Congratulations to Emil Olsson: WPT Copenhagen Champion

After five days of poker a Swede has been crowned the champion of Copenhagen. Emil Olsson defeated Morten Klein in heads-up action to become the latest WPT Champions Club member. He takes home 1,200,000 DKK and a $25,000 seat in the WPT Championship in the Bellagio.

Here is a recap of the final table.

The Danske Spil & PartyPoker WPT Copenhagen final table started in the same fashion as the rest of the tournament. It was quick and it was aggressive. The biggest mover in the first level of the day was the most supported. Denmark’s Philip Jacobsen drawing the most howls and chants from the rail, and he was also responsible for the first elimination.

Jacobsen opened from under the gun before calling a jam from Jan Djerberg. The eldest man at the table turned over [Ah] [9d] and Jacobsen showed [Tc] [Th]. The board ran out ace-less, and Djerberg was our first player eliminated in less than one hours play.

The level ended with Emil Olsson holding a slight chip lead over Philip Jacobsen, but even the short stack Morten Klein held 34BB.

The second level of the day was an absolute nightmare for Robin Ylitalo. The Swede was seemingly cruising before he smashed into the brick wall of Morten Klein. The board was showing [Kh] [Qh] [7s] [3h] [8d] in a three-bet pot. Klein bet 125,000 on the turn and 325,000 on the river – holding [Qd] [3s] for two pair – and Ylitalo made the calls before mucking his hand. That hand hurt Ylitalo, who was eliminated two hands later. He was forced to lay down to Emil Olsson after losing a further 200,000 and then was eliminated in a blind battle against Barshak. It was [Kc] [Ks] for Barshak, [Kh] [Qh] for Ylitalo and he was out five cards later.

So four-players remained and it was pretty even, with Olsson holding a slight chip lead.

Level 25 burst into life with a tension filled thriller between Philip Jacobsen, Emil Olsson and Stanislav Barshak. It was a hand that started a short downfall for Olsson and catapulted Jacobsen into the chip lead. Read all about it right here.

After that hand Emil Olsson just couldn’t seem to do anything right and then BOOM! It was all forgotten as Olsson found the goods, at the right time, to eliminate Stanislav Barshak in fourth place. Olsson raised from the cutoff and Barshak called. The flop was [Jc] [Th] [3d], Olsson bet 65,000, Barshak raised to 155,000, Olsson moved all-in and Barshak snap-called. It was [Qs] [Js] for Olsson and the inferior [Jd] [9d] for Barshak. Two fours hit the turn and the river forcing Barshak to hit the rail.

The 26th level was all about the rise of Morten Klein and the fall of Emil Olsson. Klein hit everything and Olsson couldn’t hit a barn door from three feet. Every big pot went to Klein and more often than not it was Olssen on the losing end. The Swede reduced to a shove or fold strategy towards the end of the level, but he received no callers despite being all-in three-times.

Level 27 started the same way that the previous one finished. Emil Olsson was shoving like a bully in a playground, and when he was eventually called he found the luck that every champion needs. It was an all-in and call against Philip Jacobsen, and it ended with devastating consequences for Jacobsen. Jacobsen had Olsson dominated with [Ts] [Tc] versus the [4d] [4s] of Olsson. To put things into perspective Jacobsen was a 80% favourite to win the hand. The flop was [Js] [Td] [2d] and the middle set now pushed Jacobsen up to a 96% favourite to win the hand. Now this is the difference between winning a title and coming third. Nobody remembers the guy who came third. The dealer-produced runner-runner diamonds to hand Olsson a flush and crippled Jacobsen. Morten Klein then eliminated the Dane just a few hands later, when he moved all-in with [Qc] [5s] and was called by [Ah] [Kh].

So we were heads-up for the title. It was the youngster from Sweden: Emil Olsson, versus the more mature competitor from Norway: Morten Klein. The action lasted just under one hour, with the momentum passing from one player to the next, until Olsson eventually started to wear his opponent down. The pressure started to show and Olsson was sat ready and waiting, cowboys in hand, when Klein made his move holding [Kh] [8d]. There was no miracle waiting in the deck for Klein, and five cards later Olsson was confirmed as our latest WPT Champion.

Congratulations to Emil Olsson our latest WPT Champions Club member!