopped the jack, I ended up hitting one of my cards on the river. That hand took a lot of wind out of his sails, and I could sense he was a little frustrated, as he was so close to winning."
At around 9 a.m. local time, reporters reported that Alexander Kostritsyn, who had been following the game throughout the final table, had left the stands.
In the deciding hand, the players went all-in on the flop.
At the 40,000/80,000 level, John raised to 165,000, and Alekhin called. On the flop, Alekhin led out to 325,000, and John moved all-in. Alekhin quickly called.
Juanda remembered that the exhaustion of his opponent was obvious.
In the final key hand, I raised pre-flop with and he called me with , which is reasonable.
The flop came , and he came out betting, which is kind of an unorthodox play. I was sure my was the best hand, and I didn't want to give him any free cards, so I decided to move all-in on him for over three million.
I really didn't want to play a big pot – I just wanted him to fold so we could move on to the next hand. He didn't get the right pot odds to call and I think he knew it, but I heard him say, ‘I'm tired.’ He was about a two-to-one underdog to make his flush.
The turn and river didn't change anything, Alekhin was left with 600,000.
In the last hand, Alekhin pushed 740k with , and Juanda made the call.
The final table ended on 484 hands, 241 of which came heads-up.
"After I won, I was like, 'Wow, this is it?' I was almost disappointed that we had to stop! I was exhausted but still in playing mode.
It feels really great, and it's a feeling of satisfaction, happiness, and relief all rolled into one. I haven't won a WSOP event since 2003, and it was starting to get to the point where it was almost embarrassing. I said on ESPN afterwards, ‘Most people want to keep up with the Joneses, but I have to keep up with the Iveys, Cunninghams, Negreanus, and Seidels!’"
You can watch the full final table below:
- 4-max starts at 51:45
- 3-Max starts at 59:00
- Heads-up starts at 1:16:00
