Martin Jacobson Wins $10M in World Series of Poker

12 Nov, 2014

The Swedish man who got his start playing online poker after late restaurant nights while he trained to be a chef is $10 million richer after winning the top World Series of Poker main event prize Tuesday night.

Martin Jacobson, 27, had three tens to beat Felix Stephensen of Norway and his pair of nines.

“There’s no such thing as a `perfect tournament,’ but this was close to perfect, maybe,” Jacobson said after the confetti blasts signaled his win had been cemented and friends and family ran to embrace him.

Jacobson would come home late from nights in a restaurant and none of his friends would be awake to chat or hang out, so he started playing online poker, said his mother, Eva.

He was the only player of the final nine to have earned more than $1 million in World Series of Poker career earnings at tournaments. But he had never won the top spot, coming in second in some cases, until Tuesday when he won the most watched contest in the tournament.

“It’s his thing,” Eva said during Tuesday’s head-to-head gameplay.

Jacobson exhibited a calm stillness throughout the two days of poker playing.

He didn’t wear sunglasses, a hoodie or a baseball cap like other players to hide tells. He often stared at his opponents across the table blinking through black-rimmed glasses.

Stephensen, 24, took home a $5.1 million prize for second place.

“It’s disappointing to be so close, but I got really lucky to get this far, and it was a tough final table,” he said.

The two defeated Jorryt van Hoof, the leader throughout most of the game play, to go head-to-head.

About 6,700 people paid the $10,000 entry fee to try their luck over the summer to be finalists in the Texas Hold `em main event.

AP

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