The World Series of Poker is increasingly becoming an international event. Americans are still winning a majority of the bracelets, but the Europeans are coMing and nowhere was that more apparent than the final table of the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em World Championship Thursday night.
Five American players sat with a Russian, a Belgian, a Mexican and an Englishman. In the end it was the Englishman/Russian who conquered the final table and took home the WSOP bracelet. John Kabbaj outlasted a field of 275 world class players, including Russian Kirill Gerasimov in heads-up play, to win $633,335 and his first bracelet.
It was one of the Americans who became the first fatality among the final nine players. In a battle of the blinds Darryll Fish raised to 120,000 from the small blind and JC Alvarado moved all-in from the big blind. Fish called and showed A
8
and Alavardo turned up 7 7
. The board bricked out and Fish, the short stack when the final table began, was out in ninth place.
Not long before the dinner break another American, Isaac Haxton, bit the dust. After Haxton bet the pot Davidi Kitai re-raised and Haxton called all-in. Kitai showed A Q
and had Haxton, with K Q, dominated. The board brought no relief for Haxton and the runner-up from the $40,000 No Limit Hold’em event was out in eighth spot.
The string of Americans being eliminated didn’t stop there. Eugene Todd responded to a raise by Alvarado by re-raising to 600,000. Kirill Gerasimov moved all-in from the small blind, Alvarado folded and Todd called. The Russian showed Q Q and Todd flipped up A Q. The board brought no ace for Todd and his run at the title was over with a seventh place finish.
New York City’s Jason Lester found the exit next. The former Mayfair Club regular moved all-in from the cutoff with J T and Kitai called from the button with A 5. Neither player connected on the flop and ace-high was good enough for Kitai to take the pot and send yet another American player to the rail. Lester’s elimination left only Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin to defend the red, white and blue.
With all but one American out of the way the international field began to eat away at itself. Having sent two players home himself Alvarado found himself in their shoes at the hands of Englishmen John Kabbaj. The Mexican superstar opened with a raise to 200,000 before John Kabbaj made it 700,000. Alvarado moved all-in for 1,250,000 and Kabbaj called and tabled T T, racing against A Q. The board came J 7 6 7 J and Kabbaj’s hand held sending Alvarado home.
Only five minutes later Kitai’s night was over. Gerasimov opened the betting with a raise to 250,000, Kitai moved all-in from the big blind and Gerasimov called. Kitai tabled pocket fives while Gerasimov showed K T. The flop of J 7 2 brought extra outs for Gerasimov in the form of a flush draw. The 8 gave him more outs with the addition of a straight draw. The axe finally fell on the river when the K gave Gerasimov a pair of kings. Unable to dodge the multitude of outs for Gerasimov, Kitai was eliminated in fourth place.
It wasn’t quite the knockout blow but Baldwin suffered a significant hit against Gerasimov that left the last American standing desperately short. On the key hand Gerasimov button-raised to 300,000 and Baldwin called from the small blind. The flop came A 9 8, Baldwin checked and Gerasimov bet 375,000. Baldwin replied by raising to 1,400,000 and Gerasimov moved all-in. Baldwin called and tabled A J but Gerasimov showed A 9 for flopped top two pair. Neither the turn or river gave Baldwin a save and he was sent home on the very next hand.
The heads-up battle took 30 hands and ended in impressive fashion. On the final hand of the night.
The flop came [] [] [] and
Final Table Payouts
- John Kabbaj - $633,335
- Kirill Gerasimov - $391,369
- Eric Baldwin - $259,534
- Davidi Kitai - $183,638
- JC Alvarado - $138,375
- Jason Lester - $110,431
- Eugene Todd - $93,085
- Isaac Haxton - $82,668
- Darryll Fish - $77,136
INFORMATION COURTESY OF WWW.WSOP.COM
Image courtesy of the hendon mob