Quoss Takes Down English Poker Open
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Fabian Quoss emerged atop a field of 193 poker players to win the 2010 English Poker Open. The tournament, held at the Palm Beach Casino in London, England, was a £3,500 + £250 no limit hold’em event, with a first prize of £220,000 (approximately $340,000).
Quoss, a German professional poker player, has been playing well in 2010. Just two weeks earlier, Quoss finished 7th at the World Poker Tour London, winning £26,144. Quoss had his biggest cash at least year’s World Series of Poker, where he placed 2nd in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, scoring $427,911. This latest win has put his lifetime winnings at just under $900,000.
Amazingly, Quoss – despite being a professional player – actually qualified for the English Poker Open through a freeroll at the host casino. This led to his first live tournament victory, after three different second place finishes.
“It’s my fourth heads up and I’ve lost the first three,” Quoss said. “The final table had a pretty high level of play, even compared to my WPT final table. It was pretty tough.”
The final table was a fast moving affair, with several players being eliminated in the first hour of play alone. Heads up play was reached in just three hours, when Quoss found himself heads up with Sebastian Crul, an 18-year-old Dutch player, after Crul eliminated Matthew Frankland in 3rd place. Frankland had entered the final table with the chip lead, and took home £77,400 for his finish.
The heads up battle was not a dramatic affair, with all the money moving in preflop. Quoss was in a dominating position, holding AQ against A5s for Crul. The board came AK836, improving both players to a pair of aces, but clinching the tournament for Quoss, as he had the better kicker. For finishing second, Crul took home £129,000. It was Crul’s first major live cash of his career.
Several notable professional players took part in the event, but few big names finished high enough to make the money. Phil Laak finished in 18th place to take a £6,800 prize, while Liv Boeree finished in 12th, taking home £9,500.