Davidi Kitai
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 under his belt, along with numerous other big scores and titles.
Davidi Kitai | |
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Davidi Kitai in 2018 | |
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 | 223th, 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 |
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 January 7 of 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]
World Series of Poker bracelets
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 |
Notes
- Convey, Marc (21 April 2012). "Davidi Kitai Wins the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Berlin Main Event". PokerNews.com. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- http://espn.go.com/poker/hot?id=7863489
- Davidi Kitai's GPI profile
- "Davidi Kitai - results". TheHendonMob.com. Retrieved 12 August 2009.