Yaniv Birman Wins 2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 Seven Card Stud Event

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Yaniv Birman outlasted a tough final table to win the 2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 seven card stud event, earning $236,238 and his first gold bracelet in the process. The 35-year-old business owner from Los Angeles, California had to overcome four WSOP bracelet winners at the final table, including two two-time winners in Jesse Martin and Ben Yu.

In addition to the money and the bracelet, Birman was also awarded 480 Card Player Player of the Year points for this win. This was not only Birman’s first WSOP title, it was his very first live tournament win ever. Birman primarily plays cash games in the L.A. area.

“I barely ever play tournaments; it was fun. I got here on Monday, and this was the first tournament I signed up to,” Birman told WSOP reporters after it was all over.

This event drew 83 entries to build a $780,200 prize pool. After two days of action the field was narrowed to just the eight-handed final table, with Birman sitting atop the leaderboard. Jesse Martin held the second largest stack to start the day. Martin knocked out Joseph Cappello in seventh place ($29,306) to maintain his hold on the second-place spot.

Ben Yu sent Australia’s James Obst home in sixth place ($37,904). The 2017 WSOP $10,000 razz winner made a pair of aces after getting the last of his chips in, but Yu hit two pair on seventh street to win the pot.

Yu kept his streak going by busting 2014 champion of this event Matt Grapenthein in fifth place ($50,669). With that Yu took control of third place on the leaderboard. Jesse Martin knocked out Lee Salem in fourth place ($69,928) to set up three-handed action between the pair of two-time bracelet winners and Birman.

Birman drew first blood, winning a key pot off of Yu by making a big call with just a pair of fours on seventh street after Yu check-raised him. Birman’s hand was good and he surged over 2.3 million in chips while Yu slid down below 300,000. Birman made the wheel against Yu’s pair of sixes to seal the deal, sending Yu home with $99,340.

With that Birman took just over a 3-to-2 lead into heads-up play with Martin. Birman jumped out to an even bigger lead and then made sevens and sixes to win the penultimate pot. Martin had just half a big bet after that hand. On the very next deal he got his last chips in. He had the best hand going into seventh street and improved to a pair of threes, but Birman made a pair of nines on the end to win the pot and the title. Martin earned $146,006 for his runner-up showing. This was his fifth cash and second final table finish of the series.

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

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2018 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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