The 2008 World Series of Poker Europe has crowned a champ; the £10,000 ($18,400) No Limit Main event is finally over and for the first time that an American player has taken the continental title since the WSOP was introduced in Europe. After 22 hours of play and an exhausting record of 484 hands, John Juanda, a 37-year-old professional poker player from Las Vegas walked off the table with his 4^th WSOP bracelet and $1,598,587 for his first victory in Europe. Juanda outlasted a field of 362 players that featured numerous pros including Mike Matusow, Jennifer Tilly, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Annette Obrestad, Scotty Nguyen, Max Pescatori, Erik Seidel, Nenad Medic, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Jen Voertmann, Carlos Mortensen, John Phan, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Fischman, Jeff Madsen, Joe Hachem, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Doyle Brunson, Josh Arieh and David Benyamine to mention some.

The final table also featured several well known faces in the professional poker circuit, including the “Final 9” WSOP finalist Ivan Demidov, Pokerstars.com pro Daniel Negreanu, Scott Fischman and Toni Hiltunen. Other players at the table were Robin Keston on Seat 1, Chris Elliot on Seat 3, Bengt Sonnert on Seat 4, John Juanda on Seat 5, and Stanislav Alekhin on Seat 9.

The first elimination was Chris Elliot, who took home a £81,450 ($160.000) paycheck and the ninth place. The next one in the list of eliminations was Toni Hiltunen, the Finnish player moved all in with J-J and was called by Stanislav Alekhin. At the end Hiltunen pair couldn’t best Alekhin’s set of Queens and he had to walk to the rail in eighth place. Only two hands after Hitunen’s elimination, Robin Keston moved all in with A-8 and was immediately called by Ivan Demidov with 9-9. The board came K-10-4-9-6, giving Demidov a set of 9’s and sending Keston home in seventh position. Fischman, Negreanu and Sonnert were eliminated in 6^th, 5^th and 4^th position, leaving Juanda, Damidov and Alekhin submerged in a three-handed play that lasted for more than three hours.

Demidov's chances to achieve two World Series of Poker Main Event bracelets in one year finally vanished after his attempt to score a straight flush fell short vs. Juanda’s two pair (Aces and Jacks). The heads Up play kicked off with Juanda having a significant chip lead over Alekhin, however, it didn’t exactly mean that it was going to be easy for Juanda and the heads up play prolonged for 242 hands, 50% of the total hands dealt during the final table. Finally, the decisive hand came when Alekhin moved all in on the pre flop with A-9 and was called by Juanda with K-6. The flop came 6-6-2 and the situation changed on Juanda’s favor. But things went even better for Juanda when a 6 came on the river, sealing Juanda’s victory and leaving Alekhin in second place with a £533,950 pay day for what the best tournament performance of his career.

The 2008 WSOPE Main Event results and prizes are the following:

1. John Juanda. £868,800

2. Stanislav Alekhin, £533,950

3. Ivan Demidov, £334,850

4. Bengt Sonnert, £271,500

5. Daniel Negreanu, £217,200

6. Scott Fischman, £171,950

7. Robin Keston, £135,750

8. Toni Hiltunen, £108,600

9. Chris Elliot, £81,450