Martin Deknijff Wins 2004 World Poker Tour Championship

Martin Deknijff is the winner of the 2004 World Poker Tour Championship and the largest first prize ever paid in tournament poker - $2,728,356.  Deknijff outlasted 342 poker players to win the WPT championship (no Limit Texas Holdem).  Hassan Habib of California finished second and Matt Matros of New York finished third.

"This is a dream come true.  To win the World Poker Tour Championship and the biggest tournament ever in poker... it is just overwhelming," said the 32-year-old Deknijff.  Deknijff has made his living combining sports betting, poker and professional bridge since he graduated high school in Sweden.  He now lives in Las Vegas.

The top 50 players in the WPT Championship each earned a share in the $8,342,000 prize pool, the most ever for a poker tournament.  The buy-in was $25,300, the largest poker tournament entry fee to date.

Coming into the final table were Deknijff, who was the chip leader; Matt Matros of Bronxville, NY; Richard Grijalva of Las Vegas; Hassan Habib of Downey, CA; Russell Rosenblum of Bethesda, MD and Steve Brecher of Reno, NV.

Poker pro Habib walked away with $1,372,223; Matt Matros, a grad student at Sarah Lawrence College took home $706,903; Grijalva claimed $457,408; Rosenblum won $332,660 and earned Brecher $232,862.

The $2.7 million to the victor was more than double the $1,011,886 prize money paid to the winner for the inaugural World Poker Tour Championship, which aired last year on The Travel Channel.

"We are truly excited about having hosted the record-breaking 2004 World Poker Tour Championship and Five Star World Poker Tour Classic at Bellagio," said Doug Dalton, director of poker operations at Bellagio.  " This was another successful tournament and we look forward to hosting additional WPT events in the near future, including the 2005 WPT Championship."

The World Poker Tour consists of thirteen poker tournaments at various land based casinos and online poker rooms, leading to the final championship poker tournament - the World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.  For the complete tournament schedule see World Poker Tour Schedule.

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