This final table of six started with three Romanians, two Israelis, and one Bulgarian. A local winner getting victory on their home soil seemed likely right from the start of the tournament, as Romanians truly love their poker and came out in force for this festival.
But it wasn’t to be. In the end, it was the two players from Israel – Avishai Shitrit and Moshe Eliyahu (who was celebrating his 28th birthday today) – who would find themselves heads-up. The two are friends, and have been chatting and routing for one another for the past two days.
In the duel it didn’t take long for Shitrit to grind down Eliyahu as he came into the one-on-one match with more than a five-to-one chip lead. But it still took a super sick hand to end it – we’ll get to that later.
First, meet your winner of the first ever Eureka tournament in Bucharest, or Romania for that matter: 30-year-old poker pro Avishai Shitrit. Here’s how the day played out.
Six players returned today, and here’s how they stacked up at the beginning:
PLAYER | COUNTRY | STATUS | CHIP COUNTS |
---|---|---|---|
Yasen Dichev | Bulgaria | 3900000 | |
Jozsef Liszkovics | Romania | PokerStars Player | 2750000 |
Moshe Eliyahu | Israel | 2690000 | |
Razvan Costinel Belea | Romania | PokerStars Player | 2450000 |
Avishai Shitrit | Israel | 1730000 | |
Carmen Zainescu | Romania | 690000 |
Popular local pro Carmen Zainescu came in as the short stack, and she’d be the first player to leave us. She jammed over an open from Romania’s Jozsef Liszkovics with Ace-eight and was called by his Ace-Queen. The kicker held up and she hit the rail in sixth for €22,860.
Romania’s Razvan Belea never really got a hold on this final. In fact, in one hand he even called the clock on himself! He was eliminated by Liszkovics after his Ace-nine was out-flopped by his countrymen’s King-Queen. For fifth, he pocketed €29,200.
Avishai Shitrit – 7.85 million
Jozsef Liszkovics – 4.5 million
Moshe Eliyahu – 1.8 million
The biggest pot of the tournament took place three-handed, and it was also the one that would get us heads-up. Liszkovics started the hand with a button open to 200,000 and Avishai Shitrit called from the big blind. The flop came the J♠ 4♠ A♥ and Shitrit check-called a c-bet of 150,000, before also check-calling a bet of 500,000 on the 3♠ turn.
Finally the 2♠ landed on the river, bringing four spades to the flush. Shitrit took his time and led out for 2 million, and after getting an exact count Liszkovics moved all-in. Shitrit snap-called with the A♠ 6♦ for the nut flush, while Liszkovics had the K♠ 7♦ for second best. He won €47,910 for third, and we were then heads-up.
PLAYER | COUNTRY | STATUS | CHIP COUNTS |
---|---|---|---|
Avishai Shitrit | Israel | 12,560,000 | |
Moshe Eliyahu | Israel | 1,765,000 |
As you can see, Shitrit had a huge chip lead, and shortly after heads-up play began he’d whittled Eliyahu’s stack down to less than a million.
In the final hand – that sick hand I told you about earlier – Shitrit made it 200,000 on the button and Eliyahu called. The flop came the 5♣ 3♣ 6♦ and Eliyahu checked, allowing Shitrit to continue for 150,000, which was called. The turn was the K♦ and Eliyahu checked again only to see Shitrit bet 300,000.
At this point Eliyahu moved all-in for around 700,000 total and Shitrit snap-called, turning over the 4♣ 7♥ for the nut straight. Eliyahu had also flopped a straight with his 2♦ 4♦ , but he had the low end and like that it was over.
But how did our champion feel? “It’s a wonderful achievement,” Shitrit told the PokerStars Blog. “When I made the final table, I didn’t expect to win it. It was very quick from yesterday. We went down to six players in the blink of an eye and it feels incredible that I won it now!”
For winning the first Eureka6 Bucharest, Avishai Shitrit takes home €107,350. Congratulations to him, and thanks for reading over the past week.
YEAR OF ROMANIA.
Eureka6 Bucharest results
Entrants: 579
Total prize pool: €561,630
Places paid: 87
1. Avishai Shitrit (Israel) €107,350
2. Moshe Eliyahu (Israel) €66,950
3. Jozsef Liszkovics (Romania) €47,910
4. Yasen Dichev (Bulgaria) €37,070
5. Razvan Belea (Romania) €29,200
6. Carmen Zainescu (Romania) €22,860
All photos by Tomáš Stacha. Many thanks to Jan Kores.
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Jack Stanton is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
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