Lost in the shuffle of the L.A. Poker Classic and this weekend’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship was the finale of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational, which occurred on Wednesday night. In the end, World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Davidi Kitai came away with a $100,000 first place prize and his first WPT title.
Kitai was the first bracelet winner ever from the nation of Belgium. He won a $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event three years ago for $244,000 after besting a final table that included Chris Bell, Lee Watkinson, Ayaz Mahmood, and Ben Roberts. He followed that up with a final table in the World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em one year later for $183,000. His victory in the WPT Celebrity Invitational proves that his skills extend well beyond just Pot Limit Hold’em.
Two eliminations were recorded in the first nine hands after the field entered the final table short-stacked. Dinara Khaziyeva called all-in pre-flop with 10-2 of spades and was up against Almira Skripchenko’s A-10 of hearts. In a battle of chess players, the board ran out A-K-8-6-J and Khaziyeva failed to improve. She headed to the rail in sixth place and booked a $5,000 payday. Checkmate!
Two hands later, Damon Schramm, who entered the final table as the chip leader, was ousted in fifth place. Schramm picked an inopportune time to 3bet all-in before the flop with K-10 of clubs, as Dan Heimiller woke up with pocket aces. Schramm flopped a king to give Heimiller a sweat, but the rest of the board bricked out to send him away in fifth place for $10,000.
Play settled down four-handed, as another 50 hands were needed until an elimination occurred. George Rechnitzer doubled up Skripchenko after his A-Q of clubs could not withstand Skripchenko’s K-6. The next hand, he was all-in for one big blind with 5-4 and Skripchenko flopped top pair with A-9. Skripchenko ultimately made a full house and Rechnitzer pulled in $15,000.
Heimiller was the next to go. He open-shoved all-in from the small blind with Q-5 suited and Kitai looked him up with K-6 of diamonds. Kitai flopped a king and turned a six to send the only other bracelet winner at the final table to the rail. Heimiller earned $20,000 in his second WPT final table.
On the 102nd hand of final table play, Kitai moved all-in pre-flop with Q-3 of hearts and Skripchenko called for her tournament life with A-2. The flop came A-J-3, giving each player a pair, and Kitai improved to queens-up when the turn came a queen. The river was a king and Kitai banked the $100,000 first place prize in the WPT Celebrity Invitational. For her efforts, Skripchenko received $50,000.
Here were the final results from the 2011 WPT Celebrity Invitational:
1. Davidi Kitai – $100,000
2. Almira Skripchenko – $50,000
3. Dan Heimiller – $20,000
4. George Rechnitzer – $15,000
5. Damon Schramm – $10,000
6. Dinara Khaziyeva – $5,000
Today, the final table of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic will play out and a top payday of $1.6 million is at stake. The story of the finale is Carlos Mortensen, who is seeking a record-setting fourth WPT title and enters as the chip leader. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT headlines.
