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Poker training site owner wins WSOP bracelet6 June 2011Amir Lehavot laid claim to the first $10,000 title at this year's World Series of Poker, claiming the Pot-Limit Hold’em World Championship and $573,465 in prize money. Lehavot, who is originally from Israel, now resides in Weston, Fla. Lehavot came to the U.S. with his parents when he was 16 years old. They settled in the Dallas area, and he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Lehavot was always interested in high-tech. After college, he moved to Silicon Valley and was engaged in software development for about 10 years. Lehavot became bored with his position at one point and decided to take some time off. During that time, he became interested in poker and gradually started to play more. Lehavot recognized the poker boom was here to stay, so he combined his interest in poker with teaching. He founded a poker training site called POKERWIT.COM. No doubt, following his victory, Lehavot should enjoy a rise in business. "I wanted to create a site that would facilitate people talking about the game in a more efficient way," said Lehavot. "My site focuses more on poker hands. It’s not made up of standard message boards. It is a much more efficient way to do it.” The runner up was Jarred Solomon, from Johannesburg, South Africa. He barely missed becoming only the second WSOP winner in history from South Africa (Mark Vos was the first). He collected $354,460 in prize money as a consolation prize. The third-place finisher was 23-year-old Sam Stein, from Henderson, Nev. He is quickly emerging on the scene as one of the top up-and-coming players in tournament poker and will most certainly be someone to watch for the remainder of this WSOP. Third place paid $264,651. Stephen Chidwick, a 22-year-old poker pro from Deal, U.K., was fourth to win $198,927. Tommy Vinas, a 58-year-old poker pro from Houston, Texas, was fifth for $150,453, and Nicolas Levi, a 28-year-old poker pro from London was sixth to claim $114,525. Eric Cloutier, a former professional hockey player who now resides in Lafayette, La., was seventh, McLean Karr, a 29-year-old poker pro from Fort Wayne, Ind., was eighth, and Michael Benvenuti, a 25-year-old professional poker player from Costa Mesa, Calif., was ninth. Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event included Robert Mizrachi (12th), Jason DeWitt (13th), Mike Matusow (20th), Jennifer Tilly (21st), and Nenad Medic (25th). The tournament attracted 249 entries, which was a slight decreased from last year’s turnout of 268. Tournament summary by Nolan Dalla, WSOP Media Director, reprinted by permission. |