WSOP Europe / Dave Allan / 03 October 2008 / 1 Comments

John Juanda became the first US-based player to win a WSOPE bracelet when finally getting the better of the young Russian Stanislav Alekhin after an epic 22 hour final table battle.

At 10.30 am on Friday October 3 2008, American John Juanda was the last man standing at the dramatic final table of the World Series of Poker Europe played at The Casino at The Empire, Leicester Square.

Outlasting a starting field of poker heavyweights including Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson the newly crowned 2008 WSOPE champion Juanda has taken home the £868,000 cash first prize and a coveted WSOPE winner's bracelet.

Juanda is the first American to win a WSOPE bracelet and his victory in London has ended his own personal drought dating back to 2003. Juanda came into the final table as chip leader and his shrewd and cunning performance throughout has landed him his 4th WSOP bracelet.

In a pulsating encounter which saw the records for the longest-ever final table (22 hours) and most amount of hands (434 hands), emphatically smashed, Juanda had to overcome two determined, rising Russian stars to claim the title. First he eliminated Ivan Demidov, the first man to reach both the WSOP and WSOPE final tables, and then he had to overcome Stanislav Alekhin, the man who had led for long periods of the day's play. In the final heads up of the six day Main Event Juanda hit trip sixes beating Alekhin's Ace High.

"This is unbelievable we played for 24 hours!" said Juanda.

"This is definitely the longest final table I've ever played in, in fact its probably the longest that anyone has ever played."

"I was down a couple of times and he had me worried, it's a good thing that I have been playing for many years and have a strong heart.

"This was my most special bracelet especially as there are now lots of young and exciting players on the circuit, as seen on the final table with Alekhin and Demidov."

It was Juanda's first WSOP bracelet for five years and the Indonesian-born star admitted he had begun to wonder when he would pick up his next one.

"For sure I have doubted myself over the last few years and wondered if I would ever win a bracelet again, so today I am extremely happy and if I need to wait another 5 years I will settle for that!"

For those wanting to relive some of the closing stages visit Betfair's WSOPE site where you will find details of all 434 hands played at the final table.