Lars Hareid is the 2023 Norwegian Poker Champion!

After nine hours of play on the Day 4 of the Norwegian Poker Championship, the final 8 was formed when Eikrem got knocked out as a final table bubble boy against chip leader Morten Lie.

Besides Morten Lie, the finalists who battled for a prestigious Norwegian Championship title were Jonny Pedersen, Lars Hareid, Yasin Wali, Yngve Steen, Thor Kleven, Kasper Wuertz, and Kayhan Mokri.

Kayhan Mokri finished in 8th place

Only half an hour of the final table was needed to see the first exit of the day. The one to say goodbye was Kayhan Mokri, who was all-in with JJ against Hareid’s KTs, and pocket Jacks didn’t hold, unfortunately. Still a great tournament for Mokri, with an 8^th place finish and a €10,950 prize. Great start of the year for the Norwegia,n who had several big cashes at the 2023 PCA and a 2^nd place finish at the Mystery Bounty event at EPT Paris in February.

After an hour of play, this was the chip count at the final table:

Thor Kleven was the next to go. He 3-bet with KTo and got a call from Wali. The flop was 767, where Thor pushed his remaining 2bb, but Yasin Ahmed showed up a full house with pocket 6s for a pretty much unbeatable hand. 7^th place and €13,000 for Kleven.
We didn’t have to wait long for Wali to throw out another player; Kasper Wuertz was his victim who ran with AJo against Wali’s AKs. Wuertz can be happy about a couple of money ladders and 6^th place finish.

The next hand was a big one as Lars Hareid opened KTs from the button, and Jonny Johannes Pedersen defended his BB with 84s. The board opened 7h6c3c, and both players had a flush draw. Hareid made a small cbet, Pedersen called, and the turn came to a case 5c, which gave both a flush.

Championship Trophy

Hareid continues with a bet, and Pedersen calls again. River is an Ace which didn’t change anything regarding hand strength. This time Lars went all-in for a big overbet, and Jonny quickly called to see the unfortunate news and a big setup against two chip leaders. Pedersen pocketed €18,500 for a 5th place finish.

Even though Lars Hareid was a dominant chip leader at this point, with more than half of the chips in play, it was Yngve Steen who eliminated Wali in 4th place after hitting 4 on the flop with pocket 4s against JJ.

Morten Lie

45 minutes later, Steen pushed with his small stack from the big blind after Lie opened T5o from the button. Yngve’s K7o was drawing dead before the river as the turn gave Lie a full house. 3rd place finish awarded €44,450.

Deserver heads-up for a Norwegian title between Hareid and Lie, who started the battle as a 2:1 underdog, even with Steen’s chips.
The heads-up itself didn’t last long and ended in a hand where both players hit their top pair of fives, but again Hareid had a better kicker, and after five days of play, Lars Hareid is a new 2023 Norwegian Poker Champion and won €110,768 on top of the title.

Lars Hareid lifting the trophy

2023 Norwegian Poker Championship Final Table Results