Valdemar Kwaysser Wins $10k Pot Limit Hold'em WSOP Event

Valdemar Kwaysser earned his first ever World Series of Poker bracelet by winning the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Championship. Kwaysser won $617,214 for first place, beating out a strong final table in the process.

Kwaysser had already cashed at two smaller no limit events in this year’s World Series, but those two cashes had only earned him a little over $8,000 – not even enough to cover the entry fee for the event he won. However, Kwaysser wasn’t quite an unknown; he also had four cashes in last year’s WSOP, including a main event cash, and had won events on the Latin American Poker Tour and Italian Poker Tour.

The final table featured a number of great players, all of whom looked like threats to take down the title. Another notable name – Sam Stein – was eliminated just before the final table, finishing 10^th.

But that still left plenty of stars for Kwaysser to overcome. The final table included Tom Marchese, Dani Stern, Peter Jetten, James Calderaro and Blair Rodman, any of whom were capable of winning the event.

But it was two of the lesser-known players at the table, Kwaysser and Canadian Matt Marafioti, who fought their way through to a heads-up confrontation. The battle between the two was relatively short, ending when Kwaysser raised the pot on the flop and Marafioti moved all-in. Kwaysser had top pair, while Marafioti held a flush draw and bottom pair. The turn gave Marafioti an open-ended straight draw as well, but a blank on the river ended his run and handed Kwaysser the championship.

The final table was relatively slow paced, taking over four hours of play to determine a winner. At one point, it seemed as though it might take much longer before a champion was crowned, but the final three eliminations all took place during a single level.

With his victory, Kwaysser becomes the second Hungarian to win a World Series of Poker bracelet this year, joining Peter Gelencser, who won the $2,500 Limit Deuce-to-Seven Lowball tournament. Kwaysser credited the cooperative attitude of his countrymen for Hungary’s success at the WSOP.

“I truly believe that Hungary has done so well,” Kwaysser said, “…because we all stick together…learn together, and discuss poker together.”