JUHA TAKES FIRST BIG POKER TOURNEY OF THE YEAR

18 January 2008

Poker Heaven.com player wins Helsinkli Freezeout


PokerHeaven.com player Juha-Rauno Lampila has won the first major European tournament of 2008 - the Helsinki Freezeout. Lampila managed to hold off a strong and largely experienced field of 200 players to take the title, a winner's purse of Euro 160 825 and a 5th spot in the latest European rankings.

After building a big stack early on, Lampila managed to stay with the chip leaders throughout the two day event. The turning point came when the field had been reduced to the final 10 players. Fellow PokerHeaven.com qualifier Jarmo Härmä moved all in under the gun for 80 000, Antti Meriläinen called, and JR Lampila moved in for a total of 220 000 with pocket 10's. Meriläinen pondered the call for what seemed an eternity, but folded showing AK. The river brought an Ace meaning that had Meriläinen made the call, Lampila would have bowed out of the tournament in 9th place.

After claiming the biggest win of his career, an ecstatic Lampila said: "This was a great victory. It was my second visit to the Helsinki Freezeout and after making the final table last year; to go on and win was a special moment. These events (including the Midnight Sun tournament) have been very good for me."

Poker Heaven has promised to sponsor Juha-Rauno into the Midnight Sun event which takes place at the Grand Casino, Helsinki in June, giving him a chance to become the first player in Finnish poker history to win back-to-back titles.

On the eve of the Helsinki Freezeout main event, Poker Heaven hosted an 'invitation only' Euro 8 000 Freeroll at the exclusive Royal Onnela nightclub. The tournament gave the online poker site's Finnish VIP players a chance to battle it out with Finnish celebrities, including former NHL legend Esa Tikkanen, Jukka Hilden and Jarno Laasala from 'The Dudesons' and, film star Jasper Pääkkönen - with the top three players each receiving a main event ticket.

40 players took part in this exclusive event and after over 5 hours of play, Tuomas Eskelinen, Pasi Kangaskokko and TV star Sami Hernesaho booked their seats at the Freezeout.

Poker Heaven's VIP Manager Josh Thomas said: "As part of our continuing commitment to the Finnish poker market, Poker Heaven was delighted to be able to send such a strong team of players to this year's Freezeout, and we are obviously very proud of being associated with the eventual winner."

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa