Aussie poker pro Martin Kozlov earned an impressive $655,709 over the weekend in winning the $10,000 buy-in Six Max NLHE event at the World Series of Poker, claiming his first bracelet….and in the process knocking out five-bracelet holder Chris “Jesus” Ferguson amid some raucous railbird behaviour from both pro and anti-Ferguson factions.
Ferguson – a much-criticised former director of Full Tilt Poker when the company failed after Black Friday in 2011 – has been keeping a low profile since returning to the World Series of Poker after a 5-year self-imposed exile. He has declined interview offers, saying that he is “just here to play poker”.
He made his deepest run yet this year in the Six-Max NLHE event, busted out at fourth for $183,989 by Kozlov, who went on with a solid chip lead to score the rare double elimination of bracelet-holders David Kitai of Belgium and Justin Bonomo of the USA and claim victory.
Kitai listed second for $411,441 and Bonomo third for $271,856.
Kozlov has thus far been doing quite well at this year’s WSOP, achieving a fifth finish in the $3,000 buy-in NLHE event that earned him $110,389, and an eleventh placing in the packed Summer Solstice event that rewarded him with $25,335.
The event attracted 294 entries, with the remainder of the final table making the following earnings:
Nick Petrangelo $127,622
Jack Salter $90,783