The 2008 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event final table took 22 hours to complete. In the end, the last player standing was John Juanda who won his fourth WSOP gold bracelet.

Kudos are also due for the runner-up, Stanislav Alekhin, who gave Juanda a true run for his money. Juanda admitted in his post-game interview that he found his opponent nearly impossible to read and has great respect for his game. Alekhin is surely a talent to watch on the circuit in the months and years to come.

Juanda began the day as the chipleader. He slipped below 1 million in chips several times, but managed to gut out the win. "It's so long ago when I won my last bracelet, I can't remember. It's embarrassing. Some people have to keep up with the Joneses. I have to keep up with the Iveys and Cunninghams and Negreanus," he joked. "I wondered if I will ever win again. Today there are so many young excellent tournament players from all over the world. Like the two young Russians and the Scandis. Much more than it used to be. Daniel Negreanu said that we have to step up our game."

Launched in 2007 by Harrah's Entertainment, owner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the WSOPE is the first tournament extension of the world's richest and most prestigious gaming event. WSOPE is held in London, England annually at London Clubs International (LCI) properties and awards the same coveted gold bracelets that the WSOP awards annually in Las Vegas.

In 2007, WSOPE awarded three gold bracelets, the first bracelets ever awarded outside the United States. A total of 623 entrants competed for 1,305,215 in prize money over three different events: H.O.R.S.E, Pot Limit Omaha and No-Limit Texas Hold'em. Germany's Thomas Bihl became the first-ever bracelet winner of the WSOPE, while Norway's Annette Obrestad took home the 1,000,000 first place prize in the Main Event.

Italy's Dario Alioto won the Pot Limit Omaha tournament, meaning Europeans won all three events of the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe Presented by Betfair.com.