NEWS FLASH: Konstantin Puchkov Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet in Event 31
Russian Overcomes Al Barbieri In Tough Heads-Up Match
Konstantin Puchkov was the winner of the $1,500 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker. This marked his first career WSOP gold bracelet victory. The 58-year-old Russian topped a highly-competitive field of 828 players. He overcame a severe chip disadvantage at the final table and defeated Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri heads up for the coveted WSOP title.Puchkov is from Moscow, Russia. He previously won a few major tournaments held in Russia and Monte Carlo. This was the Russian’s first time to cash at the WSOP. Puchkov collected $256,820 for first place, his biggest poker payday ever.Al Barbieri finished second. The South Philadelphia native who now resides in Los Angeles has been one of the more colorful personalities on the tournament poker scene for more than ten years. He’s lived just about every poker player’s dream and nightmare, except for the most elusive of all fantasies, which is winning a WSOP gold bracelet. For Barbieri, that shining moment will have to wait at least another day. Barbieri received a consolation prize amounting to $158,647. With this finish, Barbieri now officially has more than $1 million in career earnings. The top 80 finishers collected prize money. Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – James Van Alstyne (14TH), Cliff Josephy (19th), Linda Johnson (29th), Jason Mercier (44th), Cyndy Violette (46th), Brandon Cantu (47th), Mary Jones (52nd), Robert Williamson III (53rd), and Vasili Lazarou (58th).The defending champion was James Van Alstyne. His 14th-place finish in this event was the highest finish achieved by any defending champ so far this year.A full report of this event will be posted shortly.For official tournament results and additional details, please CLICK HERE.