James Akenhead is a London-born and based English professional poker player. He is sponsored by Genting Poker and is part of the London poker group The Hitsquad. Akenhead's most significant live tournament poker achievment to date is his 2008 World Series of Poker 2nd place finish, where he collected a $250,000 prize. Total life earnings: $3,645,294. Latest cash: $8,941 on 18-Feb-2020. Click here to see the details of James Akenhead's 100 cashes. James Akenhead played in more than 74 live tournaments in total. That makes him the number 21 poker player in England and # 413 in the alltime cash list. His biggest success was winning more than USD 1,263,602.00 in a single live tournament. James Akenhead, a British poker pro, is a former railroad conductor who now competes on the green felts for a living. He finished ninth in both the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
James Akenhead, a British poker pro, is a former railroad conductor who now competes on the green felts for a living. He finished ninth in both the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event and 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event. He also took down the Full Tilt Poker Million VIII for $500,000.
James Akenhead Poker Play
Akenhead is a regular on the Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour and finished fourth in the 888.com U.K. Open in 2008 after winning two preliminary heats. Akenhead is one of Britain's top players, coming from a long line of pros from the country including David 'Devilfish' Ulliott, Roland de Wolfe, John Gale, and Liv Boeree. In July of 2007, James Akenhead made his mark on U.S. soil by winning a $1,000 buy-in tournament during the Bellagio Cup for $41,000. He's since cashed in tournaments around the world, including the United States, Bahamas, Germany, Ireland, England, and France.
James Akenhead is a Full Tilt Poker pro, joining fellow member and seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey at the final table of the 2009 Main Event. Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, and Gus Hansen, among others, headline team Full Tilt. The site's slogan encourages poker hopefuls to 'play with the pros' and is the second largest room worldwide in terms of cash game traffic. Its acceptance of U.S. players and fully-downloadable Mac client have made the online poker site an industry staple.
Hit Squad
Together with Praz Bansi, Chaz Chattha, Sunny Chattha, and Karl Mahrenholz, James Akenhead is a member of the Hit Squad. After Akenhead reached the final table to become a member of the newest November Nine, Chattha commented on the Hit Sqaud's website, 'All going out to celebrate now, gonna be crazy.' In an interview that appeared on Bluff Europe's website, rumors of profit sharing among the Hit Squad were addressed: 'We help each other now and again, but we're not a business; we're just a group of friends that travels together and supports each other. You always want someone on the rail cheering for you and they're always there.'
2009 WSOP Main Event
Akenhead took ninth in the 2009 WSOP Main Event and was the first player sent packing from the final table. On the 59th hand, Akenhead ran pocket threes into the pocket nines of eventual eighth place finisher Kevin Schaffel. The board ran out 10-2-7-2-9, which gave Schaffel a boat and the win in the hand; it also sent Akenhead looking for the next flight to London. A few hands prior, he had run aces into Schaffel's kings. On the 44th hand of final table play, Akenhead drew out on Eric Buchman's A-K with K-Q when a queen hit.
Full Tilt Poker Million VIII
In December 2008, Akenhead won the Full Tilt Poker Million VIII, collecting $500,000. He bested a final table that included Juha Helppi, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Luke 'FullFlush' Schwartz, Craig Wakeham, Peter Vasiliou, and Taylor 'Green Plastic' Caby. Combined with his ninth place finish in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event, Akenhead has solidified himself as one of the top names in the poker industry.
James Akenhead is one of the most easily recognizable poker players in the UK, but it was not always this way. His amazing poker successes have come mainly in the last two years, but he is one of the most successful poker players during that time. James was a train driver and semi-professional pool player in the UK and discovered cards in the evening when playing Pool with friends after work.
James Akenhead Poker Play
Akenhead is a regular on the Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour and finished fourth in the 888.com U.K. Open in 2008 after winning two preliminary heats. Akenhead is one of Britain's top players, coming from a long line of pros from the country including David 'Devilfish' Ulliott, Roland de Wolfe, John Gale, and Liv Boeree. In July of 2007, James Akenhead made his mark on U.S. soil by winning a $1,000 buy-in tournament during the Bellagio Cup for $41,000. He's since cashed in tournaments around the world, including the United States, Bahamas, Germany, Ireland, England, and France.
James Akenhead is a Full Tilt Poker pro, joining fellow member and seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey at the final table of the 2009 Main Event. Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, and Gus Hansen, among others, headline team Full Tilt. The site's slogan encourages poker hopefuls to 'play with the pros' and is the second largest room worldwide in terms of cash game traffic. Its acceptance of U.S. players and fully-downloadable Mac client have made the online poker site an industry staple.
Hit Squad
Together with Praz Bansi, Chaz Chattha, Sunny Chattha, and Karl Mahrenholz, James Akenhead is a member of the Hit Squad. After Akenhead reached the final table to become a member of the newest November Nine, Chattha commented on the Hit Sqaud's website, 'All going out to celebrate now, gonna be crazy.' In an interview that appeared on Bluff Europe's website, rumors of profit sharing among the Hit Squad were addressed: 'We help each other now and again, but we're not a business; we're just a group of friends that travels together and supports each other. You always want someone on the rail cheering for you and they're always there.'
2009 WSOP Main Event
Akenhead took ninth in the 2009 WSOP Main Event and was the first player sent packing from the final table. On the 59th hand, Akenhead ran pocket threes into the pocket nines of eventual eighth place finisher Kevin Schaffel. The board ran out 10-2-7-2-9, which gave Schaffel a boat and the win in the hand; it also sent Akenhead looking for the next flight to London. A few hands prior, he had run aces into Schaffel's kings. On the 44th hand of final table play, Akenhead drew out on Eric Buchman's A-K with K-Q when a queen hit.
Full Tilt Poker Million VIII
In December 2008, Akenhead won the Full Tilt Poker Million VIII, collecting $500,000. He bested a final table that included Juha Helppi, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Luke 'FullFlush' Schwartz, Craig Wakeham, Peter Vasiliou, and Taylor 'Green Plastic' Caby. Combined with his ninth place finish in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event, Akenhead has solidified himself as one of the top names in the poker industry.
James Akenhead is one of the most easily recognizable poker players in the UK, but it was not always this way. His amazing poker successes have come mainly in the last two years, but he is one of the most successful poker players during that time. James was a train driver and semi-professional pool player in the UK and discovered cards in the evening when playing Pool with friends after work.
After showing a bit of talent at the game he entered a tournament in Newcastle where he came third winning just over $40,000. With that bankroll boost he boarded a plane and headed to Las Vegas for the 2008 World Series of Poker.* Entering the second event of the series which had a $1,500 buy-in he played his way to face Grant Hinkle heads up for the bracelet. Fate would intervene and he finished runner-up earning $520,000.
James Akenhead Poker
The 2009 World Series of Poker* main event was to be life changing for James. He went on a great run all the way to the final table and secured a place among the November nine which included Phil Ivey. During the intervening months between play, James managed to make the final table of the WSOPE main event and qualified for the final table of the Poker Million. He would finish 9th in both WSOP* main events, earning a combined total of around $1.5 million.
The final of the Poker Million in 2009 was shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and James beat players like Taylor Caby, Dag Martin Mikkelsen and Luke Schwartz to the title where he defeated Juha Helppi heads-up. It was his first major win and the relief in his interview immediately after winning was obvious. He won $500,000 for the win. It capped an amazing run for the British poker expert who, it seems, has the world at his feet going into 2010 and beyond.
James Akenhead Poker Card
* The World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ('Harrah's'). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with Titan Poker or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.
