It seems Israel is producing some pretty tough poker players these days, and 36-year-old Ofer Zvi Stern is no exception. The man from Herzliya became the second player from Israel to make the November Nine, following in the footsteps of Amir Lehavot, who finished third in the 2013 WSOP Main Event for $3,727,823.
Prior to his deep run in the 2015 WSOP, Stern only had two cashes on his résumé. The first came way back at the 2008 WSOP when he finished 63rd in the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout event for $5,055, while the other came earlier this year when he took 34th in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller for $44,540.
Stern currently sits 85th on Israel's all-time money list with $49,595, but with at least $1,001,020 coming to him for making the November Nine, he is guaranteed to jump into sixth place ahead of Rafi Amit ($956,293).
Here's a look at how Stern performed over the course of the tournament:
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | |
End-of-Day Chips | 38,325 | 180,000 | 256,500 | 1,751,000 | 4,415,000 | 9,940,000 | 29,800,000 |
Rank | 2,211 | 259 | 308 | 16 | 11 | 8 | 2 |
Total Players Left | 4,371 | 1,796 | 661 | 237 | 69 | 27 | 9 |
Chip Average | 44,063 | 107,238 | 291,376 | 812,658 | 2,791,304 | 7,133,333 | 21,400,000 |