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Kitai wins second WSOP bracelet, $224,56012 June 2013Davidi Kitai hit several personal and professional milestones on Tuesday night, when he won the $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event at the World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The 33-year-old poker pro became the first Belgian to win two WSOP gold bracelets. He also crossed the $1 million mark in WSOP earnings, becoming the 259th player in history to accomplish that lofty task. Kitai joined another exclusive club as one of the few players to hold multiple gold bracelets in addition to major wins on the European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour. Indeed, this was quite a feat for the mild-mannered player from Brussels who continues to play at the highest level in many of the world toughest poker events. This was Kitai's first win at the WSOP since 2008, when he won the $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em title. When asked what's in store as for the future, Kitai came up with a cosmopolitan view of poker and his potential place in history. “I want to become the first double Triple Crown winner,” Kitai said. Given that he now owns two gold bracelets, he'll have to pick up wins on the EPT and WPT at some point in the future. Based on the way he's playing right now, don't be surprised if Kitai doesn't win another WSOP gold bracelet first. Kitai was the first and only winner who resides outside of North America so far at this year's WSOP. At this point, 13 Americans, 5 Canadians, and (now) 1 Belgian have won gold bracelets. The tournament drew 195 players. The top 27 finishers were paid. Cary Katz, from Las Vegas finished second for $138,794, while Vincent Bartello was third for $103,628. Dimitar Danchev was fourth, Eugene Katchalov was fifth, Kristina Holst was sixth, Bertrand "ElKy" Grospellier was seventh, Dario Minieri was eighth and Christopher Johnson was ninth. Dan Kelly (12th) cashed for the fifth time at this series. Four of those finishes have been in the final two tables. This was the most international final table of any event, so far. Players were from five different nations – including Belgium, United States, Bulgaria, France, and Italy. Tournament report modified from a report by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla, reprinted by permission. |