Timur Margolin wins Event 43: $2,500 NLHE for his first bracelet

The Israeli grinder became the 8th player of his country to catch a WSOP gold, while Chris Ferguson failed to win his 7th title.

The $2,500 NLHE event attracted a total of 1,248 entries, who created a prize pool of $2,808,000 with $507,274 going for the winner's way. The players reached the money on Day 2 with a number of household names cashing. Nick Schulman (178th; $3,743), Tony Dunst (122nd; $4,216) and Chance Kornuth (40th; $10,226) were all amongst those who busted on the second day.

34 players returned to Day 3, with high-roller regular, David Peters, one of the biggest winners in the history of online poker, Chris Ferguson or 'homeless millionaire', Faraz Jaka still in. Jaka was the second to bust on Day 3, finishing in 33rd place for $12,345, while Peters got 20th for $15,051.

Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson however, made the final table and was looking to scoop his 7th WSOP title. Seth Davies, who started the day as the chip leader, failed to make the final table of nine, he busted at 10th place for $29,563. After almost 8 full levels, the tournament was held and the remaining seven returned the next day for a live-streamed final table. At this point, Ferguson was in the lead.

The first players to bust on the final day was Ryan Laplante, whose Ace-Jack wasn't able to outdraw the Ace-King of Margolin's. Ryan got 6th for $87,189. Only half an hour passed when Dylan Linde moved all in with Ace-Ten against Ismael Bojang's Ace-Jack. Even though Linde paired his ten, Bojang rivered a straight to bust Dylan. The latter received $117,894 for his performance.

The next player out was Ferguson, when he check-shoved his nut flush draw against the top pair of Timur, only to watch two blanks hitting the turn and the river. He added $161,371 to his (already fat) balance.

After a successful double-up in the three-handed play, Michael Marder was eliminated when he got his last chips into the middle with Queen-nine, against the Ace-deuce of Timur. The board bricked out and Marder left to collect his $223,564 at the cage.

Ismael was able to even the stacks despite starting the heads-up with a 3-1 deficit. However, Margolin was the last one laughing, when his Ace-deuce held against the King-Queen of Bojang's.

The Israeli scooped the bracelet and the $507,274 coming with it, while the German received $313,444 for finishing 2nd.

Final results

Position Player Country Prize
1 Timur Margolin Israel $507,274
2 Ismael Bojang Germany $313,444
3 Michael Marder United States $223,564
4 Chris Ferguson United States $161,371
5 Dylan Linde United States $117,894
6 Ryan Laplante United States $87,189
7 Jeff Hakim Lebanon $65,284
8 Andre Haneberg Germany $49,498
9 Josh Bergman United States $38,009