Marc Naalden Takes WSOP Gold for Holland
Limit Hold'em was once the staple of most Las Vegas poker rooms, far and away as the favorite among the average lower limit players. Then came the Internet poker rooms, Moneymaker, Raymer, and a hoard of newbies playing the WSOP game, No-Limit Hold'Em. Soon, Limit Hold'Em was becoming as hard to fins as the stud games it replaced, but there are still some great Limit Hold'Em players out there. Sunday evening nine of them were gathered around a WSOP final table at the Rio in Las Vegas.
When the dealing was done it was Marc Naalden standing alone with all the chips to take the second WSOP gold bracelet ever to a Dutch player (Rob Hollink won the other one in 2008, also in Limit Hold'Em). Marc collected $190,770 plus the coveted gold bling.
Steven Cowley finished second for $117,902 and Ian Johns received $77,576. The event began with 446 players chasing one of the 45 in-the-money finishes. Congratulations to Marc Naalden for making poker history at the 2009 WSOP. And remember, if someone with a Dutch accent invites you to play limit hold'em tell them you'd rather not.