Just now breaking into the tournament poker world, the Netherlands’ Niels van Alphen is off to a solid start in his tournament poker career, which could bode well for himself and be highly dangerous for his opponents.The Westkapelle native broke onto the tournament poker scene in early 2012 with his performance at the European Poker Tour stop in Copenhagen, Denmark. In that 299-player Main Event, van Alphen outlasted some of the biggest names on the European circuit, including former EPT Copenhagen winner Michael Tureniec and 2011 WSOP Main Event runner-up Martin Staszko in making the final table.
The Netherlands poker community standout wasn’t content with just being there; he made a run at taking down the title before falling in sixth place for $68,943, behind eventual champion Mickey mementmori Petersen and runner-up Pierre Neuville.
Coming to the United States for his first-ever WSOP in 2012, van Alphen wasn’t fazed by the atmosphere or the competition he faced. Going into Day 6 at the bottom of the list of 97 players remaining, van Alphen went on a charge that almost pushed him to Day 7, the Main Event's play down day.
He battled with his short stack until late in the evening before he finally succumbed to the fates of the game. After Cylus Watson opened the action, van Alphen pushed in his stack and Watson made the call. It was the classic race situation, with Watson’s pocket nines against van Alphen’s A-K, but the flop and turn only came seven-high. The river contained a paint card, but it was a queen, sending van Alphen out of the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament in 30th place.
Wearing the colors of 888 Poker, van Alphen collected his biggest payday as a live tournament pro, $236,921. With his success over the beginning of 2012, we might not have heard the last of Niels van Alphen in the world of poker. In fact, he may be a player to watch in the years ahead.
