What sort of ambassador will Martin Jacobson be?
Barry Carter ponders what the victory by the established Swedish pro might mean for the poker landscape in general.
Another WSOP is over and now the dust has settled we are left to ponder what sort of ambassador our new champion may be.
This time last year Ryan Riess didn't help his stock by immediately proclaiming he was the best in the world. This year we have a champion who may genuinely be the best player to win the world title.
Prior to this event he had made three EPT and three WPT final tables, as well as two WSOP and a WSOPE final table. He already had over $4 million in winnings and this writer had many times called him the best poker player without a major title.
This is the first established professional to win the Main Event since the boom, and he is a very popular player on the circuit.
No boom in Sweden?
Sadly, I don't foresee this win creating a boom in Sweden the way that Joe Hachem did in Australia, for two reasons. First of all, Scandinavian poker is already well established. We've already had a Danish champion in the form of Peter Eastgate and for many years the Scandis have been a dominant force in European poker.
Secondly, Sweden has historically had one of the most aggressive tax regimes against poker players in the world. This has caused players like Jacobson to move to the UK in order to continue their career. As such I think the Swedish public are still shy about taking up poker, despite how influential Jacobson may be.
One thing that really made me happy about this year's final was the fact that the last three players standing were Europeans. I've always felt European poker was way more advanced (Both the quality of the players and the infrastructure of the industry/live circuit) than the US, it's just that the biggest event happens to be in Vegas, so the wider world might think otherwise.
It's never easy to predict the next twelve months but it's common knowledge that Jacobson is both a great guy and a great player. I think we will look back on him as one of the better post-boom champions and at just 27, there is clearly much more from him to come.
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