Kwaysser second Hungarian to win WSOP title, $617,214

Valdemar "Luigi" Kwaysser won the $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold'em World Championship at the World Series of Poker on Wednesday morning. It was the first WSOP bracelet for the resident of Budapest, Hungary, worth $617,214.

Kwaysser became the second Hungarian to win a gold bracelet this year, following Peter Gelencser's victory in the $2,500 Limit Deuce-to-Seven Lowball event, which was played out during the first week of the series. Kwaysser is the third Hungarian to win a WSOP title. The first was Peter Tarply, who was victorious in the Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Shootout held last year.

"We help each other a lot," said Kwaysser. "I truly believe that Hungary has done so well, considering the size of the country which is small, because we all stick together, and we learn together, and discuss poker together."

The 26-year old won major tournaments held in Costa Rica and Italy, but this win eclipsed those previous victories, both in terms of prize money and prestige.

Kwaysser studied at the University of Budapest for three years, majoring in economics. He did not graduate, but says he may return to school later. He is active in the Hungarian poker community, writing and teaching poker to new players at an online coaching site.

Following his victory, Kwaysser admitted he does not much play much pot-limit Hold'em.

"I do not know that much about pot-limit Hold'em," said Kwaysser. "I have barely played it. I know the structure and the lack of an ante makes it a much tighter game. In the beginning of the tournament, I played very tight. Then, later, I started to play more hands. People started respecting my raises, and that is how I won some pots. In No-Limit Hold'em tournaments there are usually antes, so you cannot just wait for a hand because you will get blinded out."

As the time passed and Kwaysser became the favorite to win, the Hungarian cheering section swelled to nearly two dozen spectators. The Hungarians chanted and sang songs when Kwaysser won a big pot.

Toronto's Matt Marafioti was the runner up, winning $381,507 for second place. The final hand of the tournament came when Kwaysser was dealt jack-eight of diamonds against Matt Marafioti's king-six of clubs. The flop brought a jack, a six and two clubs, giving both players plenty of reason for hope. Kwaysser's pair of jacks held up, however, as Marafioti was unable to improve.

James Calderaro, from Venice, Fla., was third. Calderaro, who finished 13th in last year's WSOP Main Event, collected $284,845. Konstantine Bucherl, from Regensburg, Germany, finished fourth to win $214,106.

Dani Stern, from New York, N.Y., was fifth to win $161,934, while Thomas Marchese, from Parsippany, N.J., was sixth for $123,264.

Peter Jetten, from Toronto, Ont., was seventh, Blair Rodman, from Las Vegas, Nev., who won a WSOP bracelet in a no-limit Hold'em event in 2007, was eighth, and Alexander Kuzmin, from Moscow, Russia, was ninth.

The top 27 finishers in the 268-player field collected prize money. In addition to Rodman, former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included Vitaly Lunkin (23rd) and Mike Matusow (26th).

Modified from notes provided by Nolan Dalla for www.wsop.com