Event 38 at the WSOP. Poker Player

Another win for Europe as Belgian player Davidi Kitai takes down the $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em

World Series of Poker Event #38, Pot-limit Hold’em, 20-22 June 2008

Entrants: 605
Buy in: $2,000
Prize pool: $1,101,100

Final results:

1. Davidi Kitai, $244,583

2. Chris Bell, $155,805

3. Keith Greer, $94,694

4. Jan Von Halle, $77,077

5. Lee Watkinson, $63,313

6. Robert Cheung, $50,100

7. Ayaz Mahmood, $39,089

8. Ben Roberts, $30,830

The $2,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #38) attracted 605 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $1,101,100. The top 63 finishers collected prize money.

The 2008 $2,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em champion is Davidi Kitai. He is a 28-year-old economic analyst from Brussels, Belgium. Kitai was born in Antwerp, Belgium.

Kitai works for a banking institution in Belgium and deals with macroeconomic investment issues, and is the first WSOP gold bracelet ever from the nation of Belgium.

Kitai won $244,583 for first place, and his first WSOP gold bracelet victory.

The heads-up match between Kitai and Bell was the longest to date at this year’s WSOP. It clocked in at nearly five hours and went 186 hands. By contrast, the first seven players were knocked out in a relatively quick 3.5 hour span and included only 101 hands.

The final table included players from five different countries. Nations represented included Belgium, Canada, England, Germany, and the United States.

Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Lee Watkinson finished in fifth place. This was is his fourth time to cash at the 2008 World Series. Watkinson also made it all the way to the Main Event final table last year, finishing eighth.

High-stakes cash game player Ben Roberts, from London, England finished in eighth place. Roberts finished sixth in the 1998 WSOP Main Event.

Through Event #38, only two players have made three final table appearances – Jacobo Fernandez and David Benyamine. Sixteen players have made two WSOP final table appearances. This list includes – Chris Bjorin, Andy Bloch, Alex Bolotin, Scott Clements, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Fu Wong, Greg Jamison, Mike Matusow, Erick Lindgren, Minh Ly, Daniel Negreanu, David Singer, J.C. Tran, Theo Tran, and Tim West.

All WSOP images are supplied by “IMPDI for the 2008 WSOP”