Event #2: €1,650 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Deepstack

It's two for two for Israel at the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe! Asi Moshe did what Tamir Segal did yesterday: winning a WSOP gold bracelet. Moshe conquered a 221-player field in Event #2: €1,650 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Deepstack to win €82,280. It was the Israeli's second career gold after winning his first WSOP bracelet four years ago.

Delivering two bracelet winners in two days is a remarkable feat for the small middle-eastern country, one that's been making quite the waves in the tournament scene over the past few years. Moshe won Israel's twelfth bracelet overall and joins Rafi Amit as a two-time bracelet winner in his country.

"The secret of Israel? I have no idea, but two for two is pretty sick. Sick is an overused word in poker but it is sick!" Moshe heartily laughed after his victory.

Moshi started the day from pole position and didn't lose the chip lead at a single point. On his way to the bracelet, Moshe defeated Robert Schulz heads-up after a 90-minute heads-up battle. James Bullimore finished in third place, Giuliano Bendinelli finished fourth, Van Tiep Nguyen ended in fifth and Viktor Katzenberger finished sixth overall.

2018 WSOPE €1,650 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Deepstack Final Table Results

^{Prize in $ via XE.com}

Since winning his first bracelet four years ago, Moshe has proved he isn't a one-day fly, racking up over two million dollars in lifetime winnings over the course of a few years. However, until today, the second bracelet proved elusive for the man from Tel Aviv, who had two near-misses earlier. Today, that chase came to an end as he could finally attach the second piece of jewelry around his wrist.

"I can't even describe how much this means to me," Moshe said. "There are a lot of bracelet winners, but the two-time bracelet winners club is much more exclusive. It's a validation. I've been waiting for this one quite a while," he said, smiling widely.

Four years ago, the first thing Moshi said he'd do after his victory was buying something nice for his girlfriend. His then-girlfriend has since become his wife, and she's gifted him with a daughter as well. They were the first thing on his mind after his victory, and instead of grinding out a full schedule at the WSOPE, Moshe will be traveling home in a few days instead to meet up with them.

"I want to see my wife, that I love very much, and my daughter," he smiled, and he will do so as part of an exclusive new club.

Action on the final day

At 3 p.m., the six remaining finalists returned for the final table of the second bracelet event of the 2018 WSOPE. An hour in, the first big clash of the final table, between Moshe and Katzenberger, proved pivotal for Moshe's eventual win. Katzenberger had raised with eight-seven of clubs and had called a three-bet from Moshe in position. Moshe had pocket jacks but got outflopped on an eight-seven-six flop that contained two hearts.

Moshe decided to check and Katzenberger shoved it in for two times the size of the pot. The Israeli proceeded to spend five minutes in the tank before calling it off. Katzenberger had the better hand on the flop but a jack on the turn gave Moshe the winner and he soared towards a big lead, which he never relinquished. It was a hand that was fully in Moshe's thoughts afterwards.

"Probably, in a different stage of the tournament, I would call this faster. In this stage, I was very close to folding," Moshe admitted. "Maybe I made a pretty big mistake there; I realize this is final table, I realize people don't want to bust. Usually, when people shove two times the pot, it's like a draw."

Moshe had the jack of hearts in his hand, which blocked some of Katzenberger's possible heart combo's. However, holding the jack of hearts in his hand wouldn't play that big of a role into making the eventual call.

"If I had aces, it would be a lot more significant," Moshe explained. "If I have the ace of hearts, he doesn't have the nut flush draw, then it changes everything. With the jack, I block some flush draws, but on the other hand I can improve with the backdoor flush draw."

"I tried to figure out his range: I didn't think he'd play a set like that. I was hoping to see a draw or an overpair like nines or tens. I saw something I didn't want to see but it worked out okay," he chuckled.

With the dangerous cash gamer to his left gone and four times the stack of his nearest challenger James Bullimore, Moshe had the tournament in a stranglehold. After Van Tiep Nguyen (5th - €15,303) and Giuliani Bendinelli (4th - €22,210) busted out in subsequent hands, it became a mêlée à trois with Bullimore and Robert Schulz.

The two came close to Moshe's stack, and at some point, the three were locked almost dead even. Soon after, Moshe created distance for himself again when he flopped a set of treys against Schulz, who held flush and straight draws on the turns but missed on the river. Moshe then proceeded to take out Bullimore when he rivered a flush against Bullimore's turned straight. Bullimore faced an all-in shove on the river and ultimately called it off with the worst of it.

