Israel’s Ofer Zvi Stern was eliminated from the 2015 World Series of Poker tournament late Monday night, coming in fifth out of 6,420 entrants.
Though Stern failed to bring home the US$7.6 million top prize, at fifth place, he did leave the event with over US$1.9 million.
Stern, a 37-year-old businessman from Herzliya, was the subject of much criticism during the tournament due to the lengthy periods of time he spent making decisions, reports Card Player. “I do realize sometimes it may seem like it takes too long. But if you need to take a moment to make the right decision you should take it,” he said. “You have a lot at stake.”
Stern’s first major mistake of the night was when he went all-in against opponent Josh Beckley, who defeated him with a pair of aces.
Some 23 hands later, the Israeli was forced to go all-in against Neil Blumenfield, who defeated him on the turn (second-to-last) card. After shaking hands with his opponents, he departed the Rio All-Suites casino-hotel stage.
In an interview with Poker News, Stern said that he plays poker as an “amateur.”
“We don’t have any poker in our country. Poker was not a big game in Israel for many years,” he said.
With Max Steinberg (also Jewish) being eliminated at 4th place, only three men remain in the tournament, which will resume play Tuesday. Out of those three, two of the poker players are Jewish: Neil Blumenfield of San Francisco and Josh Beckley of New Jersey, meaning four out of the final five of this year’s tournament are members of the tribe.
