The Hebrew word “Tzabra” or “Sabra” is used to describe native Israelis. A tzabra is a tough desert plant that thrives under harsh conditions. Under its thorny exterior, the “Tzabra” protects a softer, less severe interior.

It’s a perfect analogy for our first PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Seoul champion, Israel’s Ziv Bachar (ziviland on PokerStars).

Ziv Bachar (ziviland on PokerStars)

The soft-spoken 25-year-old showed no mercy during the final table at the Sheraton Grande Hotel. He brought the chip lead to the final table, and was rarely threatened on his way to the $139,872 first prize.

Bachar, who works in the real estate industry in his native Israel, continues great year for poker players from the Mediterranean nation of just over seven million people.

At the World Series of Poker earlier this year, high stakes poker pro Eli Elezra captured his first WSOP bracelet in winning the seven-card stud hi/lo event over poker legend Scotty Nguyen (and winning a 10-1 bet from Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein that he would win a bracelet in 2007).

Final Table Summary:

In contrast to the first APPT final table in Manila last month (which lasted well into the early hours), play lasted less than six hours and 111 hands.

Just three players returned after the dinner break – Sid Kim the chip leader on 983,000, Bachar on 740,000 and Jo Berec on 139,000. It wasn’t long until the chips were flying. On hand 97, Berec moved all-in from the big blind for 116,000, and Bachar called instantly. Berec (Ad 6h) was marginally ahead of Bachar’s Qh 10d, and the Australian made two-pair to double through and spark his comeback.

Five hands later, the heads-up line-up was decided after Bachar and Sid Kim watched a flop of Jc 6c 2s. Both players checked and the turn came 3d. Kim bet 50,000, Bachar raised to 100,000, Kim pushed all-in and Bachar couldn’t get the rest of his chips in fast enough.

The Israeli showed 6h 3c for two pair, while Kim’s Qc 4c gave him a flush draw. However, the 2d on the river missed the American, and he was out in third place.

Unlike the 60-plus hand heads-up battle at the APPT Manila event, the duel between Bachar and Berec lasted just nine hands.

With a chip lead almost 10:1 over Berec, Bachar picked his mark and made the call when Berec pushed all-in with Kd 9c.

Bachar had his nose in front with Kc 10c, but the drama wasn’t over. The flop came Qh Qc 6d, meaning Bachar’s 10 was still in play, but a Ks on the turn threw Berec some more lifelines.

But a meaningless 2d on the river gave Bachar kings and queens with a 10 kicker to win the tournament.

“It was a relief to get over Jozef so quickly,” Bachar said as the enormity of his victory started to sink in. “He’d been so aggressive and unpredictable, but I thought I was in with a good shot even though K 10 isn’t a great hand.”

It’s back to work in Tel Aviv for the modest APPT Seoul champion, but we’re hoping to see Ziv Bachar in Sydney for the APPT Grand Final in December. And that’s probably when you’ll next hear from me – on behalf of the APPT Seoul team, it’s “anyonghi gaseyo” or goodbye, from the Walker-hill Casino in Seoul, South Korea.

Every year there are certain trends in football gambling that are guaranteed, one such trend is that the NFL will bail out losses from college football.

By Sean Callander

Just three players are still in the running to claim the first APPT Seoul title. Sid Kim is the new chip leader on 983,000, followed by 25-year-old Israeli Ziv Bachar on 740,000 with Australian Jo Berec the short stack on 139,000.
In the latest action, captured in magnificent images on http://www.flickr.com/photos/9871433@N08/sets/72157602206287029/, we went from four to three when Michel St Pierre was first wounded, then finished off by Sid Kim. On hand 84, the Canadian moved all-in for 260,00 from the small blind. Ziv Bachar, who’s stack was down to 193,000 called for his tournament life. St Pierre showed As Kd, and Bachar Qc Qd. Neither player’s hand improved on a board of 8s 6d 3d 7d 10c, as Bachar doubled through.

On the next hand, the charge of the PokerStars online qualifier came to an end after Kim raised to 60,000, and St Pierre threw in his remaining 66,000.

The Canadian was marginally ahead, holding K h 10d against Kim’s Qc Jc, and he looked set to double-up on a board of 7h 4h 2d 8h. But Kim hit a four-outer (the Jd) to eliminate St Pierre in fourth spot (worth $34,968 in prize money, not bad for an investment of $109).

Bachar’s momentum continued in the torrid half-hour before the dinner break, but Berec went from hero to (almost) zero.
On hand 88, the Israeli and the Australian popped it up to 40,000 apiece pre-flop, before the flop came Ah As 9s. Bachar bet 25,000, but Berec came over the top for his entire stack of 495,000. Bachar called the extra 395,000 in his stack.

Battling for the biggest pot of the APPT Seoul main event, Bachar showed Ac Ks for top pair and Berec had a flush draw (8s 6s). But the turn (Jc) and river (4c) missed Berec, putting a major dent in his stack.

When the trio headed for dinner and their final feed of the tournament (a shame, the buffet rocked), there was clearly a spring in the step of Bachar and Kim but Berec seemed to be looking for an answer to his woes somewhere among the tasty morsels on offer. Wisdom in the watermelon; salvation amid the smoked salmon? We’ll find out in the next few hours.

