Katchalov won the high roller event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January and is no stranger to success at the WSOP. Last year, he was the only player to make final table appearances in three $10,000-plus buy-in events which stands as a WSOP record.
Katchalov expressed ed his jubilation via Twitter after his win, saying, “Woohoo!!! Thanks for rooting everyone!! Super excited.”
The final table included many experienced and successful pros Ali Eslami, Alessio Isaia and 2009 November Niner Eric Buchman, who began play with the chip lead. That lead was lost early when Katchalov upended Vasili Lazarou’s attempt at a third Stud bracelet by sending him out in eighth place. Shortly after, Katchalov eliminated Eslami, catching a third 7 on sixth street to improve against Eslami’s lone pair of Queens.At this point Eric Buchman surged to a large lead when he sent Kai Landry, Dennis Parker and Jonathan Spinks to the rail in succession to build massive chip lead with three players remaining. Buchman, another New York pro who won a bracelet of his own last year, had more than half the chips in play against Katchalov and Isaia but the tide soon shifted.
Isaia slowly began to chip away at Buchman’s lead and eventually sent the New York pro out in third place after running into the Italian’s straight on sixth street. That left only Isaia and Katchalov, with the Team PokerStars Pro trailing by a 5.5-1 margin.
Katchalov doubled up through Isaia early in the heads-up match and used that to swing momentum into his favor. On the final hand, Katchalov made a pair of aces on seventh street to trump Isaia’s Kings and send the Full Tilt Poker Red Pro and WPT winner to the rail just short of his first WSOP win.
Final table results:
1. Eugene Katchalov — $122,909
2. Alessio Isaia — $75,911
3. Eric Buchman — $48,961
4. Jonathan Spinks — $35,476
5. Dennis Paker — $26,083
6. Kai Landry — $19,456
7. Ali Eslami — $14,723
8. Vasili Lazarou — $11,301
