A
birthday
and
a
poker
win
for
one
player
March 5, 2007
What
more
could
a
true
online
gambling
enthusiast
want
– a
big
win
on
their
birthday?
That
is
what
happened
for
one
new
thirty
year
old
poker
player
at
the
very
first
ever
Party
Poker
Premier
League
Poker
title.
The
lucky
online
casino
player
who
won
the
poker
event
was
Juha
Helppi.
He
is
from
Helsinki.
This
guy
displayed
all
the
skill
of a
much
older
and
even
wiser
poker
player,
but
he
won
and
enjoyed
a
birthday
as
well.
The
poker
event
was
taped
for
a TV
showing
and
this
most
definitely
made
him
nervous,
but
he
overcame
any
insecurity
quickly
enough
to
nab
the
title,
letting
all
online
gambling
fans
out
there
know
that
this
type
of
thing
really
happens.
He
qualified
from
an
online
casino
satellite.
As
well
as
celebrating
his
third
decade
on
the
planet
birthday,
this
guy
has
other
great
recent
undertakings
outside
the
online
gambling
scene
too.
Helppi
was
also
a
national
paintball
champion.
Maybe
he
was
using
those
inner
skills
to
dominate
his
opponent
in
this
event
–
none
other
than
Phil
Hellmuth.
Who
beat
him
last
year
in
the
2006
WSOP
Main
Event.
Like
a
true
online
casino
fan,
Helppi
said
the
money
wasn’t
his
driving
force
in
this
event.
He
said
that
if
he
lost
to
Hellmuth
it
would
have
hurt
really
badly
–
worse
than
losing
money.
He
went
on
to
state
that
this
was
the
most
perfect
birthday
ever.
Earlier
during
the
week
long
event,
Hellmuth
was
in
the
catbird
seat.
He
was
shinning
bright.
HEW
went
to
the
finals
as
the
chip
leader
even.
In
fact,
Helppi
finished
3rd
in
the
league
poker
table
but
daunted
all
his
fellow
poker
players
with
his
indestructible
center
of
attention.
He
knew
Hellmuth
was
gunning
for
the
big
win
and
pretty
much
intended
to
walk
away
the
final
player
at
the
poker
felt.
Helppi
says
that
when
he
lost
the
WSOP
bracelet
chance
to
Hellmuth
last
year,
it
left
him
a
bit
dry.
In
this
poker
event,
he
says
that
he
was
vindicated
and
is
not
so
soar
about
the
bracelet
loss
so
much.
We
guess
that
a
birthday
helps.
Talk
about
action
and
high
drama
–
the
final
table
played
on
and
on.
It
almost
went
on
for
8
hours.
That
‘s
the
drama
–
the
action
was
more
than
$1.6
million
in
chips
on
the
table.
AT
the
final
table,
the
first
to
go
was
Ian
Fraiser
from
England.
In
true
to
form
Hellmuth
style,
we
heard
more
from
Hellmuth
during
his
game
play
than
many
probably
wanted
to.
He
kept
up
his
chatter,
but
it
was
not
he
who
came
out
on
top
this
time.
In
fact,
he
wanted
to
cut
to
the
chase
and
go
heads
up
against
Helppi
at
one
point.
Hellmuth
ultimately
finished
3rd
in
the
well
known
event
where
poker
is
poker.
A
PartyPoker.com
spokesman
said
that
about
halfway
through
the
poker
event,
the
online
gambling
sponsor
site
thought
the
event
it
seems
the
trophy
was
going
to
Hellmuth.
What’s
more,
about
that
same
time,
Hellmuth
and
poker
player
Tongy
G.
displayed
their
continual
dislike
for
each
other.
High
drama
is
what
makes
poker
even
more
interesting
than
the
piles
of
chips.
The
online
gambling
sponsor
site
went
on
to
say
that
it
was
proud
of
Helppi’s
win
and
that
he
was
a
praiseworthy
champ
and
was
appreciated
by
all
his
fellow
players.
Everybody
was
overjoyed
by
the
set-up
of
poker
tournament
and
there
weren’t
any
poker
players
left
around
that
did
not
believe
this
was
the
last
we
would
be
seeing
of
Helppi.
The
poker
series,
which
has
been
created
by
Matchroom
Sport,
showcases
a
dozen
of
the
world's
best
poker
players
that
get
to
take
part
in a
one
of
its
kind
league
arrangement
for
a
$500,000
prize
pool.
Every
poker
player
in
this
event
entered
it
for
$20,000,
with
PartyPoker.com
adding
$260,000
as
the
event’s
main
sponsor.
The
online
gambling
sponsored
PartyPoker.com
Premier
League
Poker
is
due
to
be
televised
in
the
UK
on
Channel
4
and
globally
later
during
2007.
The
PartyPoker.com
Premier
League
poker
tourney
was
so
amazing
that
one
and
all
involved
in
playing
I it
– or
watching
it
now
and
in
the
future
will
never
stop
thinking
about.
When
this
sponsor
set
out
on
producing
this
great
event,
they
stopped
at
nothing
really.
(733)
