Israel's Team Geiger Wins 2019 WSOP $1,000 Tag Team Event

Barak Wisbrod (23), Daniel Dayan (25) and Ohad Geiger (26) collectively made their first trip to the World Series of Poker in 2019. The trio of young Israeli poker players decided to join forces to enter the $1,000 tag team no-limit hold’em event. In the end, the three friends emerged victorious from a field of 976 teams to win their first WSOP gold bracelets and a collective $168,395.

“It’s amazing. It’s beyond amazing. We can’t even describe how important it is for us," said Dayan after coming out on top.

“It was a different kind of final table. It’s really not about the money, it’s about the bracelet and I’m only 23. This is my first time in Vegas. I felt pretty good playing, but I did feel like there was more on the line when playing,” said Wisbrod, who was the team’s designated closer.

Wisbrod and Dayan are tournament players, while Geiger is a cash-game specialist. Wisbrod was the only player among the three with previous cashes at the WSOP. Wisbrod also won a $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em event at the Venetian’s DeepStack Championship Poker Series for $44,075.

Several big names made deep runs in this event. 2016 WSOP main event sixth-place finisher Kenny Hallaert and his teammate Steven van Zadelhoff split $15,674 as the eighth-place team in this event, while Chahn Jung, Danny Wong, Aaron Motoyama and two-time bracelet winner Steve Sung earned a collective $27,864 as the sixth-place finishers.

Three-time World Poker Tour main event champion and WSOP bracelet winner Anthony Zinno partnered with John Allan Hinds to finish third in this event. They shared $73,329 for their deep run in this unique event.

In the end it came down to a heads-up showdown between Team Geiger and team Smith, which was comprised of Jerod Smith, Matthew Moreno and Lawrence Chan. Team Geiger began with more than a 3-to-1 chip advantage. Heads-up play lasted only 12 hands. On the final deal Jerod Smith raised to 300,000 from the button with 87 and Barak Wisbrod called with J10. The flop came down K105 and Wisbrod check-called 250,000 from Smith. The Q on the turn saw Wisbrod check again after having picked up a royal flush draw. Smith bet 600,000 and Wisbrod called. The A on the end gave Wisbrod the nut straight. He checked a third time and Smith moved all-in as a bluff. Wisbrod made the quick call to lock up the pot and the title. Team Smith earned $104,025 as the runners-up.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded to the teams at the final table:

For more coverage from the summer series, check out the 2019 WSOP landing page, complete with a full schedule, results, news, player interviews, and event recaps.

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