Limit poker is a dysfunctional marriage of a game theorist and a math wonk. They live in a house that looks like any other house in the poker neighborhood and, on the outside, they seem like a happy couple. Inside, though, the debates rage harder than any daytime soap opera. The math half of the marriage insists there is a correct decision for every card on every street. The game theorist insists there are nuances that can override the math. It is an in-house debate that rages through every game of limit hold’em. In this marriage, there are progeny and it’s those people who are limit hold’em winners.

Event #22 of the World Championship of Online Poker drew more than 600 players at $1,050 apiece, all of whom hope to be the perfect child in the imperfect marriage. Nine of those players got closer than the rest.

Seat 1: drbk2 (619733 in chips)
Seat 2: DEVIRUS (1129819 in chips)
Seat 3: emptyseat88 (441326 in chips)
Seat 4: plattsburgh (936478 in chips)
Seat 5: Hansa.no (224548 in chips)
Seat 6: jumper17 (684116 in chips)
Seat 7: BUTCH ACIDY (366173 in chips)
Seat 8: Sowerss (1525467 in chips)
Seat 9: der Falk (232340 in chips)

Der Falk, despite having the chip lead for a good while before the final table, was the first to go. He picked up AK versus BUTCH ACIDY’s KK. Der Falk played the hand as hard as he could, but never caught up. He finished in ninth place for $8,008.

Hansa.no was the next to go. Having lost most of his stack to DEVIRUS in a hand that he didn’t show down, Hansa.no played A7 for the rest of his chips against emptyseat88’s KQ. A queen on the turn ended Hansa.no’s day in eighth place. He was awarded $13,552 for his efforts.

BUTCH ACIDY fell on hard times a few hands later and, with only 100,000 chips left, ended up getting QT in against emptyseat88’s K6 pre-flop. No queen or ten appeared and BUTCH ACIDY finished in seventh place, a $20,328 payday.

With six players remaining, the chip stacks sized up as follows:

Seat 1: drbk2 (424733 in chips)
Seat 2: DEVIRUS (1234819 in chips)
Seat 3: emptyseat88 (691887 in chips)
Seat 4: plattsburgh (868978 in chips)
Seat 6: jumper17 (1141616 in chips)
Seat 8: Sowerss (1797967 in chips)

There were more cruel rivers in this event than just about any other. The cruelest we’d seen in a while put DEVIRUS out. He flopped a set of deuces against plattsburgh’s pair of sixes on a Qd2dJh flop. They capped the betting and got DEVIRUS all-in. The river? Indeed, a six. DEVIRUS finished in in sixth place for a $27.720 cash.

After a short break, emptyseat88 sat on the shortest stack and was ready to pick up some chips. He came in for a raise with Kc7c and called a re-raise from Sowerss. The flop came own 9sKsJh. With top pair, emptyseat88 was in decent shape. Problem was, Sowerss held A7 and an ace came on the turn. No king on the river and emptyseat88 finished in fifth place for $35,112.

Four-handed play lasted for a long while before drbk2 succumbed to the pressure of the bigger stacks and mounting blinds. His last gasp was getting TJ all-in on a 3sQs6h flop. He was up against Sowerss’ 78. A seven on the river ended drbk2’s morning, out in fourth place and earning $43,120.

Plattsburgh was the neext to find the door. After jumper17 flopped a set against him and took him for half a million chips, plattsburgh only had enough chips to play one more big hand. He decided to go with QsJs. He got it all in pre-flop against jumper17’s 77. Plattburgh never improved and was out in third place for $56,056.

Going into heads up play, the remaining two foes had the following stacks:

Seat 6: jumper17 (3334103 in chips)
Seat 8: Sowerss (2825897 in chips)

With a $60,000 difference between first and second, the players thought it better to cut a deal with the following terms.

$108,967.05 — jumper17
$102,184.95 — Sowerss

They left $18,000 and the WCOOP bracelet on the table. That’s where things got interesting.

After an impressive and hard-fought early battle, jumper17 (at the urging of his opponent) revealed what many people already knew. He is Markus Golser, a tough Austrian pro, known around the world as a fierce competitor.

While Golser had Sowerss on the ropes a couple of times, after a full hour of heads-up play, the stacks were still close to even. Neither player backed down, and for good reason.

Sowerss: i want the full bracelet
Sowerss: i’d almost give u 5k for it
jumper17: me too

After an hour and half, Sowerss had made an amazing comeback and taken a big lead, only to see Golser rebound and recapture his position on top. Then it was even again. Regardless of who came out on top, it was going to be a battle that neither player forgot.

It took a full hour and forty minutes for the heads-up battle to end. Over the course of several hands, Sowerss moved ahead. So many times before, the chip lead had melted back to even. This time, Sowerss held the lead. The final hand saw Golser flopping middle pair, but Sowerss turned a straight and sent Golser out in second place.

Congratualtions to all the players who cashed in Event #22 of the 2007 World Championship of Online Poker.

2007 WCOOP: Event #22 Final Table Results
Based on finishing order and two-way deal that left $18,000 for first place

1. Sowerss (United States) $120,184.95
2. jumper17 (Austria) $108,967.05
3. plattsburgh (United States) $56,056.00
4. drbk2 (United States) $43,120.00
5. emptyseat88 (United States $35,112.00
6. DEVIRUS (Canada) $27,720.00
7. BUTCH ACIDY (United States) $20,328.00
8. Hansa.no (Cyprus) $13,552.00
9. der Falk (Sweden) $8,008.00

Saturday was the day that the other shoe dropped on the top college football teams in the country as the sport saw one of the craziest upset days in history.