WSOP Europe / Editor / 25 September 2008 / Leave a comment

The first event of the World Series of Poker Europe - the £1,500 No Limit Hold'em tournament - has now been whittled down to a final table and a young American is in prime position to land the first gold bracelet on this side of the Atlantic this year, writes Rob Eddy.

Plenty of big names have come and gone in this opener at the Casino at The Empire and it is 20-year-old Adam Junglen who has a pretty healthy chip lead to go on and claim the first title.

Like Betfair pro Annette Obrestad, whose aggressive play saw her bid derailed on her opening day, Junglen is too young to play in the WSOP in Las Vegas but he is certainly highly regarded on the internet poker scene.

And he has put his skills to good use and used his chip stack well to be able to sit down with 795,000 chips when play on the final table gets underway.

Next best in the chip stacks is Ireland's John Dwyer - who did enjoy two money finishes at the WSOP in 2007 - with 511,000, while American Yevgeniy Timoshenko lies third with 345,000.

It certainly looks like an improved challenge from our cousins from across the pond this time around, following last year's disappointment, as Las Vegan Linda Lee makes up the US contingent.

There are still plenty, though, for the home crowd to support as Brits Daniel Nutt (207,000 chips), Neil Channing (199,000), Ian Woodley (153,000) and Fuad Serhan (61,000) are still in with a shout of winning.

And it would be foolish to discount the final poker player making up the nine, Jesper Hougaard, because in spite of his short stack (89,000) he showed his class in Sin City with his first gold bracelet in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event.