Bodog Beat

Danish poker pro Gus Hansen fell short of capturing his fourth WPT title at the WPT Spanish Championship. (Bodog Beat Image)

After a day of rest, the six remaining players, spectators and media all convened at the Casino Castell de Perelada to play out the final table of the WPT Spanish Championship. Danish poker pro Gus Hansen was the chipleader heading into the day's play and the favorite to win his fourth WPT championship. However, in the end it was German Markus Lehmann who would overcome a severe chip deficiency to capture the title and take home the €554,987 ($786,805) first-place prize, a trophy and a seat in the $25,000 buy-in WPT World Championship in April 2008.

A relative unknown, Lehmann only has a couple of major tournament cashes under his belt including a cash at the Bellagio Cup III earlier this summer and one at the 2005 WSOP in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event. Needless to say, this is the biggest payday so far for the German.

The fairly short final table, which was only made as long as it was by a two hour technical issue with the WPT cameras, saw Lehmann quietly rise from second-to-last in chips to having only a slight deficit going into heads-up play. He kept plugging away at heads-up opponent Ludovic Lacay, who had been the table aggressor for most of the day, amassing a 2 to 1 chip lead before finally putting Lacay out of his misery when his top pair help up against Lacay's middle pair.

Here are the full final table placings and payouts:

1. Markus Lehmann – €554,987 ($786,805)
2. Ludovic Lacay- €295,200 ($418,505)
3. Christer Johansson – €151,000 ($214,073)
4. Steve Sung – €117,400 ($166,438)
5. Gus Hansen – €100,600 ($142,621)
6. Vladimir Poleschchuk – €83,900 ($118,945)

The next stop for the World Poker Tour will be the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara, Canada, for the North American Poker Championship. If you want the chance to join the tour on one of its upcoming stops, then head over to Bodog and play to win a Bodog "Player's Choice" package. For as little as $1 you can qualify to win a seat to any land-based poker tournament with a $10,000 or less buy-in.