Amir Lehavot, a pro player from Weston, is atop the World Series of Poker leaderboard heading into Day 3, which begins at 3 p.m. ET on Friday.
<img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-588" style="border: 0pt none; margin: 0px 6px;" title="Amir Main Event Day2bMain Event Day2bIDS_8085_IMPDI_IMPDI" src="http://anteupmagazine.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Amir-Main-Event-Day2bMain-Event-Day2bIDS_8085_IMPDI_IMPDI-199×300.jpg" alt="Amir Main Event Day2bMain Event Day2bIDS_8085_IMPDI_IMPDI" width="119" height="180" />Lehavot is a 38-year-old poker pro who who was born in Israel. He arrived in the U.S. at the age of 16. Prior to playing poker for a living, Lehavot worked as an engineer, specializing in design.
Lehavot was down to 7,000 in chips on Day 1, but crawled back to 80,000 in chips. On Day 2-B, Lehavot ran it up to 610,500, tops among the 2,044 remaining players.
"During Day One, I was at 7,000 (in chips). So, it really feels nice to come back," he said. "I even had to make a suck out on Day One. So, it feels nice. I had some really nice hands most of the day, and (30 minutes before Day 2 ended), I had a huge hand. I got another 250,000 in chips. I had just moved to this table and had just sat down. There was this other big stack that had 250,000. I had pocket threes and flopped a set. Most of my chips came from that one pot."
This is Lehavot’s third consecutive year to play in the Main Event, but he’s never cashed.
"Last year, I got up to 200,000," he said. "But I got too aggressive and lost it."
Lehavot recently started a poker website, www.pokerwit.com, that features his comments about key hands he played at various times during the WSOP. Lehavot’s poker nickname is “AmirSF.”
"It feels great. But I have played in a lot of tournaments and I know. There is a long way to go and it does not necessarily mean that much (to be chip leader) at this point. It’s nice, but there is still a long way to go," he said. "If I cash, it is really not life-changing for me. I am looking to go deep."
Remaining Florida players, with rank, hometown and chip count:
1 Lehavot, Amir Weston FL 610,500
4 Bilzerian, Dan Tampa FL 439,500
40 Schaffel, Kevin Coral Springs FL 279,600
72 Waxman, Matthew Parkland FL 233,300
131 Brown, Kyle Ft. Lauderdale FL 206,300
174 Herzog, Geoffrey Jacksonville Beach FL 188,900
175 Mathis, Jeffrey Ponte Vera FL 188,400
188 Banks, Kirk Naples FL 184,600
219 Schwarmann, Matt Orlando FL 176,400
257 Osinski, Jaroslaw Naples FL 164,600
270 Tarawneh, Waseem Ocala FL 162,000
277 Naranjo, Juan Miami Lakes FL 161,400
294 Peterson, Paul Gainesville FL 156,700
301 Cherry, Lou Naples FL 155,700
311 Campbell, Robert Miami FL 153,200
330 Winzler, Hans Miami FL 150,000
345 Bird, John Zephyrhills FL 148,300
350 Fair, Ryan Fort Lauderdale FL 147,600
351 Smith, Paul Cape Coral FL 147,600
360 Cabrera, Elio Homestead FL 146,000
419 Prendes, Alex Miami FL 136,200
472 House, Thomas Palm Coast FL 130,300
492 Gavile, Adrian Tampa FL 127,700
546 Sackler, Jason Orlando FL 121,400
549 Lekach, Ilia Golden Beach FL 120,900
552 Burbick, Corey Davie FL 120,500
619 Mizrachi, Robert Sunny Isles Beach FL 113,600
628 Mack, Vincent Palm Bay FL 112,300
630 Ladines, Joshua Orlando FL 112,100
656 Weiner, Ken Wellington FL 109,500
667 Feren, Steven Sunrise FL 108,200
687 Dlugozima, Paul St. Petersburg FL 106,200
700 Calderon, James Venice FL 104,900
781 DiMeglio, Frank Naples FL 98,000
820 Been, Aaron Tallahassee FL 95,300
873 Drake, Eric Jacksonville FL 90,800
894 Vasquez, Roy Jacksonville FL 89,300
896 Joyner, James Ponte Vedre Beach FL 89,200
902 Cool, Colin New Smyrna Beach FL 89,000
915 Adler, Nathan Fort Myers FL 87,500
921 Pages, Fernando Miami FL 87,100
938 Rosenkrantz, Jose Miami Lakes FL 86,000
939 Bauerlein, Gene St. Petersburg FL 85,900
993 Wang, Yuejian Boca Raton FL 81,800
1002 Dumont, Daniel Maitland FL 81,300
1033 Fischer, Seth Palm Harbor FL 79,000
1042 Mansour, Zuhdi Tampa FL 78,700
1049 Petrat, Willard Sarasota FL 78,100
1059 Tomberlin, Eric Orange Park FL 77,500
1064 Starner, Philip Belleview FL 77,000
1072 Delk, Jena Merritt Island FL 76,400
1086 McCarty, Jason Coconut Creek FL 75,600
1115 Scott, Jacquelyn Ft. Lauderdale FL 73,600
1173 Kane, Richard Brandon FL 70,400
1174 Ryan, Bill West Palm Beach FL 70,400
1200 Siem, Paul Clearwater FL 68,500
1229 McKerchie, terry Davie FL 66,800
1420 Mallory, Ferral Cape Coral FL 55,300
1433 Hartley, Jim St. Petersburg FL 54,500
1470 Herrera, Alberto Ocala FL 51,900
1475 Desena, Tom Boca Raton FL 51,700
1485 Gotlieb, Joseph Hollywood FL 51,300
1490 Edwards, Thomas Sanford FL 51,000
1502 Taylor, Anders Gainesville FL 50,100
1503 Wahl, Bartlett Lake Placid FL 50,000
1509 Beasley, Mike Hollywood FL 49,800
1711 Allen, Brandon Miami FL 36,000
1735 Chiappetta, Mike Boca Raton FL 34,200
1758 Shoichet, Mark Royal Palm Beach FL 32,700
1775 Lahr, Chris Fort Walton Beach FL 31,500
1804 Cousineau, Tony Daytona Beach FL 30,100
1809 Racener, John Tampa FL 29,700
1827 Fowler, David Deltona FL 28,800
1831 Wisser, Phillip Miami FL 28,700
1834 Slay, Kelley Jacksonville FL 28,500
1844 Brown, Chad Margate FL 27,800
1879 Cooper, Bob Plantation FL 25,200
1947 Tomko, Derek Winter Haven FL 19,000
1991 Shield, Joseph St Pete FL 15,200
2003 Lade, Terry Palm Coast FL 13,000
2007 Stanchewski, Paul Jutz FL 12,200
2016 Zlatkiss, Robert Orlando FL 10,300
