WSOP Event #9

The winner of Event #9 the $1,500 Omaha High-Low was 36-year-old businessman Alex Kravchenko, from Moscow, Russia, who has been playing for about eight years.

The event attracted 690 runners making up a total prizepool of $941,850.

Kravchenko is the first Russian citizen in history to win a WSOP gold bracelet. Russian immigrants have won previously at the WSOP, including Ralph Perry last year, but Kravchenko’s victory is clearly a milestone.

Up to and including Event #9, this year’s WSOP has crowned champions born in four different countries — Russia, South Korea, Ireland, and the United States.

Kravechenko has an impressive history of tournament wins in Europe, winning the Austrian Masters Pot-Limit Championship in 2001, as well as the Russian Pot-Limit Championship that same year. His most recent win before this was a Limit Hold’em title at the Helsinki Frezeout in 2002.

This was Kravchenko’s third time to cash at the WSOP (twice last year), and he trouserd $228,446 for first place.

This was the largest Omaha High-Low turnout in WSOP history, surpassing the previous best was 670 for last year’s OHL8. However, the 2006 event had a larger total prize pool since the buy-in was $2,000 instead of $1,500.

Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Dr. Max Stern cashed in 56th place. He now has 24 lifetime cashes and over $750,000 in WSOP tournament winnings.

Final results:
1. Alex Kravchenko, Moscow, Russia, $228,446
2. Bryan Andrew, Henderson, NV, $140,336
3. John Varner, Fairborn, OH, $92,301
4. J.R. Reiss, Omaha, NE, $60,749
5. Bryan Devonshire, Milwaukee, WI, $43,796
6. Yueqi Zhu, Rowland Heights, CA, $33,907
7. Jordan Morgan, Norman, OK, $25,430
8. Jeff Calkins, New York, NY, $18,837
9. Richard Ashby, Watford, UK, $13,657