Kitai, also the first-ever Belgian WSOP bracelet winner and WPT title holder, earned €712,000 after outlasting Canadian Andrew Chen in an intense heads-up match to seal the win.
Chen, an EPT regular and respected pro in his own right, took home €613,000 for his-runner-up finish and the knowledge that he was simply outlasted by a tough player who made several marginal calls on the river to beat him.
Starting the heads-up match with the advantage, Chen put the heat on Kitai with his aggression but a key hand a couple hours in turned the tide in Kitai’s favor.
Kitai open to 350,000 with K♣ 5♣ and Chen three-bet to 900,000 with KJo. Kitai called and the flop came Q-8-2.
Chen bet 615,000 and Kitai called. A turn 4 brought a 1.4m bet for Chen and Kitai called again.
A five on the river brought a shove from Chen and Kitai emerged from the tank with a great call to take control of the match.
Kitai polished Chen off shortly after and now moves to just under $3 million in live earnings with the win.
For a full recap of yesterday’s final table, check the PokerStars blog.
Final-table finshers and their payouts below:
1. Davidi Kitai €712,000
2. Andrew Chen €613,000
3. André Morath €290,000
4. Mario Puccini €220,000
5. Bahadir Kilickese €172,000
6. César García €133,000
7. Marc Wright €97,000
8. Pratyush Buddiga €72,000
The next stop on the EPT is the Grand Final which kicks off wth the €100,000 Super High Roller event tomorrow.
PokerListings.com will be on the scene with live reports so check our news section tomorrow.
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