Seat 5: Amir Lehavot, Israel, 29.7 Million
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Amir Lehavot enters the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event final table second in chips with 29.7 million, leaving him trailing only J.C. Tran when the November Nine convenes on Monday, Nov. 4.
In a game filled with brash and confident twenty-somethings, Lehavot will bring a well-mannered and humble persona to the big stage at the Penn and Teller Theater. At 38 years old, Lehavot is the elder statesman of this year's November Nine. He's married and a proud father of one child, and happily balances his home life with a career as a professional poker player in Florida.
When Lehavot does travel to poker tournaments, he makes the most of it. He has two WSOP final tables already under his belt, including a victory in the 2011 $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship for $573,456 and his first WSOP gold bracelet.
Other highlights from Lehavot’s poker career include a fourth-place finish in the 2011 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 Championship Event for $421,680; first in a $1,900 No Limit Hold’em event at the Bay 101 Shooting Star for $140,500; 15th in the 2011 WSOP Europe Main Event for $57,442; and 226th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event for $32,963. Lehavot has also put in his dues online where he won more than $500,000 playing multi-table tournaments on PokerStars under the moniker "AmirSF."
With a long list of impressive accomplishments, it's no surprise to see Lehavot make a deep run in poker's best-structured event. Lehavot also holds an engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin and brings a highly analytical approach to the game.
It's his high-level thinking and focus that allowed him to ignore the glitz and glamour of the Main Event and simply play poker.
"My friends were telling me [on Day 7], 'come on smile a little, you're doing so good.' I was always so serious," Lehavot told PokerNews' Sarah Grant.
"I think I'm very good at staying focused and just playing the game. My mind was just focused on how many big blinds I have and the stacks and tendencies of my opponents. I really just stay focused on that. I wasn't thinking about how far I make it."
Lehavot made his big push during a single level on Day 7 when he increased his stack from 1.7 to 17 million. His rush began when he turned quads and doubled through James Alexander before finishing off Alexander a short time later. Lehavot then eliminated Sergio Castelluccio in 14th place to chip up to over 30 million. He coasted the rest of Day 7 to finish among the leaders of the November Nine.
Reaching poker's most prestigious final table was a historic milestone in itself for Lehavot. He became the first Israeli citizen to make it to the November Nine, and told the WSOP's Nolan Dalla that he took a lot of pride in that accomplishment.
"I was born near Tel Aviv, but I have dual citizenship, both Israel and the U.S.," he said.
For more on Lehavot, be sure to watch the interview he did with PokerNews in July:
The 2013 WSOP Main Event final table will take place starting Monday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Las Vegas time, and you can follow all of the live, hand-for-hand coverage right here at PokerNews.com.
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