Belgium's Davidi Kitai Wins First Non-US Bracelet Of WSOP 2014

With 15 out of 65 tournaments completed in Las Vegas, Belgiums Davidi Kitai has finally won the first non-US bracelet of WSOP 2014 after taking down the $3k NL Six Handed (Event #15) for $508,640. In so doing the 35 year-old pro also picked up a third career bracelet, whilst boosting his live tournament earnings to $4,954,040.
Commenting on his remarkable feat, Kitai said: “It’s very good for me to win not just for Belgium, but for France, too. I have hundreds of followers and everyone was texting me and posting nice things. It is nice when you know the people back home are watching.”
The $3k NL Six Handed event attracted a huge field of 810 players to create a prize pool worth $2,211,300. Amongst those notables then cashing in at the event was Michael Mizrachi in 86th ($5,041), Christian Harder in 79th ($5,041), Sorel Mizzi in 68th ($5,484), Andrew Lichtenberger in 52nd ($7,098), Olivier Busquet in 20th ($15,567), and Vladimir Geshkenbein in 10th ($33,213).
Phil Hellmuth then narrowly missed out on yet another final table appearance after being busted in 8th for $45,022. Prior to his exit, however, Hellmuth was clearly frustrated by the winning play of Davidi Kitai, and after losing another pot to the Belgium pro, tweeted:
“Crazy Frenchman is going to cost me my 14th bracelet. You have no chance to win, sir.”
Amusingly enough when a player at the table, perhaps in an attempt to goad Hellmuth, asked Kitai whether he had ever won a tournament before, a Hellmuth oblivious to Kiai’s poker pedigree immediately responded with “Of course he’s never won a tournament before.”
After the final table of six got underway, Davidi Kitai (A-K) eventually eliminated Tony Ruberto in 3rd ($200,476) to go heads-up against USA’s Gordon Vayo for the title. Despite Kitai’s huge chip disadvantage, however, the Belgium managed to grind his opponent to a 10BB stack before the defining hand was played with Kitai’s A-K against the A-6 of Gordon Vayo. The dealer subsequently put out a J-Q-6-7-K board to consign Gordon Vayo to a runner-up finish worth $314,535, while Kitai put Europe on the map for the first time at WSOP 2014.
Final Table Results:
1 Davidi Kitai     $508,640
2 Gordon Vayo     $314,535
3 Tony Ruberto  $200,476
4 Mark Darner     $132,169
5 John Andress     $89,734
6 Zachary Korik $62,690