Rozvadov, Czech Republic (4 November 2017) – Albert Hoekendijk became the latest World Series of Poker bracelet winner Saturday night. He won the €1,111 Little One for One Drop tournament at WSOP Europe at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, earning €170,764 for his victory.
Hoekendijk now becomes just the fifth Dutch bracelet winner in WSOP history. He joins Rob Hollink, Marcus Naalden, Marcel Vonk, and Vincent Van Der Fluit.
It wasn’t an easy road to victory for Hoekendijk. He had to play against Thomas Hofmann heads-up. Their match lasted 133 hands and about three hours before Hoekendijk collected the last of Hofmann’s chips.
The heads-up battle was a traditional David vs. Goliath contest. Thomas Hofmann was the experienced tournament player with over 50 recorded cashes for more than $650,000 in earnings. Hoekendijk, in contrast, had only about $80,000 in career earnings. But after his victory today, his earnings total has more than tripled. Hofmann has to settle for second place, earning €105,532.
Hofmann held a slight lead when heads-up play began, but Hoekendijk soon established himself as the lead. “I pushed a lot,” Hoekendijk said of his strategy. “I pushed a lot on him. Especially the last half hour, I put a lot of pressure on him.”
This event is one of two charity tournaments at the 2017 WSOP Europe, both of which benefit One Drop, an organization dedicated to providing sustainable access to clean water in impoverished communities around the globe. From each entry fee, €50 went to the charity, meaning the event generated €43,400 (approximately $50,396) for One Drop’s initiatives. The higher-buyin charity tournament – the €111,111 High Roller for One Drop – will be wrapping up tomorrow. With the funds generating from these two tournaments, the WSOP/One Drop partnership has now generated over $20,000,000 since 2012.
The tournament started with 868 entries across two starting days (Wednesday and Thursday). After the two starting flights, 143 players advanced to Day 2. Only the top 131 made the money, and the bubble burst early on Day 2. By the end of the night, only 11 players remained, and they returned Saturday to play down to a winner.
Here are the final table payouts. Click here for full results.
1 – Albert Hoekendijk - €170,764
2 – Thomas Hofmann - €105,532
3 – Johannes Toebe - €74,055
4 – Abdelhakim Zoufri - €52,703
5 – Oleh Haisiuk - €38,046
6 – Jonas Lauck - €27,856
7 – Serghei Lisiy - €20,710
8 – Artan Dedusha - €15,632
9 – Przemyslaw Klejnowski - €11,966