Thomas Pratter (Team Austria)

Don't mess with Thomas Pratter. He owns a three-table card casino in Salzburg. That is, he knows cards pretty well. Not only that, but it provides him enough of an income to allow him to play poker online and to enjoy in his words "a warm meal each Sunday."





Anders Berg (Team Norway)

Some people can't leave their poker face at the table. Anders Berg, while a fine gentleman, isn't much for talking about his personal life. For instance, when asked to list five things no one knows about him, he indicates there's a good reason nobody knows those things. He'll offer to tell you the last time he trimmed his toenails, but that's about as far as you'll get with this guy. He's a rock. Nonetheless, his poker face does him well, as Berg is a big game player who can win or lose tens of thousands of dollars on any given day playing poker.

***

The beauty of heads-up play is the speed at which the game can change. No match in the semi-finals of the WCP illustrated this more than the final contest between Norway and Austria.

Austria's Thomas Pratter and Norway's Anders Berg battled back and forth for many, many hands with neither player keeping an advantage for very long.

After a few levels, Berg muttered, "Something may happen soon." He was quite right.

Berg came in for a raise with pocker fours and Pratter called with KT. The flop came down with all little cards, including a four to give Berg a set. Before anyone could get a clear handle on what was happening, Pratter had pushed in his entire stack with nothing more than a couple of overcards. Berg called and crippled Pratter.

Berg got a bit impatient and tried to steal the blinds from Pratter's little stack with a simple J9. Unfortunately for Berg, Pratter held KK and held off Berg for a while longer.

Pratter finally got the rest of his chips in with AT versus Berg's KQs. Berg flopped a straight flush draw and eventually hit his queen to send Pratter packing.

Norway will now meet Costa Rica in the finals.