Heads-up, Moshe started with a nearly 5:1 lead, and despite Schulz doubling back twice, Moshe wasn't afraid to miss another shot at a WSOP bracelet.

"Was I afraid? Not really. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to sound cocky and it could happen, but my heads-up game is alright. I play a lot online; I know what I'm doing. I tried to adjust my strategy to the big blind ante, which changes a lot heads-up. I felt I could grind it out if needed."

Grinding it out was what Moshe did, and after 90 minutes of heads-up, he decided it with ace-four. Moshe shoved on the button. Schulz called all in for twelve big blinds with king-eight but the better hand held up to gift Moshe with what he's been chasing for years: a second career WSOP bracelet.

Robert Schulz shipped all in for 475,000 on the button with    and Asi Moshe gave it some thought before making the call with   .

With the bracelet on the line, the cards were on their backs. The flop came     and Schulz was still in the lead with queen-high. The   on the turn and the   on the river gave Schulz two pair as he score a double up.

Asi Moshe	5,495,000	-615,000
Robert Schulz	1,090,000	615,000

Robert Schulz limped on the button with    and Asi Moshe checked his option with   . The flop of     hit both players and Schulz fired out with a bet of 75,000. Moshe check-raised to 255,000 with top pair but Schulz wasn't going anywhere with a straight as he made the call.

The   landed on the turn and Moshe checked again. Schulz slid in a bet of 270,000 and Moshe quickly called. The   on the river gave Moshe a full house and he checked again. Schulz gave it some thought but frustratingly knuckled the table as well.

Asi Moshe	5,600,000	775,000
Robert Schulz	1,025,000	-735,000

Asi Moshe raised to 100,000 on the button with    and Robert Schulz defended from the big blind with   . The flop fell     and Schulz check-called a bet of 50,000 from Moshe.

The turn brought the   and Schulz checked again. Moshe fired another 100,000 but Schulz continued to call. The river was the   and Schulz checked for the third time. Moshe tossed in a bet of 150,000 and Schulz finally gave up the best hand.

Asi Moshe	5,650,000	250,000
Robert Schulz	975,000	-225,000

Asi Moshe raised to 140,000 with    in the small blind and James Bullimore defended his big blind with   . The flop fell     and Moshe led out for 120,000 with two pair. Bullimore flopped an open-ended straight draw and raised to 305,000. Moshe made a quick call and the   hit the turn.

Moshe checked this time and Bullimore fired another 525,000 after completing his straight. Moshe called with plenty of outs and the   on the river was one of them. Moshe jammed all in after making a flush and Bullimore was put to the test for his remaining 1,025,000 chips.

He thought for over three minutes but Bullimore ended up making the call in the end. Moshe tabled his flush and Bullimore was eliminated in third place.

Asi Moshe	5,185,000	1,670,000
James Bullimore	0	-2,000,000

Asi Moshe made it 85,000 to go on the button with    and Robert Schulz called in the big blind with   . The flop came     and Schulz checked to Moshe who fired 70,000 with two pair. Schulz called and the   landed on the turn.

Schulz checked again and Moshe pushed in another bet of 295,000. Schulz still called and the   completed the board. Schulz checked for the third time and Moshe put together a bet of 740,000. Schulz missed his flush draw and flicked his cards to the muck.

Asi Moshe	3,515,000	595,000
Robert Schulz	1,555,000	-495,000

Robert Schulz raised to 90,000 on the button with    and James Bullimore defended in the big blind with   . The flop came     and both players checked to the   on the turn.

Bullimore tossed in a bet after making a flush and Schulz peeled to see the   on the river. Bullimore fired another 180,000 with each player playing the flush on the board. Schulz thought for a minute and stuck in a raise to 480,000 which prompted a quick fold from Bullimore.

Robert Schulz	2,450,000	300,000
James Bullimore	1,750,000	-235,000

Asi Moshe raised it up on the button with    and Robert Schulz defended the big blind with   . The flop came     and both players checked to the   on the turn.

Schulz checked his full house again and Moshe tossed in a bet of 45,000 with a pair and flush draw. Schulz check-raised to 155,000 and Moshe made the call.

The river brought the   and Schulz shipped all in for 570,000. Moshe snap-called after making a flush but it wasn't good enough to beat Schulz's full house.

Asi Moshe	2,760,000	-645,000
Robert Schulz	1,625,000	565,000