Boukai wins second WSOP bracelet

Name: Rami Boukai
Nationality: U.S.
Birthplace: Saudi Arabia
Current Residence: San Diego, CA
Profession: Poker
Number of WSOP Cashes: 19
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 5
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories (with this tournament): 2
Best Previous WSOP Finish: 1st at $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/PLO
Total WSOP Earnings: $548,082

Rami Boukai won the $1,500 Eight-Game Mix, taking home $177,294 and his second World Series of Poker gold bracelet. He topped a field of 612 players to claim the bracelet, his first since 2009.

Boukai had his eye on the top prize.

“It’s a $170,000, so yeah it’s a big deal,” Boukai said after the win.

The win puts him at $725,376 in total WSOP earnings on 19 cashes. This was his fifth final table and he has two wins, plus a third-, a sixth- and a ninth-place finish.

He defeated John Evans heads up to win the title and the first-place prize. Both players returned today, but the extra rest didn’t seem to matter to Boukai.

“I don’t sleep too well in this city, I just didn’t want to f*** things up, I had a big chip lead. It was as good of a spot as I could see myself in.”

Boukai says he’s been playing mixed games for about 10 years and plans on playing about 10 more tournaments in this year’s WSOP.

The final table began last night, and Donny Rubenstein was the first player eliminated. He finished in sixth place for $24,292. He lost all his chips in No-Limit Hold’em when he lost a flip against Chris Klodnicki.

Allen Kessler was next to go, falling in fifth place for $24,292. This was Kessler’s sixth WSOP final table. He has four runner-up finishes and 74 cashes with $1,173,663 in tournament winnings.

The defending champion in this event, Philip Long hit the rail in fourth place. He took home $49,531 and fell just three places shy of winning back-to-back bracelets in the same event.

Chris Klodnicki was eliminated in third place just before play finished at the end of Day 3. Klodnicki won $72,933, leaving Rami Boukai and John Evans heads up. The two remaining players bagged and returned to finish the tournament today.

Boukai started the final day with a three-to-one chip lead and made short work of Evans to claim his second WSOP bracelet.

Final table payouts
1) Rami Boukai ($177,294)
2) John Evans ($109,553)
3) Chris Klodnicki ($72,933)
4) Philip Long ($49,531)
5) Allen Kessler ($34,329)
6) Donny Rubenstein ($24,292)

(Article courtesy of World Series of Poker)