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American PokerStars Qualifier Takes Denmark by Storm

February 28, 2008

Tim Vance may look like just a 46-year-old contractor from St. Louis, but he’s a survivor and now he’s a poker tournament champion. Vance won the EPT Copenhagen over some home-country favorites, outlasting them in a 4 ½-hour marathon session.

Vance worked his way through the field until he was left sitting at the final table with Soren Jensen of Denmark and facing a more than 300,000-chip deficit  —  2.4 million to 2.1.

Jensen eventually got his total up to 2.8 million, before small pots started to just go back and forth with neither player finding any traction. About 2 ½ hours into the game, things started to go Vance’s way.

With the flop down 8-2-T, Vance had already raised 400,000. Jensen answered with another 400,000 raise - and Vance called. The turn came up a queen of spades, but Jensen checked! The river came up jack of clubs. Vance pushed and Jensen called the hand. Jensen had the same two pair he had had on the turn, but in a crucial turn of momentum, Vance had picked up a flush on the river.

Talk at the table turned to Jensen’s critical decision not to raise on the turn. “I should have raised you on the turn,” Jensen said. Vance agreed. But now the chips were in Vance’s favor, 3.7 million to 870,000.

The match went on into the early morning hours, until finally, it all came down to one hand. After Jensen check on a 2-7-8 flop with two spades, the two players checked and the turn put down the 3 of spades. Jensen upped his bet to 115,000 and Vance called. Jensen was working a straight and a flush. But Vance stood up, he had an ace and 10 of spades - his flush couldn’t be beat. He threw down his cards. There was no way he could lose the tournament. Jensen, despite the support of his fellow Danes, knew that he was sunk. 

“I knew I was going to win,” Vance said after the tournament wrapped up. “I was the best and I wanted it the most. There were times I made mistakes and times I got lucky. But I outlasted him. I knew that the longer it took, the better my chances were of winning. It was a tough competition, as tough as anywhere I have ever played.”

The Danish players were no match for Vance, who won 834,590 euros with the title. Jensen finished with 472,463 euros. Two other Danish players, Magnus Hansen and Rasmus Hede Nielsen had finished third and fourth. Daniel Ryan, another PokerStars qualifier from the United States and one of the top internet players around, finished fifth, coming away with 172,576 euros.

But the day and night and early morning belonged to Vance. It had taken 4 ½ hours to get just the right hand and the nut flush that gave him the winner. For Vance, a guy from St. Louis, a qualifying spot from PokerStars had gotten him to European and eventually, holding the winning hand.

Written by Tom · Filed Under Poker News |  

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