Gal Yifrach Poker
A little more than a year after winning a World Series of Poker circuit ring, Gal Yifrach won another piece of WSOP jewelry. He emerged victorious in Event #28: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed, besting a field of 868 players to win the first-place prize of $461,798.
Gal Yifrach Eliminated by Balakrishna Patur Main Tour WPT L.A. Poker Classic Season 2019-2020 4 12,000/6,000-12,000 Deuces for Gal Yifrach Main Tour WPT L.A. Poker Classic Season 2019-2020 4 10,000/5,000-10,000 Gal Yifrach Doubles Through Andy Tsai Main Tour WPT L.A. Poker Classic Season 2019-2020 4 10,000/5,000-10,000 Steve Forman Doubles Through Gal Yifrach Main Tour WPT L.A. A little more than a year after winning a World Series of Poker circuit ring, Gal Yifrach won another piece of WSOP jewelry. He emerged victorious in Event #28: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed. Gal Yifrach Eliminated by Balakrishna Patur Main Tour WPT L.A. Poker Classic Season 2019-2020 4 12,000/6,000-12,000 Deuces for Gal Yifrach Main Tour WPT L.A. Poker Classic Season 2019-2020 4 10,000/5,000-10,000 Gal Yifrach Doubles Through Andy Tsai Main Tour WPT L.A. Poker Classic Season 2019-2020 4 10,000/5,000-10,000 Steve Forman Doubles Through Gal Yifrach Main Tour WPT L.A. PokerNews is a free to access, online resource that offers fresh daily content, world leading live reporting and poker strategy content and provides comparison features of various online poker sites to its visitors. Visitors should be aware that that the operator of this site (iBus Media Limited. Gal Yifrach poker player profile. Get latest information, winnings and gallery.
Born in Israel and now living in Los Angeles, the 31-year-old entrepreneur considers poker more of a hobby than a profession but has a solid poker résumé. With eight WSOP and five circuit cashes under his best, Yifrach was appreciative of the winning feeling.
'You don't make a final table every tournament,' said Yifrach. 'I was fortunate enough and am happy my family and girlfriend came to support me. I'm very happy. Everybody has hopes, and everybody is hoping to get very far. I was fortunate enough to get there.'
Final Table Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gal Yifrach | United States | $461,798 |
| 2 | James Mackey | United States | $285,377 |
| 3 | Gary Hasson | Belgium | $193,716 |
| 4 | Aaron Mermelstein | United States | $133,731 |
| 5 | Darren Rabinowitz | United States | $93,917 |
| 6 | Ana Marquez | Spain | $67,116 |
Tournament Recap
Event #28: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed drew 868 players and after 10 levels played on Day 1, Christian Rudolph led the remaining 186 players. Just 131 of them would make the money on Day 2 and after another 10 levels on Day 2, only 20 were still in the hunt for a coveted gold bracelet and the first-place prize of $461,798.
Rudolph rode his Day 1 chip lead to 11th in chips following Day 2, but busted in 19th place. Meanwhile, end-of-Day 2 chip leader Ben Palmer bubbled the official final table, finishing in seventh place for $48,823. Others who made deep runs but fell short of the final table include Jason Mercier (16th - $20,975), Tony Dunst (13th - $20,975) and Yorane Kerignard (9th - $36,164).
For Yifrach, his path to the final table started smoothly as he returned on Day 2 17th in chips of the remaining 186. He was on the shorter side to begin Day 3 sitting 15th in chips of the remaining 20 players, but chipped up early in the day before winning a coinflip against Dunst to leave just 12 players remaining.
Yifrach chipped up a little more by the time the official final table of six players was reached, sitting second in chips. Ana Marquez (6th - $67,116) was eliminated shortly after the final table began, and Darren Rabinowitz (5th - $93,917) followed her to the rail about two hours later. On the 56th hand of the final table, Yifrach seized the chip lead for the first time and held it for just about the rest of the way. Aaron Mermelstein (4th - $133,731) fell a little while later, and Yifrach was comfortably in the lead with about two-thirds of the chips when three-handed play began.
In the last batch of hands from Day 3, Yifrach doubled up both James Mackey and Gary Hasson, meaning a fourth day would be necessary for a winner to emerge.
Hasson battled valiantly but was unable to overcome his chip deficit, falling in third place for $193,716. The heads-up battle between Yifrach and Mackey was brief, lasting just seven hands. Starting down nearly 2:1 in chips, Mackey quickly moved back to basically even in chips before the final hand took place.
After the turn of an eight-high board, Mackey shoved with pocket tens. Yifrach called after about three minutes in the tank and trailed with ace-eight, but an eight landed on the river to give him the victory.
'When you run good you play good, as well. It comes hand in hand. It's a great feeling.'
Gal Yifrach, a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur and recreational poker player, claimed last night his first WSOP gold bracelet for taking down Event #28: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed of this year’s edition of the popular series. Aside from the gold piece, Yifrach also collected his largest-ever poker payout of $461,798 for topping the tournament’s 868-strong field.
His triumph in the WSOP came a little over a year after the player captured a gold piece from the WSOP Circuit. Back at The Bicycle, Yifrach entered a WSOP Circuit $3,250 High Roller to win it and collect his first gold ring from the series.
Speaking to WSOP staff last night, Yifrach said that he usually does not play much of a tournament poker and that tables where higher-stakes cash games are played are where he could be seen more often. He also pointed out that he does not play professionally. With a gold ring and now a gold bracelet, he has clearly been doing very well for a non-professional.
The player said he was quite comfortable with the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max’s structure as it allowed for a lot of hands to be played, something that is typical for cash games.
The tournament was scheduled as a three-day one, but it took eventually a fourth additional day for it to be sealed. On Day 3, Yifrach took the lead during four-handed play and was really hoping that he would be able to end the tournament on that day and as the winner.
He pointed out that he felt he played very well and had really nice hands coming his way, which further helped him lock the title. However, despite his own efforts to finish the job on Day 3, action had to be extended with three players left in contention.
Final Day of Action
Yifrach came into Day 4 as the chip leader and with massive advantage over his two remaining opponents – James Mackey and Gary Hasson. The three players battled it out for nearly 50 hands before a player got busted.
Hasson was that unfortunate one after clashing against the eventual winner. Action sped up quite a bit after Hasson’s elimination. The two-handed duel between Yifrach and Mackey kicked off with the former holding nearly two times more chips than his final opponent.
However, over the course of just seven hands, Mackey managed to even the stacks and put Yifrach into big danger. On the final hand of the tournament, the two players went all in, Mackey tabling pocket tens to Yifrach’s [As][8h]. A [8d][6h][2c][2s][8c] board secured Yifrach with a full house and the tournament title. A second gold bracelet thus eluded Mackey. The player took home a consolation prize of $285,377 for running deep into the event.
Gal Yifrach Poker Room
Gal Yifrach Poker Party
As mentioned above, the $3,000 buy-in six-max tournament drew a field of 868 entries who generated a prize pool of $2,343,600. The money was split into payouts for the top 131 finishers.
Gal Yifrach Poker Rules
Source: casinonewsdaily.com