Israel Poker Tour

The wait is over for Romanian poker enthusiasts! The first big poker festival in 2015 will take place in Bucharest, starting May 11^th, hosted by World Trade Center Bucharest.

This will not be just another usual PokerFest circuit stop. We’re talking about a major event included in the ISRAEL POKER TOUR series, a very popular poker festival. After all, we all know that not even the fights in the Middle East couldn’t stop the success of the previous edition, held in 2014.

€200.000 total prize pool. €150.000 guaranteed in the Main Event

The Poker Action 'The poker action was terrific, juicy cash games around the clock and the cash tables were full every night! Always nice to know you are guaranteed excellent action with Poker Travel. It’s disappointing when you enter a poker room only to find out there are one or two tables full of regs.' Kfir Nahum, from the smallest stack to being a winner The conclusion of the first part of the 2014 poker season was a real ‚grand finale’ for PokerFest. Become a PCC Poker Tour Pro Advance from back-room games to big-money main events as you climb the ranks in the PCC Poker Tour. Customise your pro and play your way to the top. Stay connected Place your bets in daily online tournaments and take part in exclusive scheduled events to unlock the latest swag. As close as it gets to the real thing.

The most important tournament will have a guaranteed pricepool of €150.000, will take place from May 14^th to May 18^th, will have three starting days (May 14^th, 15^th, 16^th), and a classic buy-in of €550. There you have it, the perfect premises for a great poker confrontation with prizes that will meet the high expectations.

Before the Main Event’s start, five supersatellites with a rebuy+addon structure will give everyone the chance to qualify in the Main Event starting with only €25.

Israel Poker Tour

In total, we will have 15 tournaments in our calendar with a wide array of buy-ins, from 150 RON up to €1000 in the high roller. We will have Turbos, Knockouts, Deep Stacks, Freezeouts, Second Chance, Re-entry or Rebuy events, for lots and lots of fun.

The first IPT took place one year ago, when Avi Cohen managed to win €41,000 for the title. The second IPT had a gigantic prizepool of €242,730, and Kfir Nahum took home €55,000 after becoming the new champion.

24/7 Cash Games

Another hot spot for the festival will be the cash game area. Placed right next to the tournament area, the cash game zone will bring new fun alternatives at the tables, with games starting from 2/5 RON (or 0.5€/1€), upper limits being just the players’ bankrolls.

The usual high rollers and the action-driven Israeli players will generate a unique and fantastic game composition, where everyone will have the possibility to test its poker qualities both in No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha.

Good conditions and room rates for traveling players

Our hosts have always been up to the task during our past events, and this time makes no difference. Pullman Hotel offers big accommodation discounts for IPT players during the poker festival.

Luni – Joi: 61€/double/night

Fr – Sun: 56€/double/night

Wise players will, of course, wish to book their stay right away, so you should call +4 0733 450 808 or send an email to carmen@pokerfest.ro.

Please check back on our website in a few days, because we will have new informations regarding IPT.

Uri Gilboa has won the 2019 European Poker Tour Sochi 191,800 Russian Ruble ($2,931 USD) buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. The 61-year-old overcame a field of 758 total entries to become the first-ever EPT champion from his home country of Israel, earning $439,600 USD for the win.

Gilboa was also awarded 1,368 Card Player Player of the Year points for coming out on top in this event. This was enough to see him move into a tie for 41st place in the overall POY race standings, joining recent World Poker Tour Venetian main event champion Ben Palmer.

Israel Poker Tournament

The fifth and final day of this event began with Zakhar Babaev as the chip leader with just six players remaining. Babaev sat with more than 150 big blinds, with his nearest competitor (Maksim Pisarenko) having just over 60.

Serafim Kovalevsky was the first player to be eliminated when his pocket sixes ran into the pocket eights of Babaev. Kovalevsky failed to improve and was sent home in sixth place ($86,240 USD). Vyacheslav Mizun followed him to the rail, with his flopped set of kings losing to the turned club flush of Gilboa to knock him out in fifth place ($113,456 USD). With that Gilboa moved into second place on the leaderboard behind Babaev.

Ivan Ruban got all-in with his pocket queens up against the AK of Babaev. The board came down A7459 and Babaev paired his ace to win the pot, eliminating Ruban in fourth place. He earned $143,248 USD for his deep run in this event.

A short-stacked Maksim Pisarenko three-bet all-in over the top of Babaev’s opening raise with K8. Gilboa woke up with JJ and called. He flopped a third jack and held up from there to bust Pisarenko in third place ($189,840 USD).

Gilboa entered heads-up play with 13,360,000 in chips to Babaev’s 8,385,000. Heads-up play lasted 36 hands, with a number of lead changes along the way. By the time the final hand arose, though, Gilboa held more than a 32-to-1 advantage.

With blinds of 60,000-120,000 and a big blind ante of 120,000, Babaev moved all-in for 655,000 from the button with the 84. Gilboa made the quick call with A4. The board ran out A10546 and Gilboa’s two pair were enough to earn him the pot and the title. Babaev was awarded $267,792 USD as the runner-up finisher.

Check out the final hand of the tournament in a video clip that PokerStars LIVE
tweeted out:

Watch Uri Gilboa's knockout blow.
He is the #EPTSochi Main Event champion, winning ~€380,000. pic.twitter.com/GwbDrwA5Yj

— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) March 29, 2019

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo credit: Neil Stoddart / Rational Intellectual Holdings Limited.