Davidi Kitai | |
---|---|
Residence | Brussels, Belgium |
Born | 28 September 1979 |
World Series of Poker | |
Bracelet(s) | 3 |
Final table(s) | 9 |
Money finish(es) | 36 |
Highest ITM Main Event finish | 223rd, 2017 |
World Poker Tour | |
Title(s) | 1 |
Final table(s) | 2 |
Money finish(es) | 7 |
European Poker Tour | |
Title(s) | 1 |
Final table(s) | 3 |
Money finish(es) | 17 |
Davidi Kitai (born 28 September 1979) is a Belgian professional poker player who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event for $244,583, becoming the first Belgian to win a WSOP bracelet. He also has won 2 other bracelets and has an EPT title and a WPT title, along with numerous other big scores and titles.
In February 2011, Kitai won his second big title in the WPT Celebrity Invitational event, earning $100,000.
At the 2012 European Poker Tour in Berlin, Kitai won his first EPT title earning €712,000 in the €5,000 Main Event. [1] In the heads-up phase Kitai was trailing Andrew Chen but his infamous hero all-in call with K♣5♣ on a 2♣Q♣8♡-4♠-5♢ board gave him a considerable lead over Chen as he went on to win the match.
He became one of only five players to win poker's Triple Crown, joining Gavin Griffin, Bertrand Grospellier, Jake Cody, and Roland De Wolfe. Poker's Triple Crown consists of winning a WSOP bracelet as well as main event titles on the WPT and EPT. There was some debate on the legitimacy of his Triple Crown achievement since his WPT win was the Celebrity Invitational event, thus not being an open event and arguments that this charity event had a weakened field. Although he had to beat 482 players to win it, including almost every famous pro poker player. But the WPT eventually officially stated that they recognise the Invitational as an official WPT main event. [2]
Kitai won his second bracelet at the 2013 World Series of Poker in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event, defeating Cary Katz heads-up and earning $224,560. His third bracelet came in the $3,000 6-Max Event of the 2014 WSOP, where he had to get past Gordon Vayo heads-up to complete his WSOP hattrick while bagging $508,640.
Kitai won the 25K Super High Roller of the PartyPoker Millions Barcelona 2018 for €700,000. And in November 2020 Kitai won the Super MILLION$ $10,300 Main Event on GGPoker for $726,839, defeating a final table with other top players like Niklas Åstedt, David Yan, Mike Watson, Aleks Ponakovs and Eelis Parssinen.
On 7 January 2015, Kitai was ranked #2 on the Global poker index, which ranks the top live tournament players in the world [3]
His total live tournament winnings exceed the magical $10,000,000 mark. [4]
Year | Event | Prize Money |
---|---|---|
2008 | $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em | $244,583 |
2013 | $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em | $224,560 |
2014 | $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six Handed | $508,640 |
Although he mainly plays live tournaments, Kitai has some impressive online scores as well. He plays under the screen name “legrouzin” on PokerStars, where he won hundreds of thousands of dollars in MTT cashes.
In November 2020, he took down the $10,300 Super MILLION$ Main Event for $726,839 on Natural8-GGNetwork.
It was Davidi Kitai's childhood dream to become a professional footballer player. He played on an amateur level for low-tier clubs in Belgium until he was 20.
He then graduated in Economics and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 22.
Later on, he tried to open a running online and retail store in Brussels, Belgium, unsuccessfully. [5]
Erik Seidel is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada, who has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title. In 2010, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Juan Carlos Mortensen is an Ecuadorian professional poker player of Danish descent and the first South American Main Event winner of the World Series of Poker. Mortensen is known for his loose play, bluffing tactics, and interesting chip-stacking style.
James Gary Bechtel is an American cotton farmer and poker player, now based in Gilbert, Arizona. He is best known for winning the 1993 Main Event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). At the time of his WSOP win, he lived in Coolidge, Arizona.
Johnson "John" Juanda is an Indonesian professional poker player of Chinese descent based in Tokyo, Japan. He has won five World Series of Poker bracelets.
Roland De Wolfe is an English professional poker player and a former writer for the poker magazine Inside Edge.
John Gale was an English professional poker player based in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
Bon "John" Phan is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player based in Stockton, California, who is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and is a winner and four-time final tablist of World Poker Tour Championships.
John Hennigan is an American professional poker player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who, in his career, has won six World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour (WPT) title.
Patrik Antonius is a Finnish professional poker player, former tennis player and coach, and model from Vantaa, Finland. He currently resides in Monte Carlo. Antonius was mentored by poker pro Marcel Lüske as a member of Luske's "Circle of Outlaws" and later advised by Jennifer Harman. Antonius has two children.
Gavin Griffin is an American professional poker player. He attended Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
David Y. "Chino" Rheem is a poker player from Los Angeles, California. In November 2008, Rheem finished in seventh place at the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event, cashing for $1,772,650. He went out of this event on
to Peter Eastgate's with Eastgate flopping a pair of queens on a board of . He is also the winner of the World Poker Tour's Season VII Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, earning $1,538,730. Rheem had five previous WSOP cashes, his best result being a runner-up finish to Allen Cunningham in a $1,000 no limit Texas hold 'em with rebuys event in 2006. He cashed in the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing 193rd place. He also made a final table earlier in 2008, finishing in fifth place in the $5,000 Mixed Hold'em event.Jason Mercier is an American professional poker player from Hollywood, Florida. He has won six World Series of Poker bracelets and one European Poker Tour title. Mercier is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and was named the Bluff Magazine Player of the Year for 2009. He was WSOP player of the year in 2016.
Alexandre Gomes is a Brazilian professional poker player. He is a World Series of Poker bracelet winner, a World Poker Tour champion and a former Team PokerStars Pro.
Christopher Bell is an American professional poker player from Raleigh, North Carolina who won the 2010 World Series of Poker $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better event. He has also made three final tables at the World Poker Tour (WPT).
Toby Lewis is an English professional poker player from Hampshire, England. He has one European Poker Tour title and $8.2m in live tournament cashes including a win at EPT London in a £1,000 side event.
Michael Gathy is a professional poker player from Belgium with many successes in live and online poker, including World Series of Poker bracelets at the 2012, 2013, 2016 and the 2020 World Series of Poker. He is one of two players that have won 4 NLHE bracelets in the decade 2011–2020, alongside Dominik Nitsche. He was also the first person to win a WSOP turbo event. Online he has won multiple SCOOP events and WCOOP events on PokerStars.
In poker, the term Triple Crown is used in three ways:
Mohsin Charania is a professional poker player from Chicago, Illinois who has won titles at the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour, and the European Poker Tour.
Stephen James Chidwick is an English professional poker player from Deal, Kent. Chidwick led the Global Poker Index (GPI) from 18 April to 9 October 2018.
Damian Salas is an Argentine professional poker player from Chascomús. He won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2020, becoming the first person from Argentina to win the world championship of poker and the second person from South America to win the championship, after 2001 champion Carlos Mortensen. He made the Main Event final table in 2017, where he finished in 7th place earning $1,425,000.