Israeli poker player Asi Moshe won his fifth World Series of Poker bracelet early Saturday, one of the greatest achievements by an Israeli player in the history of the game.
Moshe, 42, won $683,830 after taking first place in a $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout event.
The World Series of Poker, held every summer in Las Vegas, draws many of the world’s top players. Winners of WSOP events receive a gold bracelet, considered one of poker’s most coveted prizes. Winning one bracelet is a major career achievement. Moshe now has five.
The victory moves Moshe into a tie for 33rd place on the all-time WSOP bracelet list. Phil Hellmuth holds the record with 17.
Moshe’s achievement is especially notable because four of his five bracelets have come in No-Limit Hold’em, poker’s most popular format and the one that typically draws the largest fields. His other bracelet came in a mixed Hold’em and Omaha event.
Moshe no longer plays poker full time and now works in high tech.
“This is the first bracelet I’ve won while not being a professional player, which is pretty amazing,” Moshe said after the win. “Honestly, the last time I played poker was a year ago in Las Vegas. I landed here four days ago, min-cashed the first two tournaments and now this. It’s a little surreal. I’m very happy that maybe I still have it.”
Asi Moshe
(Photo: Oren Bend)
Moshe outlasted a field of 1,792 entries. British online poker great Chris Moorman also reached the final table but was eliminated in eighth place.
Moshe faced China’s Xio Du heads-up. On the final hand, Du moved all in with queen-ten of hearts. Moshe quickly called with ace-king. The board ran out 8-2-5-5-3, giving Moshe the title and sparking celebrations among the Israeli friends who had come to support him.
“I used to come here every summer for the whole series, so I got to know a lot of friends in the Israeli poker community,” Moshe said. “They are my best friends, and I’m happy they support me like this even though I no longer travel with them all year as I did before. I love my wife and daughter. They let me fly to Vegas, and it paid off. I’ll be back soon.”
Moshe is known for an aggressive style, and he said the tournament suited him.
“I wasn’t in danger throughout the tournament, and I think that’s good for my style of play,” he said. “I played hand after hand and put pressure on the short stacks.”
Moshe said he plans to continue playing daily until he returns to Israel, including the Main Event now underway and possibly the $10,000 six-handed event.