Break out the Belgian Waffles: Belgium as a Winner at Celebrity Poker Tournament

Written by:
Thomas Somach
Published on:
Mar/03/2011

Belgium, annually voted the most boring country in Europe, has something to shout about.

Davidi Kitai has won the 2011 Los Angeles Poker Classic Celebrity Invitational Tournament, held at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California, USA.

Kitai, a professional poker player from Brussels, Belgium, beat out 481 other tourney entrants--all invited celebrities and poker pros--to win the prestigious no-buy-in event and take home $100,000.

He also earns a free seat into an upcoming World Poker Tour tournament.

Coming in second was Almira Skripchenko, who took home $50,000.

Taking third was Dan Heimiller, who collected $20,000.

Finishing fourth was George Rechnitzer, who pocketed $15,000.

In fifth spot was Damon Schramm, who earned $10,000.

Sixth was Dinara Khaziyeva, who won $5,000.

According to official tournament records, Kitai has now won almost $1.5 million in his career playing live tournament poker.

Hundreds of poker pros and hundreds of celebrities from film, TV and sports were invited to the Commerce Casino's annual celebrity poker extravaganza, which kicked off with a red carpet walk a la the Academy Awards.

Among those participating in the Invitational were Dr. Phil McGraw, Don Cheadle, Jerry Buss, Barry Greenstein, Mike Sexton, Willie Gault, Gina Gershon, Corey Feldman, Mark Steines, Fred Wallin, Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, Scotty Nguyen, Liv Boeree, Linda Johnson, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jack Haley Jr., Alex Kravchenko, Shannon Elizabeth, Dean Cain, Hank Azaria, Michael Clarke Duncan, Samm Levine, Mimi Rogers, Andrea Savage, Lorenzo Lamas, Camryn Manheim, Maura Tierney, Kelly Monaco, Leanza Cornett, Tony Dennison, Michael Gladis, Rich Sommer, Jennifer Morrison, John Tenny, Will Sasso, Zachary Levi, Sean Astin, Matthew Lillard, Billy Burke, Jennifer Cadena, Natasha Alam, Daniel Baldwin, Patrick Warburton, Eddie Cibrian, Shanna Moakler, Donnie Walberg, Parvesh Cheena, Michael Vartan, Hope Dworaczyk, Adrian Paul, Nicholas Gonzalez, Shaun Sipos, Ryan Cabrera, Barbara Mandrell, Leigh Steinberg, Jose Canseco, Coco Crisp and Randy Couture.

By Tom Somach

Gambling911.com Staff Writer

tomsomach@yahoo.com

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