Friday saw the first of 608 registered players sit down for the opening bracelet event of this year's World Series of Poker Europe and already today, we have our first new bracelet winner.

J.P. Kelly, Day 1a's chip leader of the event, took his lead all the way to the final table over the weekend and then successfully closed out the tournament as well, claiming- along with the bracelet- a top prize worth ?136,803- about $221,000 USD.

Kelly outlasted numerous top pros on the way to his prestigious victory, including many that also were fortunate enough to make some money along the way.  Some of the well known pros to cash in Event #1 of the WSOP Europe include Nicolas Levi (60th), John Juanda (43rd), Raymond Rahme (25th) and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (15th).

The final table finish positions for Event #1 of the 2009 WSOP Europe were as follows:

 1st.  JP Kelly- ?136,803

2nd.  Fabien Dunlop- ?84,512

3rd.  Adnan Alshamah- ?55,468

4th.  Richard Allen- ?38,499

5th.  Anthony Roux- ?28,181

6th.  Neil Suarez- ?21,700

7th.  William Martin- ?17,535

8th.  Thor Drexel- ?14,835

9th.  James Tomlin- ?13,115

With the first tournament of the series now history, there are only three bracelet events left in this year's WSOP Europe, for more information or to follow the rest of the action visit www.worldseriesofpoker.com, for live updates powered by PokerNews.com.


Story by Mark Anderson