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Tomas Alenius Wins at the Event #26 $1,500 Limit Holdem

On June 14th, 2009, Tomas Alenius carved his name into the poker history books at the 2009 world series of poker, becoming just the 4th Swedish poker player to take home a bracelet. The poker pro from Uppsala edge out 643 participants and a tough final table that included Rep Porter to win Event #26 $1,500 Limit Holdem and notched his 5th career WSOP cash.

Alenius said that he is very happy with his win since it is a very tough playing field. Alenius joins fellow Swedish poker players Mats Rahm, Chris Bjorin and Anders Henriksson as the only Swedish player to ever win a World Series of Poker bracelet but both Alenius and fellow poker player and friend William Thorson downplayed the hype.

Alenius had been participating in poker events for seven years, working as a casino dealer before becoming a full-time poker player. Thorson and Alenius met at the poker tables several years and have been good friends ever since. The Team PokerStars Pro stated that he had a lot of respect for Alenius' poker skills and he is very for his friend's triumph in the event.

Despite its reputation for producing talented poker players like Bjorin, Sweden is currently sitting in 10th place, in the overall tally of the 2009 World Series of Poker winnings by country. The countries of Italy, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands all ranked higher than Sweden. Russia is in 2nd place with $2.2 million, although the bulk of that came from Vitaly Lunkin's $1.9 million win in the $40K No-Limit Holdem Anniversary event.

The United States is the leader with nearly $40 million awarded to poker pros from the states. Fortunately for Sweden, there are some talented young poker players waiting in the wings for a shot at World Series of Poker glory like Jonas Molander, Ramzi Jelassi and others.

07/07/2009, Tuesday
Todd Sanders

Tomas Alenius Wins at the Event #26 $1,500 Limit Holdem

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