$10,000 Omaha Split WSOP Championship Won By Viacheslav Zhukov
This was published 13-06-2011Twenty-two year old Russian pro Viacheslav Zhukov has definitely succeeded in making himself more recognizable in the world of poker after winning the $10,000 Omaha High-Low Split Championship at the World Series of Poker on Thursday 9th June, 2011. This was Zhukov’s first ever visit to the World Series and his fantastic win came as a surprise as he managed to top one of the toughest fields at the World Series of Poker.
Zhukov took home a whopping $465,216 for his first place win and was also thrilled to win his first ever World Series of Poker bracelet. Every bracelet won at the World Series of Poker has thus far gone to a first time winner and Zhukov is, therefore, continuing this interesting trend.
Although Zhukov won over $100,000 in a European Poker Tour event in Kiev during 2009, this latest win is his first major tournament victory. Zhukov is a graduate from Moscow Mining University and has been playing poker professionally for about a year.
With the battle for the gold bracelet finally turning into a battle between professionals, Zhukov entered heads-up play at 2 – 1 disadvantage against an online pro from Chandler, Arizona, George Lind. However, Zhukov had the better of the play as well as the cards in their battle and managed to send Lind to the rail with a $287,554 prize for second place. Third place went to former World Series of Poker bracelet winner Stevel Billirakis while Richard Ashby finished in the fourth place.
The majority of events in this year’s World Series have shown an increase in participation. However, the Omaha Hi/Lo Championship actually declined slightly with 202 players in this year’s event which is down from 212 last year. The Omaha High-Low Split Tournament took a total of four days to complete.
A large number of well-known stars and former bracelet winners were included in the twenty-seven players who made the money in the tournament.
