'Top three' achievement on Dusty's road

We caught up with the WSOP Event #45 ninth-place finisher and ParadisePoker pro Johan "Dusty_Rat" Jakobsson at the Rio.

Here's what he had to say for conquering all but eight of the 3,097-strong field.

So how does it feel to have finished in ninth place at your first WSOP event?
It feels really good. I didn’t expect to make it this far when I started on Friday – I thought maybe I’d only be around for two hours! I don’t consider myself a tournament player at all. To be honest, whether it’s the World Series of Poker of just a home game, it doesn’t matter to me, but the best thing was that I came ninth in a field of over 3,000 players.

How did you cope with the three-day schedule? It’s tough isn’t it?
I’d never played in a tournament this long before and I miss my bed at the moment! I’m very tired and my neck hurts, but that’s because I’m not used to playing live poker for so many hours in just three days.

Were you happy with how you played at the final table?
The only hand that wasn’t standard was when I re-raised pre-flop with 8-7 off-suit against the tightest player I’ve ever sat with. I thought there was a great chance he’d fold, but equally if he comes back over the top of my raise, my decision is easy. If he calls, I know exactly what he’s got. He called and I put him on Ace-King, so when a King hit the flop, he bet out and I knew I had to fold. The final hand, when I got it all-in with 10-10, was against a really aggressive player who had been raising a lot. He had been raising with almost any two cards and with only 1,000,000 in chips to start the hand, I was always going with it. I was hoping for a flip and that’s if he even calls.

And what about your overall play across the three days?
I remember two hands in particular. Folding Ace-King with top pair, top kicker on the turn when a strong player check-raised me and another incident with 10-10. There were some difficult spots in there; I wish it was always easy with Aces or 7-2, but poker isn’t like that. Overall I’m happy with how I played though.

Obviously the cash games on ParadisePoker are your bread and butter, but will you look back and count this among your finest achievements in poker?
Yeah it’s certainly up there in the top three. At the moment I’m quite fed up with tournaments (he grins) but when I wake up tomorrow morning, I’m going to feel very proud of this.

And so the WSOP dream ends in ninth...

The final table proved a rapid roller coaster for Paradise Poker pro Johan Jakobsson, as despite doubling through in the first hand, his WSOP 2010 came to an end in ninth place.

The result, which paid out a hefty $53,892 prize, came with mixed feelings for the Swede, after he had manouvred into a great position early on.

With the stacks evenly spread, a double up in the very first hand with 10s vs 8s was just the start the man known as 'Dusty_Rat' wanted, but it proved a false dawn.

Two more shows of pre-flop aggression were met with greater resistance, dragging Johan back down to 1,000,000 chips, so when he picked up 10-10 once more, fireworks were a safe bet.

Dusty raised utg and it was folded to the aggressive Jesse Rockowitz in the big blind, who re-popped to 280,000, prompting an all-in from the Paradise man.

The snap call duly followed and when the cards were flipped, Jakobsson was a big dog versus QQ. The board had no drama to offer, let alone help, and the long walk to the payout department followed.

The Paradise blog spoke with Johan in the aftermath and you'll find the interview in full, right here on the WSOP blog, in the near future. Check back for his exclusive reaction!

Stalemate breaks in time for dinner

With less than five minutes to spare before the dinner break, the final table is set - and Johan "Dusty_Rat" Jakobsson will be pulling up his chips and a chair.

The WSOP Event #45 had stalled at ten players, as the short stacks took it turns to double through or squirm out of trouble.

Dusty had been at risk at one stage, as having limped from utg+1, he saw an opponent shove from late.

The big blind, who had not long multiplied his chips with AK vs AJ, went into the tank, but when he eventually folded, our man's decision was far quicker.

The swell of excitement in the crowd was soon dampened however, as both players rolled AQo and split the pot.

After some time it was Edward Yoo, whose tower had dwindled to around 500,000, who left as the final table bubble boy.

Yoo made the move pre-flop with pocket 8s, only to run into Steven Brown's 10-10, and when the flop brought the 10♥, the game was up for the American.

Dusty will return from dinner with 740,000 to put to work at the final table, but he has some ground to make up as the table short stack.

