James Akenhead Poker
James “Asprin1” Akenhead has taken down the latest Sunday Million for a hefty payday of $213,750. The British pro topped a field of 7,125 in the $215 event to take home the biggest slice of the $1,425,000 prize pool.
The poker player James Akenhead was first discovered by HighstakesDB on the high stakes tables of Full Tilt Poker on. Since then, a total of 6041 poker hands have been tracked with James Akenhead.
- Akenhead could get back to the felt with a new-found appreciation for the money he was winning on a regular basis before stepping away. In the last couple of years, Akenhead has returned to poker with a vengeance, cashing five times in a fortnight at last year’s World Series of Poker, including a run to 192 nd in the $10,000 buy-in Main Event.
- WPT Career Highlights Value Rank; Career Earnings: $94,188: 1,933: Cashes: 4: 1,285: Final Tables: 0: 11,146: Titles: 0: 9,619.
- James Akenhead After a brief stint as a train driver from 18 to 21, the Londoner found poker and quickly became hooked on it. He came up in the game in the online world, but it was his successes on the live tournament circuit that made him one of the more recognisable players to emerge from the UK.
A multinational final table saw Denmark, Greece, Russia, England, Brazil, Germany, and Romania battle it out for all the glory. The ultimate fight saw England beat Romania and Akenhead’s heads-up opponent “pnp23” walked away with $157,277.25 for his runner-up finish.
Here are the final table chip counts:
Seat 1: Asprin1 (9,632,687)
Seat 2: Gambler4444 (6,808,092)
Seat 3: philipoo (4,921,827)
Seat 4: tyxerakias (6,657,053)
Seat 5: shibinha (4,302,114)
Seat 6: pnp23 (14,851,131)
Seat 7: Ansgar2000 (12,920,872)
Seat 8: Milana Jones (7,186,586)
Seat 9: sigopi (3,969,638)
pnp23 started the final table as the chip leader and looked set to continue that trend when he became responsible for the first knock out. However, a simple mistake made by someone else would set him back momentarily. That someone else was James Akenhead. Raising to 8,000,885 instead of 800,855, Akenhead’s misclick left him with 1.53 million behind. pnp23 made the call and when the flop came down K-10-7, Akenhead moved all in. pnp23 called and showed pocket queens but Akenhead flipped over K-10 for top two pair. A nine fell on both the turn and river and Akenhead moved out to the fore.
The hit left pnp23 with 7.53 million but that wasn’t going to slow him down. He fought his way back to threehanded when he, Akenhead, and “Ansgar2000” discussed a deal. The numbers did not sit well with Asprin1 and pnp23 so no deal was made, but a conversation led to the revelation at the final table that Asprin1 was James Akenhead. The Brit never really looked back from here. He began by knocking out Ansgar2000 with A-9 versus pocket fours, hitting an ace on the flop. The German took home $114,000 for his efforts.
Heads-up chip counts:
Seat 1: Asprin1 (56,844,921)
Seat 6: pnp23 (14,405,079)
pnp23 got to work quickly doubling up with A-K versus A-9 in only the second hand of heads-up play. Then it was time to discuss another deal. With Asprin1 dissatisfied with the offer, the fight resumed. Shortly after this the 2009 World Series of Poker main event and World Series of Poker Europe main event finalist took the title down. The final hand came when pnp23 made it 1.6 million and Akenhead moved all in. pnp23 called and showed pocket eights while Akenhead showed K J. The flop was dealt 7 6 5 and things looked good for the Romanian. However, the turn gave Akenhead some hope when it fell the 10, and the K river sealed the deal.
Here are the final table results and payouts:
1. James “Asprin1” Akenhead (United Kingdom) $213,750.00
2. pnp23 (Romania) $157,277.25
3. Ansgar2000 (Germany) $114,000.00
4. Gambler4444 (Germany) $75,525.00
5. sigopi (Brazil) $58,425.00
6. Milana Jones (Russia) $44,175.00
7. shibinha (Brazil) $30,637.50
8. tyxerakias (Greece) $17,100.00
9. philipoo (Denmark) $11,043.75
James Akenhead, a British poker pro, is a former railroad conductor who now competes on the green felts for a living. He finished ninth in both the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event and 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event. He also took down the Full Tilt Poker Million VIII for $500,000.
Akenhead is a regular on the Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour and finished fourth in the 888.com U.K. Open in 2008 after winning two preliminary heats. Akenhead is one of Britain’s top players, coming from a long line of pros from the country including David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Roland de Wolfe, John Gale, and Liv Boeree. In July of 2007, James Akenhead made his mark on U.S. soil by winning a $1,000 buy-in tournament during the Bellagio Cup for $41,000. He’s since cashed in tournaments around the world, including the United States, Bahamas, Germany, Ireland, England, and France.
James Akenhead Poker Tournaments
James Akenhead Poker Club
James Akenhead is a Full Tilt Poker pro, joining fellow member and seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey at the final table of the 2009 Main Event. Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, and Gus Hansen, among others, headline team Full Tilt. The site’s slogan encourages poker hopefuls to “play with the pros” and is the second largest room worldwide in terms of cash game traffic. Its acceptance of U.S. players and fully-downloadable Mac client have made the online poker site an industry staple.
Hit Squad
Together with Praz Bansi, Chaz Chattha, Sunny Chattha, and Karl Mahrenholz, James Akenhead is a member of the Hit Squad. After Akenhead reached the final table to become a member of the newest November Nine, Chattha commented on the Hit Sqaud’s website, “All going out to celebrate now, gonna be crazy.” In an interview that appeared on Bluff Europe’s website, rumors of profit sharing among the Hit Squad were addressed: “We help each other now and again, but we’re not a business; we’re just a group of friends that travels together and supports each other. You always want someone on the rail cheering for you and they’re always there.”
2009 WSOP Main Event
Akenhead took ninth in the 2009 WSOP Main Event and was the first player sent packing from the final table. On the 59th hand, Akenhead ran pocket threes into the pocket nines of eventual eighth place finisher Kevin Schaffel. The board ran out 10-2-7-2-9, which gave Schaffel a boat and the win in the hand; it also sent Akenhead looking for the next flight to London. A few hands prior, he had run aces into Schaffel’s kings. On the 44th hand of final table play, Akenhead drew out on Eric Buchman’s A-K with K-Q when a queen hit.
Full Tilt Poker Million VIII
James Akenhead Poker
In December 2008, Akenhead won the Full Tilt Poker Million VIII, collecting $500,000. He bested a final table that included Juha Helppi, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz, Craig Wakeham, Peter Vasiliou, and Taylor “Green Plastic” Caby. Combined with his ninth place finish in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event, Akenhead has solidified himself as one of the top names in the poker industry.