436 players paid the $4,000 entry to play for a share of the $1,700,000 prize pool. The final six were; Rick Casper, Barry Shulman, Tim Harrington, Anthony Fagan, Daniel Larsson, Erick Lindgren.

The first turning point came when Casper, with 9c 9s, pushed all-in when Larsson raised a moderate $80,000. Larsson quickly called, and turned over Js Jc, making him the prohibitive favorite. The flop came Q J7, helping Larsson, and an 8 on the turn gave Casper the gutshot straight draw, but a 2 on the river sent him out in 6th place, worth $43,860.

Ted Harrington, was now the short stack with $438,000, he found Ah 6h and went all-in. He wasn’t pleased to find two callers in Larsson, calling with 8c-9c, and Fagan, with Ad Jc. Fagan and Larsson checked through a board that went Qh Js 4h 3d 7s, resulting in a nearly $500,000 pot to Fagan, and a 5th place finish for Harrington, who walked away with $68,920.

Now the short stack, Shulman took his chance with pocket T’s and went all-in. But Lindgren, who’d been catching cards all day, again came up with a big one, Ac Kh, and called Shulman’s $400,000 raise. The flop came a bingo for Lindgren, Ks Kd 9s, and with 8h, 9h on the turn and river, Shulman was out in 4th place, worth $112,780.

Fagan then went on a string of all-in bluffs, until, with Jh 6h, he ran into Lindgren, again with A K offsuit. The flop came 9 7 4 all clubs, favoring Lindgren’s ace, and when the turn and river came 4s, 7s, Fagan was knocked out in 3rd, with $194,230.

Larsson found As Ks, and went all-in for $445,000, and Lindgren called. But a Qh 7h 4h flop put Larsson on the brink of defeat, and when a 3c on the turn gave Lindgren an unbeatable two pairs, Larsson had to be satisfied with a 2nd place finish that paid out a healthy $300,745. Lindgren, became Aruba’s champion with a $500,000 payout, as well as a $25,000 seat at the WPT Championship.

- Thomas Hardy