blonde poker

congratulations to Amir Lehavot, Winner of Event #7: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship ($573,456)

Day 3 of the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship began with 27 hopefuls looking to capture a coveted World Series of Poker bracelet and the $573,456 first-place prize. The eliminations came at a rapid pace, the field reducing itself from 27 to the final table in just five hours. After another five hours, it was Amir Lehavot who emerged victorious to capture the prize and his first WSOP bracelet.

Lehavot’s path to victory did not come easy as a number of notables stood in his way at the beginning of the day. Nenad Medic (25th- $20,129), Jennifer Tilly (21st- $20,129), Mike Matusow (20th- $20,129), Owen Crowe (15th- 32,183), Robert Mizrachi (12th- $40,890), and Toby Lewis (11th- $40,890) were just a few of the big names that were eliminated in the early stages of Day 3.

When the field was reduced to the final nine, the players relocated to the ESPN feature table:
Seat   Player   Chip Count
1   Amir Lehavot   1,268,000
2   Sam Stein   599,000
3   Jarred Solomon   1,427,000
4   Stephen Chidwick   772,000
5   Nicolas Levi   579,000
6   Michael Benvenuti   670,000
7   Eric Cloutier   457,000
8   Tommy Vinas   1,409,000
9   McLean Karr   290,000

The final table action was no less rapid than the preceding exploits. Michael Benvenuti was the first to go after his {A-Hearts}{K-Clubs} failed to improve against Stephen “Stevie444” Chidwick’s {6-Clubs}{6-Diamonds} on a board reading {J-Clubs}{10-Clubs}{7-Clubs}. A short time later, both McLean Karr and Eric Cloutier hit the rails in the eighth and seventh-place spots respectively. Nicolas Levi was the next out the door in sixth place after his {7-Diamonds}{7-Hearts} failed to hold against the {A-Spades}{Q-Diamonds} of Lehavot as the board ran out {A-Clubs}{5-Spades}{9-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}{4-Spades}.

It was during five-handed play that one of the more brutal hands of the day developed. It began when Jarred Solomon raised to 70,000 under the gun and Tommy Vinas decided to look him up from the button. Solomon led right out with a 75,000 bet on the {9-Spades}{Q-Spades}{7-Spades} flop, which Vinas raised to 275,000. Solomon thought for a moment before announcing, "Pot." The three-bet was for a whopping 735,000!

Vinas didn't take long before moving all in for a couple hundred thousand more and Solomon made the call.

Solomon: {9-Clubs}{9-Diamonds}
Vinas: {7-Clubs}{7-Diamonds}

It was a brutal set-over-set flop that saw Vinas on the bad end of things. "Spade, spade," Vinas pleaded as he looked to his rail in resignation. The {8-Hearts} turn ensured that there would be no chop. It was down to the river for Vinas, who needed the case seven to stay alive. The {8-Clubs} was close, but not quite what he needed. Vinas was eliminated in fifth place and will take home $150,453 for his efforts.

The next to go was Chidwick in fourth place followed out the door just a few hands later by Sam Stein in third place, leaving Lehavot (5,415,000) to do heads-up battle against Solomon (2,160,000). It was a back and forth affair as Solomon did his best to put himself back in contention; however, Lehavot proved too much to overcome. In the final hand, Solomon's {a-Hearts}{J-Spades} could not pull ahead of Lehavot's {A-Spades}{Q-Hearts} and he finished as our runner-up.
Final Table Payouts

Place   Player   Prize
1   Amir Lehavot   $573,456
2   Jarred Solomon   $354,460
3   Sam Stein   $264,651
4   Stephen Chidwick   $198,927
5   Tommy Vinas   $150,453
6   Nicolas Levi   $114,525
7   Eric Cloutier   $87,702
8   McLean Karr   $67,596
9   Michael Benvenuti   $52,406
Former $5,000-$10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Champions

Year   Event   Player   Prize   Entrants
2005   Event #20 ($5,000)   Brian Wilson   $370,685   239
2006   Event #32 ($5,000)   Jason Lester   $550,764   378
2007   Event #13 ($5,000)   Allen Cunningham   $487,287   398
2008   Event #1 ($10,000)   Nenad Medic   $794,112   352
2009   Event #45 ($10,000)   John Kabbaj   $633,335   275
2010   Event #38 ($10,000)   Valdemar Kwaysser   $617,214   268
2011   Event #7 ($10,000)   Amir Lehavot   $573,456   249

Congratulations to Amir Lehavot on taking down the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship. Not a bad showing for the man who won $421,680 for a fourth-place finish back in March at the World Poker Tour’s L.A. Poker Classic