Seat 8: Juha Helppi, 33, Helsinki, Finland - 1,470,000
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Helppi was originally a poker dealer but made a name for himself when he eliminated several top pros to take a WPT title in Aruba in 2002. He has since made dozens of other final tables, his best performance being runner-up in a 2006 WSOP $1k NLHE tourney for $331,000. Overall Helppi has had five cashes worth more than $200,000 and more than a dozen first place finishes.
This is Helppi’s third EPT cash but he won the €20,000 EPT Deauville high roller event back in Season 6, for €192,000. He was also runner-up in the EPT Barcelona €10k event in November, for a further €127,500, and winner of a €1k side event in San Remo last season earning €84,000. Helppi’s career winnings already amount to more than $3 million and he is ranked Finland’s #1 on the All Time Money List. Outside of poker, Helppi is a high level paintball player and was captain of the Finnish National Paintball Champions in 1997, 2003, 2007 and 2008.