Alexandru Papazian Wins 2017 World Series of Poker $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold'em Event

Card Player’s 2017 WSOP coverage is sponsored by BetOnline Poker.

Winning a World Series of Poker bracelet is always a special occasion, but for poker pro Alexandru Papazian it was made all the more special by the fact that he was the first Romanian player to ever capture a WSOP title. Papazian defeated a massive field of 8,120 entrants in the 2017 WSOP $888 ‘crazy eights’ eight-handed no-limit hold’em event, winning the aforementioned bracelet and the top prize of $888,888.

“I do care about being the first one from my country to win a bracelet. I’m super happy for it,” Papazian told WSOP reporters after emerging victorious. “I’m hoping it won’t be the last one for Romanians, and that there’s more to come. You’re going to see us around.”

In addition to being the first Romanian bracelet winner, Papazian is now the all-time Romanian live tournament money leader with roughly $2.8 million in career cashes. This win was the second largest score of his career, with the biggest being the €1,197,000 ($1,365,358 USD) he earned for winning the 2016 European Poker Tour Grand Final €25,750 no-limit hold’em high roller event.

Papazian entered what was meant to be the final day of play in this event in second chip position with 28 players remaining. He survived to the final table as one of the largest stacks and only grew his stack from there. He eliminated Guillaume Diaz in eighth place ($86,888) and followed that up by busting 2016 WSOP Litte One For One Drop winner Michael Tureniec in seventh place ($112,888). He kept the streak alive, sending the sixth through fourth-place finishers to the rail in quick succession.

Kilian Kramer scored the only knockout besides Papazian at the final table, with his pocket kings holding up against Harry Lodge’s A8 to set up the final heads-up showdown. Papazian held more than a 3-to-1 chip advantage over Kramer, and after only one hand of play the two agreed to bag up their chips for the night and return to play to a winner the following day, having played past the less than set-in-stone ‘hard stop’ time.

The two returned to action at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 5. The two played 29 hands before the final cards of the tournament were dealt. With blinds of 250,000-500,000 and an ante of 50,000 Kramer moved all-in from the button for around 6.3 million. Papazian, who had more than 58 million in his stack, made the call with the K9 and was in dominant shape against Kramer’s 96. The board ran out K92A5 to give Papazian two pair and the pot. Kramer was eliminated in second place, earning $463,888 for his impressive run in this event.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2017 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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