WSOP Event #26: Tomas Alenius Prevails In FL Event

It hasn't been long since Fixed Limit Hold'em was the biggest player magnet out of all the poker variations. Over the last few years, the balance has however completely shifted over to the No Limit games and the Fixed Limit tournaments seem to be almost forgotten.

Of course, you can't completely discard the more mathematical variant of the game; it's still an indispensable part of some mixed events - like the illustrious H.O.R.S.E. tournaments, for instance. Pure Fixed Limit tournaments have become a rarity, though.

Nonetheless, a whole 643 players have signed up to the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Event, including some big names of the poker world: Thor Hansen, Shannon Elizabeth, Ylon Schwartz (pictured left), Barry Schulman and Schaun Deeb were just some of the notables that didn't make it into to the final table.

Tomas Alenius however managed to go all the way and took place one and the prize purse of $197,488, as well as his very first bracelet. The total prize pool amounted to $877,695 and the best 63 players made it into the money - with a reward of $2,896 for making it to place 63-55.

At the beginning of the final table, it was chip leader Al Barbieri and his closest pursuer Glenn Engelbert who dictated the tempo. After the elimination of short stack Dominik Kulicki and Demetrios Arvanetes on places 6 and 5 respectively, things started heating up for Engelbert. In a key Engelbert was pot-committed and put his whole stack at stake against Alenius' pocket aces. No miracle happened and he was sent to the rails on place 4.

Barbieri, Tomas Alenius (pictured right) and Jason Tam were almost even when they entered the three-handed phase of the tournament, but Al Barbieri couldn't keep up his previous dominating style. He was finally sent to the rails by Jason Tam on third place.

With this elimination, Jason Tam secured a dominating chip lead of 2.1 to 0.7 millions when he entered the heads-up, but with blinds climbing from an initial 40,000/80,000 to a significant 50,000/100,000, one hand could be enough to turn the tide. Alenius indeed managed to double up once and everything was possible again.

The final and deciding hand came when the short-stacked Jason Tam raised to 200,000 and Tomas Alenius re-raised him. Tam decided to push all-in with his and Alenius made the call with a better . Neither player hit the board and Alenius hand held up and won him his first even WSOP bracelet.