Jerbi comes out on top of 672-entry tournament
Facing a daunting final table task, Ravid 'jerbi9999' Jebri fought his way to his first career World Series of Poker bracelet.
Jerbi took down the win in the 2020 GGPoker WSOP Online series, winning Event #58: $5,000 No Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Championship. In addition to adding a WSOP bracelet to the resume, Jerbi also went home with a $531,513 payday.
The one-day event drew 672 total entries, including a final table full of some of poker's finest. Chris Moorman finished in the runner-up spot, coming away with $398,393. Moorman came up just short of his second career WSOP bracelet with the second-place finish, but still came away with a nearly $400k payout.
Other top-tier players making it to the final table included Norway's Preben Stokkan (3rd - $292,021), Team partypoker pro Ludovic 'Gr4vyB04t' Geilich (5th - $156,898), and Belarus high-roller Mikita Badziakouski (7th - $84,299).
Jerbi's didn't come into the tournament with the poker resume of some of those names, but in the end, it was the Israeli Jerbi taking home the bracelet and the grand prize.
Big-name field for the $5k event
Plenty of poker's top players entered the $5,000 buy-in event. Cash finishers included two-time WSOP bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski (88th - $10,721), Dan Shak (87th - $10,721), GGPoker Ambassador and two-time bracelet winner Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier (70th - $12,511), and high-roller tournament fixture David Peters (69th - $12,511).
Other notable finishers included Connor Drinan (58th - $12,511), Brandon Adams (43rd - $14,599), and Sergio Aido (42nd - $14,599). GGPoker Ambassador and six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (39th - $14,599) came away with a top-40 finish.
Jerbi's road to victory didn't get any easier when the final four tables emerged. The loaded final 24-player lineup included former WSOP bracelet winners Luke Schwartz (15th - $24,335), three-time bracelet winner Davidi Kitai (12th - $33,199), and Hun Wei Lee (8th - $61,791).
The tournament played to a nine-handed final table, changing from the six-max format when the tournament got down to the final nine players.
Jerbi's final table journey
Jerbi's road to the bracelet involved navigating through a formidable final table lineup. Badziakouski came into the tournament in the top 15 on the all-time live tournament money list, with more than $28 million in live earnings.
Badziakouski's seventh-place finish was quickly followed by a sixth-place exit from Shyngis 'somebodyelse' Satubayev. Satubayev took home $115,006 and the first six-figure cash on the payout ladder.
Geilich hit the rail next, going out in fifth at the hands of Urmo 'PidrPan' Velvelt. Velvelt then went out in fourth ($214,051) a few hands later, with his pocket tens falling victim to a flopped two pair hit by Garbi.
Velvelt's elimination set up Garbi as the chip leader going into three-handed play, but against fierce competition from Moorman and Stokkan. Stokkan hit the exit in third place, after his all-in with A♠7♦️ was met with the holding of pocket aces from Jerbi.
The aftermath of that hand put Jerbi into a favorable position, with more than a two-to-one chip lead over Moorman. With just over 16 big blinds to work with, Moorman chipped away at Jerbi's lead, pulling to the lead in the heads-up battle an one point.
Jerbi retook the lead shortly thereafter, however, and never looked back. The half-hour heads-up match ended when Garbi and Moorman got the stacks in preflop, with Garbi's king-eight offsuit holding up against Moorman's queen-ten offsuit. Neither hand improved, and Grabi's king-high was good enough to finish off the bracelet win.
