Tomer Berda Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet in Event 56
NEWS FLASH:  Tomer Berda Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet in Event 56

Israeli Software Developer Wins $825,976 in Last Competition Before Main Event


Tomer Berda was the winner of the $2,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker.  This marked his first career WSOP gold bracelet victory.  Berda collected a whopping $825,976 in prize money in what was his fourth time to cash at the WSOP.  His most notable previous achievement was a fifth-place finish in Event #5 of this year's tournament, which took place more than a month ago.  But since that time, Berda ran brutally cold, enduring 12 straight non-cashes before finally winning a triumphant breakthrough victory.
 
Berda is a 34-year-old software developer who has his own high-tech company.  He spent most of his life living and working in Israel, before immigrating to the United States.  He now lives in Menlo Park, CA.

The runner up was Vladimir Kochelaevskiy, from Moscow, Russia.  He nearly became the fifth Russian to win a gold bracelet in the 41-year history of the WSOP.  He received $510,939.

The tournament attracted 1,942 entries, which almost doubled last year’s turnout.  The total prize pool amounted to $4,466,600.  The top 198 finishers collected prize money.  Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Mike Wattel (5th), James Mackey (10th), David Baker (35th), Jason Dewitt (65th), “Captain” Tom Franklin (83rd), David Singer (87th), Dan Heimiller (129th), and Jamie Gold (195th).

This was Dan Heimiller’s seventh time to cash this year.  He is having one of his best WSOP years ever, having achieved six five-figure payouts.

Craig Marquis, who was one of the inaugural “November Nine,” finished in 16th place.  Marquis finished 9th in the 2008 Main Event.

2006 world champion Jamie Gold cashed.  This was his first in-the money finish in three years.  Gold won the biggest prize against the biggest field in poker history when he outlasted a field of 8,773 players to take down a record $12 million top prize.
 
This was the final WSOP tournament held in Las Vegas in 2010, except for the Main Event, which began on the same day this competition concluded.

A full report of this event will be posted shortly.

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