“Please welcome the latest bracelet winner, from Birmingham, England...” I never thought I’d hear those words come from anyone’s mouth, never mind Jack Effell’s, but when Steve Jelinek skipped across the stage, disbelief turned into reality: yes, Birmingham, England, my birth city, where I grew up, and went to school, was now the home of a WSOP champion. Surely my ears must be deceiving me.
There have been a lot of strange occurrences this year; I’m beginning to wonder if it’s just a glitch in the matrix. Following in the footsteps of Messieurs Bansi, Dempsey, Ashby and Ellis, Jelinek made it a fab five, thus making the UK the only country outside the host nation to have won five bangles in a single year. Whatever happens for the rest of the Series, the Brits have shouted louder than anyone, and everyone’s taking notice.
Steve Jelinek is a 39-year old poker pro from Birmingham who grew up in the “industrial Midlands of Great Britain”. He graduated from Manchester University and is married to fellow player/enthusiast Irena Liepina. Steve recorded his first live cash in 2003 and has been performing consistently ever since. Online, he is regarded as somewhat of a satellite specialist, earning entry into numerous events across the globe under the moniker ‘superowl99’, but never quite getting his hands on a major trophy.
Event #41’s $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha High-Low seemed to be all about the Poker Brat, making a rare appearance on a non Hold’em final and seeking his 12th bracelet. Inevitably, all the focus was on him, but the following day, on that Pavillion stage, the cameras only had eyes for Jelinek as he proudly held his bracelet aloft. The irony of it all is that Jelinek has never garnered the attention he deserves, yet now, he was at the centre of the poker world, and lapping it up with a smile that I doubt will ever leave his face.
Like Mike Ellis before him, Steve has an uncanny ability to slip through the net. He’s just your average, no thrills poker player: jeans, T-shirt, nothing fancy - you won’t see him wearing shades, doing chip tricks or hollering “ship it” at every opportunity. Most of the time he’ll be reading his newspaper or watching a film, seemingly paying little if no attention to the task in hand. However, he must have another set of eyes, as before you know it, he will have amassed a monster stack without so much as a murmur and be preparing for his umpteenth final table.
Steve has been around for as long as I have been playing. He always seems to be at every event I attend, quietly plugging away and doing his utmost to add to what is an extensive list of results. For a while, I wondered if Steve would ever get his break. He was making finals, but not quite finding that big score he was searching for. Then came Monte Carlo.
I’d just had a tipple at the bar and was heading up to my room when I noticed Steve in the hallway, the clock quickly heading towards 6am. I asked him why he wasn’t in bed when he had such a big day ahead. “I can’t sleep,” he replied. “I’m too excited.” With over $1.8 million up for grabs, it was understandable he was restless - this was his chance to make a mark. In the end, Steve finished a credible sixth place for €305,270 and finally his poker career had experienced a much needed boost.
A former IT manager for a construction company (and, previously, Kellogg’s), this was likely the pivotal moment that convinced Steve to turn pro and tackle poker full-time. Three years on, and Steve has continued to amass consistent results with GUKPT final tables, a near miss at EPT Dortmund, and various successes at Dusk Till Dawn, however, that one big win, that title holding victory, has still eluded him.
Steve’s results for the first half of 2010 had been sparse, so he may have been lacking confidence heading into Vegas. However, on Thursday, it didn’t show - this was, after all, the same event that he finished sixth in 2009. - and with nine left, he sat in second place with 692,000. This was his chance, and he wasn’t going to blow it.
As the players (including Hellmuth) began to fall, Steve remained in a strong, but vulnerable position, and with five left, found himself slipping down the chip counts. However, after Ben Lamb and Michael Chappus had exited in quick succession, Steve enjoyed two key double-ups: first, off John Gotlieb, with Jh-Jd-4d-2h versus Kc-6h-5d-As on an eventful Ks-8h-Th-6d-Jc board, and then, moments later, against Anders Taylor, with set over set. A couple of hours later and it was all over, Steve triumphing in an epic heads-up battle when his As-Ah-Qd-4h held up against Gottlieb’s Ad-Kh-9d-5c. Finally, the victory, and the bracelet, were his!
“It’s not quite sunk in yet,” reported Steve in the aftermath. “But you would not know how much this means to me because I’ve been a professional for two and a half years and a serious player for seven. I’ve been down on my luck, maybe through poor play, maybe through a bit of mismanagement, or picking the wrong games. My bankroll was down a bit. I decided to come to the WSOP this year and try and get a gold bracelet to try and continue my poker career and that’s what it means to me - not only to win the biggest prize in poker, in the best setting, in the best tournaments, against the best players, but to be able to continue my poker career as a winner.”
“I’m not really surprised,” he added when asked about the collective success of the Brits. “There are a great number of very fine players from the UK. I am part of the old school. But these new young players, so many of them are doing quite well. I am not surprised at all. Of course, I take great pride in being English, but it does not mean I am anti-everyone else. There are so many great players who have not won a gold bracelet, including some of my friends who have helped me. To win this gold bracelet is a great honour.”
847 players entered the event (85 up from last year) including many of the game’s ‘big names’. Chris Ferguson, Mike Matusow and Barry Greenstein all cashed in 12th, 49th and 75th respectively, whilst the UK also found representation in Joel Ettedgi, who was cruelly three-quartered by a one-outer before dropping in ninth, and unknown entity Darren Sprengers who snapped up eleventh.
But the day belonged to Steve and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player as happy, and proud, to have a bracelet than he was. You could tell it meant the world to him. Sponsorship has always evaded him, despite his results, and consistency, but now he owned what many consider to be the pinnacle of poker: a gold bracelet. Now people would have to take notice. Finally, this is his chance to truly leave a last impression on the poker world.
image courtesy of Rob Mathis/WSOP
1st Steve Jelinek -- $245,871
2nd John Gottlieb -- $151,884
3rd Anders Taylors -- $97,913
4th Michael Chappus -- $71,728
5th Ben Lamb -- $53,319
6th Mandy Thomas -- $40,169
7th Phil Hellmuth -- $30,633
8th Ryan Karp -- $23,635
9th Joel Ettedgi -- $18,432
Previous Bulletins: Vegas Blog Entries: May 23: My Old School Teacher
Employee of the Month
Fairytale Endings
Must Be Nice
Make Mine a Double
Blonde on Blonde
Summer of Sam
Chuft to Bits
Under the Radar
May 31: Welcome to America; Let the Institutionalising Begin
June 1: Pleasure & Pain
June 5: 100% British Beef
June 9: Alphabetti Spaghetti & Giant Meatballs
June 13: Colour Me Up
June 14: The Crying Game
June 20: Last Gasps
June 24: Dancing With the Devil
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