15 left at the first break, but Johan takes a hit

After a blistering start to Day Three, the cards turned on Johan "Dusty_Rat" Jakobsson and brought him back among the poker mortals.

First he found AJ utg, three callers for his pre-flop raise and even an Ace on board to boot, but a medium stack shipped on a textured board and Johan found himself in a tough spot.

“I was near enough 100% sure he had AQ but I still made the call and I was right,” explained the Paradise pro.

“I could have saved myself the 400,000, although he might have been on a draw. I’d not played with him before so I couldn’t be completely sure, but 99 times out of 100 he has AQ.”

Lady Luck had more torment in store when then went toe-to-toe with his replacement as chip leader, but he felt good about the fold he eventually made with 10s in the hole.

“The second hand was against another guy I hadn’t seen play and he was the big stack, so when the button raises to around 52,000 and he three-bets, I wasn’t sure what to do.

“I didn’t want to be all-in there but I didn’t want to fold either, so I smooth-call then take a shot at it by raising his c-bet on an A-J-7 flop.

“I make it 315,000 and before I’ve even finished raising, he announced re-raise for around 500,000 and that he’s going nowhere. I’m quite lost in that hand, but I had to fold."

The two hands combined to rob our remaining representative of around half his chips, although he remains in fifth place with a little over 1,000,000 at his disposal.

“There are still 15 players left so if I’m going to be happy now, I might as well go home,” added Johan when asked about his serious table demeanour.

“I’m surprised how quickly the field has reduced from the original 36 players. There’s been a lot of all-ins and nobody seems to be folding – so I should probably have tightened up!

“I’m not frustrated about losing the chips, but I am confused about those tens and to a lesser extent about the AJ hand.

“I’m going to be patient though because soon there’s going to be a new hand.”

Prize Pool Reminder
1st $721,373
2nd $446,274
3rd $315,828
4th $228,614
5th $167,405
6th $124,006
7th $92,900
8th $70,365
9th $53,892
10th-12th $41,725
13th-15th $32,653

Rolling Rat… Dusty takes the chip lead

Having already doubled his stack early on Day Three, Johan Jakobsson was far from finished before the first break as he took down another huge pot to steal the chip lead.

With around 2.4m in front of him and only two tables remaining, the online pro (pictured) is in a strong position to at very least achieve his goal of reaching the final table.

The decisive hand came when the villain of our latest twist raised pre-flop to just over three-times the big blind, making it 66,000 to go, and Johan made the call holding 8♣9♣ in position.

The flop brought 5♥-6♥-8♠ and when his opponent overbet the pot, the fearless Jakobsson shoved his huge stack into the centre.

The call followed and though our hero found himself behind to K♣K♥, the river duly delivered a 7♣ and another big win.

Dusty doubles up through overnight chip leader

Johan Jakobsson made a cracking start to Day Three as he took on the chip leader for his tournament life - and emerged the victor.

The monster pot puts 'Dusty_Rat' second in chips with 1.35m.

UK player Sam Trickett - who was sitting on around 1.5m chips after continuing his Day Two ascent - three-bet the Paradise pro's utg raise, only to find himself put to the test by the talented Swede.

Johan shipped the chips into the middle, and after some thought, Trickett made the call and was dismayed to see AA in his opponent's hand.

His A♥K♥ held brief hope of a split pot when the flop came 2-3-5, but a 9 on the turn and river blank meant Dusty's hand held up.

Final day, final target... Can Dusty bring home the bracelet?

Johan "Dusty_Rat" Jakobsson returns to the Rio for Day Three of the Event #45 within touching distance of a final table in his first ever WSOP.

The ultimate target will be the coveted gold bracelet, and as if to remind the Swede of his chance to join such an exclusive elite, we arrive at the Rio as the WSOP Tournament of Champions gets underway.

On the perimeter on Event #45 tables sit Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan and Joe Cada, with Dan Harrington and Phil Helmuth across the room and Daniel Negreanu and Antonio Esfandiari sitting at the feature table.

Unphased, the Paradise player pulls up his chair and stacks his 522,000 in chips.

Let the bracelet hunt begin!