Not less than three non-americans made it to the final table of Event #43: No-Limit Hold'em: Andre Akkari from Brazil, Nicholas Choulty from Lebanon and Phillip Meulyzer from Belgium. However, Choulty and Meulyzer already went out in 6 and 8 place, which left Andre Akkari alone with 5 very skilled american poker players.
Well, he was not completely alone. Akkari had many Brazilian friends and fans charing for him on the stand and they got louder and louder as he got closer the big money. After some time, he was suddenly playing heads-up against Nachman Berlin. However, after 90 minutes of play, the day came to and end as 10 levels had been played.
Both players returned to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino and continued the battle the following day. Berlin had a 3:1 lead, but the poker gods (and the crowd) sided with Akkari, who managed to double up and also overtake the lead after some time. It didn't take long before the final hand was played:
Nachman Berlin was on the button and he moved all in for his remaining 1,920,000 chips. Andre Akkari counted Berlin's stack and made the call.
Berlin: A
8
Akkari: KJ
The flop K
Q3 hit the table and gave Akkari a pair of kings. The turn was the K and it was all over. The cowd of roughly 30 people jumped the railing and went to hug and celebrate Akkari! For the win he received his first WSOP bracelet and $675,117 prize money! Akkari also became the second Brazilian WSOP bracelet winner in history.
