IDAN RAVIV WINS NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM SIX-MAX
Israeli High-Tech Professional Tops 1,651-Player Field and Wins $457,007
England’s Iaron Lightbourne Comes in Second, After Finishing 22nd in Main Event Last Year
International Players Dominate -- as Finalists from Israel, England, Brazil, Canada, and the United States Take the Top Six Spots
MEET THE LATEST WSOP GOLD BRACELET CHAMPION
Name: Idan Raviv
Birthplace: Holon (Israel)
Age: 24
Current Residence: Holon (Israel)
Marital Status: Single
Children: None
Profession: High Tech (IT Professional)
Number of WSOP Cashes: 3
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 1
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories (with this tournament): 1
Best Previous WSOP Finish: 181st (2014)
Total WSOP Earnings: $504,365
Personal Facts: Cashed in WSOP Main Event last year
Idan Raviv became the first poker player from Israel to win a gold bracelet at the 2015 World Series of Poker. He topped a highly-competitive field of 1,651 players in the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed tournament (Event #12), which was played over a three-day period at the Rio in Las Vegas. This marks the second consecutive year that an Israeli citizen has won a WSOP title. Asi Moshe won a gold bracelet in 2014, playing the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event.
Raviv’s victory came late on a Friday night in front of a packed gallery of enthusiastic supporters on the ESPN Main Stage, which was lived streamed worldwide on WSOP.com. He overcame a 2 to 1 chip disadvantage to Englishman Iaron Lightbourne when playing heads-up and seized the victory. That meant Lightbourne, from London, ended up as the second place finisher, which paid $283,063.
Raviv, born and raised in Holon (Israel) collected $457,007 for his victory, the biggest payday he’s ever had at the WSOP. However, Raviv is certainly no stranger to competing in major events of this magnitude. In addition to success on the European Poker Tour, he cashed in two tournaments held here last year, including both the Main Event Championship and the Little One for One Drop ($1,111 buy-in NLHE).
The winner calls himself a 24-year-old aspiring poker pro who continues to work in high-tech while he plays the game recreationally on the side, mostly while attending major events in Europe part-time. No doubt, this big payday and huge confidence builder in this event should propel Raviv to stick with the game just a little while longer.
Attendance for the Six-Max No-Limit event increased from last year, which was 1,587 players. This marks yet another rise in participation here at the 2015 WSOP, which continues through mid-July.
Here’s the succession of other finishers who made the final table dominated by international players, which clocked in at about five hours of playing time.
Second Place: Iaron Lightbourne, from London, UK finished as the runner up. Like the winner, he’s a 24-year-old aspiring poker pro who cashed in the Main Event Championship last year, finishing 22nd.
Third Place: Manoel Filho took 3rd place. He’s a 39-year-old salesman from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was his second time to cash at the series, which paid $186,108.
Fourth Place: Markus Gonsalves ended up in 4th place. He’s a 31-year-old poker pro now with 16 WSOP cashes. This was his best career finish, which paid $122,586.
Fifth Place: Craig McCorkell, from London, UK took 5th place. With the $82,467 he collected for this finish, McCorkell now has very close to $1 million in career WSOP earnings. He won a gold bracelet in 2012 ($3,000 buy-in Shootout).
Sixth Place: Mike Watson missed his chance to finally win a gold bracelet, in what was his 32nd time to cash at the series. The 31-year-old poker pro from Toronto (Canada) earned $56,835 for finishing 6th. Watson has finished as the runner up three times in WSOP events, including two times last year.
Seventh Place: Daniel Maor cashed for the first time in a WSOP event, coming in 7th place. He’s a 27-year-old poker pro from San Jose, CA. Maor pocketed $40,565.
OTHER NOTABLE IN-THE MONEY FINISHERS:
Two-time gold bracelet winner Steve Billirakis finished 12th.
Scott Montgomery, gold bracelet winner and fifth-place finisher in the 2008 Main Event Championship, came in 23rd.
FUN FACTS:
Of the 1,651-player field, 1,606 were males and 45 were females.
The average age of entrants was 35.9 years, slightly above average.
(Note: Will appear 48 hours after event concludes)