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Jake Cody wins WSOP Heads-Up Championship4 June 2011LAS VEGAS – Jake Cody won the richest heads-up poker tournament in history and laid claim to his first World Series of Poker in the $25,000 buy-in Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship at the World Series of Poker. Cody, a 22-year-old professional poker player, earned a whopping $851,192 in first-place prize money. A resident of Rochdale, England, Cody earned his first victory on this side of the Atlantic in grand fashion. He had previously earned major tournament victories in France (EPT Deauville) and Great Britain (WPT London), both of which came within the past 18 months. But this win was truly special since it placed Cody among the elite club of WSOP champions. This was the second official event on this year’s WSOP schedule. The tournament attracted 128 entries. The field size was capped to ensure a number that allowed for a series of one-on-one matches, ultimately bracketing down to a single winner. The champion was required to win seven consecutive matches in order to ultimately achieve victory. An international lineup of all-stars competed over a four-day period. The tournament set a new record as the biggest Heads-Up prize pool ever for any poker series. The total prize pool amounted to $3,040,000. This figure eclipsed the previous record mark, which had been $2,406,400 – set during each of the last three years at the WSOP, held 2008 through 2010. The final heads-up match between Cody and runner-up Yevgeniy Timoshenko proved to be a thrilling surprise, ensuring a first-time WSOP champion. In both semi-final matches, each of the two finalists defeated WSOP gold bracelet winners. First, Timoshenko defeated two-time WSOP champion Eric Froehlich, who is widely considered to be one of the game’s best all-around players. Their match lasted nearly three hours. Next, Cody busted jet-setting superstar Gus Hansen in a match that was unquestionably the highlight of the 2011 WSOP to date. Encouraged by a rowdy band of mostly British supporters, Cody annihilated Hansen in the duel which lasted about two hours. “Against both Timoshenko and Hansen, I did not have a strategy," said Cody. "I just decided to go in and go with what I felt. I wanted to see how they would react first.” The outcome was a stinging defeat for Hansen, who up to that point had won 12 consecutive heads-up matches in WSOP competition – a record. Indeed, in the entire 42-year history of the WSOP, no player had ever won as many one-on-one duels in any series of tournaments. Hansen’s impressive run in heads-up poker matches began at 2010 WSOP Europe in London, where he won seven straight confrontations en route to what was his first WSOP gold bracelet victory. His success continued at this year’s WSOP, where he won the first five matches of this event. However, Cody proved too much of a challenge in a quest for a 13th-straight victory. The runner- up, Timoshenko, is originally from the Ukraine, but has spent most of his life in the U.S. and now lives in Seattle, Wash. Timoshenko received a nice consolation prize, amounting to $525,980. The tournament was and will be featured on ESPN, as part of this year’s WSOP coverage. The semi-finals and final matches were broadcast live on ESPN3. The full two-part, two-hour program will air later on ESPN. The debut broadcast is August 2nd, with repeats afterward. The tournament was played over four consecutive days. It was extended by default into a third day due to the large field size. Tournament summary by Nolan Dalla, WSOP Media Director, reprinted by permission. |