Valdemar Kwaysser Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet in Event 38
NEWS FLASH:    Valdemar Kwaysser Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet in Event 38

Hungarian Wins Pot-Limit Hold’em World Championship, Making Second Victory for Hungary this Year


Valdemar Kwaysser was the winner of the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em world championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker.  This marked his first career WSOP gold bracelet victory, after six previous cashes here in Las Vegas.

Kwaysser is from Budapest, Hungary.  He 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 now one of only three Hungarians ever to win WSOP titles.  The first to win was Peter Tarply, who was victorious in the Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Shootout held last year.

Kwaysser collected $617,214 for first place, which was his biggest poker payday ever.  He previously won major tournaments held in Costa Rica and Italy.  But this win eclipsed those previous victories, both in terms of prize money and prestige.
 
The runner up was Matt Marafioti, from Toronto, Ontario (Canada).  This was his third time to cash at the WSOP.  He finished in-the-money in last year's 40th Anniversary Special Championship.  Second place paid $381,507.

The third-place finisher was James Calderaro, from Venice, FL.  He is best known for finishing 13th in last year’s WSOP Main Event.  Calderaro, who just missed being one of the 2009 November Nine, received a consolation prize for his effort in this tournament, amounting to $284,845.      
 
The top 27 finishers collected prize money.  Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Blair Rodman (8th), Vitaly Lunkin (23rd) and Mike Matusow (26th).  There were nine different nations represented among the 27 players who cashed – including Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.

Through 38 events played so far, tournament attendance is up significantly from this same point last year.  Last year, through 38 events, there were 36,326 entries.  This year, there have been 42,070 total entries at this same point on the schedule – which represents an increase of 15.8 percent.  Tournament prize money figures are also up slightly from last year.  Last year, through 38 events, the sum of total prize money won was $72,935,941.  This year’s total prize money figure currently stands at $73,625,210 – which represents an increase of .9 percent (note the decimal).

A full report of this event will be posted shortly.

For official tournament results and additional details, please CLICK HERE.