Sven Ragnar Astrom Wins WPT Venice

Euro 397 960 prize for Swedish player The inaugural World Poker Tour Venice tourney has been won by by Swedish player Sven Ragnar Astrom following a tough heads up with fellow Swede Martin Jacobson. Despite a one million chip lead going into the heads up, the latter could not eliminate Anstrom and was eventually himself sent to the rail and a Euro 238 840 second placing cheque. 397 players entered for the main event at the elegant Casino Di Venezia on the banks of Venice's spectacular Grand Canal, including high profile Internet players like Mike “Timex” McDonald, Chad Brown, Dario Minieri, Michael Binger, Bertrand Grospellier and Josh “JJProdigy” Field. Surviving through to the final table were Anstrom, Jacobson, Vincent Pasdeloup, "Timex" McDonald, Michele Slama and Mario Adinolfi, with Jacobsen looking set to win as he eliminated most of his opponents. However, when it came to the heads up, Jacobsen met his match in countryman Anstrom, who, after an exciting game in which the chip lead changed several times, finally knocked Jacobson out in a passage that saw Jacobson river a nut flush, only to have it answered by a full house. Anstrom took home Euro 397 960 and a WPT winner's bracelet... and admitted that this was his first major live tournament. Title sponsor for the event, Bwin, had the satisfaction of seeing 13 of its qualifiers cashing, among them Vincent Pasdeloup, who won his seat in a freeroll on Bwin Poker and finished in third place for a return of Euro 159 740! The six-figure cashes went down to the fourth finisher, "Timex" McDonald of Canada.