Israeli nets $3m. in poker tourney

An Israeli poker player was eliminated early Tuesday morning after beating out thousands of players and reaching third place in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Amir Lehavot was one of nine card sharks competing for an $8.3-million pot at the lucrative tournament’s final table.

Lehavot will walk away with a cool $3,737,823, or NIS 13,215,447.

A number of supporters held Israeli flags aloft at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, where the tournament was held and broadcast live on ESPN.

He was in second place going into the final round of the tourney, which will disburse a total of $59.7 million in prize money.

Lehavot’s departure leaves Ryan Reiss, who beat out Lehavot’s pocket 7s with a pocket pair of 10s, and Jay Farber to compete for first place.

The $10,000 buy-in tournament began July 6 with 6,352 entrants, slightly fewer than last year.

Though he moved to the US from Israel at 16, Lehavot, who now hails from south Florida, still plays under the Israeli flag; he asked the competition organizers to play Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem, should he win, according to SouthFlorida.com.

“I have some family and friends there and I visit regularly,” Lehavot told Cardplayer Lifestyle, speaking about Israel. “I very much love the country. No one from the Israeli government has gotten in touch with me and I’m not expecting it. I’m very happy as is.”

Lehavot, a former junior chess champion, studied electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He started playing professional poker six years ago.

Lehavot was the second Israeli to ever make the final table in the Texas Hold’em no-limit main event, after Tomer Benvenisti competed for a championship bracelet in 2003. Benvenisti finished fifth, taking home $320,000.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.