Great Britain's Thomas Partridge defeated fellow countryman James Key in the heads-up showdown to win the first ever PokerStars Baltic Festival Main Event on November 2nd, 2009. The two poker players are actually friend and travelled together to Tallinn, Estonia, where the 1,100 euros poker event was held.
Partridge said that he have not participated in many live poker tournaments apart from in Las Vegas, Nevada and that did not go well. Partridge said that their friend qualified for the event and encouraged them to join as well. The heads-up showdown went quickly. He said that he had a good break with his cards and he is very happy with the way it went.
A total of 307 poker players descended on the Swissotel in Tallinn for the tournament, making it the largest poker event held in the Baltic States with a total cash pool of more than 4.5 million Estonian Crowns or 290,000 euros. Partridge won a 1st place cash prize of 1.2 million Estonian Crowns or approximately 76,750 euros and a trip to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January 2010.
Among the thirty-two poker players who cashed in were Team PokerStars Pro Peter Eastgate and PokerStars-sponsored Lithuanian television presenter Andrius Tapinas. Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater, J.C. Alvarado, Johnny Lodden and William Thorson also participated in the tournament together with Team PokerStars SportStars and NHL (National Hockey League) Mats Sundin and Formula 1 Powerboat champion Sami Selio.
The PokerStars Baltic Festival also featured a 10,600 euros High Roller event won by Finnish player Ville Wahlbeck, who made four World Championship final tables at the 2009 World Series of Poker including a bracelet win in the $10,000 Mixed Event.
11/22/2009 23:26 PM