Historic Win for Felix Stephensen in 2015 Norwegian Poker Championship

As a result of poker prohibition in Norway, national competitions have traditionally been hosted offshore but this year, as a result of relaxed regulations, the first local championship was eld in Oslo. It was announced in September that Amaya's Global Poker Tours was to run the 2015 Norwegian Championships including five events throughout the region before the main event in Oslo last week. More than 2,000 players participated in the competitions leading to the main event that saw pro player Felix Stephensen win the title and Euro 160,000 as the first Norwegian to earn a title on home turf. Stephensen is also known for his second place win the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event where won $5,147,911 following the heads up against Martin Jacobson. Including his Oslo win, Stephensen can now boast $5.5 million in career live tournament winnings surpassing fellow countrymen Annette Obrestad ($3,920,796), Thor Hansen ($2,921,856), and Johnny Lodden ($2,605,381). The Norwegian event was hosted at the Thon Hotel in Gardermoen, a suburban of Oslo, and saw a total of 1,973 players pay the 5,000 NOK ($580) buy-in for this historic event. The field reflected a significant increase as compared to 2014's main event in Dublin, Ireland. Participation was on the rise as Norway eased up on restrictions but legislation still has a ways to go.