PokerStars Nordic Poker Awards Triumph For Finland's Ville Wahlbeck

Monday night in Copenhagen saw three of the four 2009 Nordic Poker Awards go to Finland, with Ville Wahlbeck picking up two of the awards for ‘Best Live Tournament Player’ and ‘Best Performance’.
Ville Wahlbeck (34) had a magnificent run at the 2009 WSOP and demonstrated his versatility as a player after cashing in the top 13 of 6 events, including 7 card stud, mixed games, Omaha Hi/Lo, No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball, Razz and H.O.R.S.E. His impressive record, which included four final tables, also saw him pick up $1,082,178 in prize money, as well as his first WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event.
“It’s all a bit overwhelming actually,” said a surprised Wahlbeck. “Doing so well in the summer was incredible and getting these awards tonight is a real bonus. The World Series was pretty hard… two months non-stop. It was mentally very tough so I’m taking time out from poker for a bit although I will probably play EPT Berlin and EPT Monte Carlo.
The other award won by a Finn went to Patrik Antonius who was named as the ‘Outstanding Online Player of the Year’ having earnt around $9 million at the high-stakes online tables throughout the year.
The Finnish stranglehold on the awards came to an end when Kristoffer ‘Sumpas’ Thorsson from Sweden was named the ‘Rookie of the Year’. His achievements included a victory at the $10,300 High Roller event at the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) for $611,455, and a live win at the Amsterdam Master Classics of Poker for €636,120.
The completion of the  Nordic Poker Awards ceremony heralded the start of the EPT Copenhagen Main Event, with 191 players entering the first day of the two opening day event. Players hoping for a deep run at this year’s competition include Andrew Pantling, Eastgate, Thorson, Luca Pagano, Noah Boeken, and Sebastian Ruthenberg.