Jens “Graftekkel” Arends Claims His First Live WSOP Bracelet

In what’s looking to be a breakout year in the live poker scene for the Dutch online tournament crusher, Jens “Graftekkel” Arends has added to his already impressive resume with victory in the $100,000 High Roller event. Jens overcame a stacked final table, featuring the likes of Justin Bonomo, Adrian Mateos, and Chance Kornuth, before beating PokerGo head honcho Cary Katz.

Breaking Out is Hard to Do

Many players who have made their name in the online scene have often found it hard to make a similar impact in the live game. For every Tom Dwan and Linus Love, there are dozens of great online players who have failed to replicate the same levels of success live.

After being derided by Allen Kessler late last year over his lack of live tournament results, it seems fitting that Jens is seemingly having his breakout year in live tournament poker. This bracelet comes off the back of a 3rd place finish in the $50K event and comes soon after his victory in the Triton Series $30K event.

Any regular in the high-stakes tournament scene will tell you just how impressive Graftekkel is, so if Jens can successfully make the transition to live poker we’re sure this bracelet will not be his last.

For the Love of the Game

Jens picked up just over $2.5 million for his victory but said that money isn’t his sole motivator. In fact, it's his love for the game that keeps him going. He said, “I love the challenge, I love to compete, I love to try to improve, so that's the first reason. Then, obviously, the money side of it is nice as well.”

Jens already has a WSOP bracelet to his name, taking down the $600 Double Chance No Limit Hold’em event just one year ago, so winning a WSOP bracelet isn’t a new feeling for him. However, he has said that winning it live is a much different feeling. When asked about the differences, he said “It's completely different live. Live is more pressure, there's people around, there's cameras, live-streamed final table. There's added pressure.” “So, this is very different. Way more special, I would say.”

Now that he’s got a taste for picking up hardware in a live tournament setting, we have a feeling it’s going to be a common occurrence over the next few years.

Event #29 $100,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em Final Table Results

Will we see a lot more of Jens in other live tournament series after such a successful WSOP? Is this going to be his only bracelet win, or will he go on to dominate the high-stakes live tournament scene? Stay tuned for all the latest WSOP news and events.

Image Source: @WSOP Twitter