David Kitai in search of his second WPT title in Mazagan

David Kitai is one of a handful of poker players who have completed the Triple Crown, but the Belgian poker pro is also the only one with an asterisk next to his name, since his World Poker Tour leg of the Triple Crown came at the “invitational” WPT Celebrity Invitational –Kitai has also won a World Series of Poker bracelet back in 2008, and an European Poker Tour title earlier this year in Berlin.

Not only is Kitai a Triple Crown winner, he is easily the most decorated and most important figure in Belgian poker history. All of Kitai’s wins (WSOP, EPT, and WPT) made him the first Belgian to accomplish the feat, so Kitai is the answer to not one but three trivia questions: Who was the first Belgian WSOP winner? Who was the first Belgian EPT winner? And, who was the first Belgian WPT winner?

Today Kitai has the chance to erase the asterisk as he leads the way with a massive chip-lead heading into the WPT Mazagan final table. Kitai holds a three-to-one chip lead over his nearest competitor, but as we have seen over the years; a massive chip-lead is nice, but doesn’t even come to close to assuring one of a victory. Kitai will also have to contend with another European poker legend, as Frenchman Bruno Fitoussi (a man who would have Daniel Negreanu’s vote for the Poker Hall of Fame) managed to sneak into the final six. Fitoussi will start the day from the back of the pack, with just under 400,000 chips.

Here is a look at the final table chip counts from the WPT Mazagan Main Event:

1. Davidi Kitai — 1,940,000
2. Clement Beauvois — 668,000
3. Giacomo Fundaro — 644,000
4. Jeremy Nock — 405,000
5. Bruno Fitoussi — 392,000
6. Frederic Brunet — 316,000

The tournament was one of the smallest fields in World Poker tour history, attracting just 146 entrants (including reentries), even still the winner of the tournament will walk away with a nice pre-Christmas payday of $168k, and for Kitai, as well as Bruno Fitoussi, it could also mean an even more prominent in the annals of poker.

Here is a look at the complete final table payouts for the WPT Mazagan Main Event:

• 1^st place: $168,207
• 2^nd place: $99,082
• 3^rd place: $64,048
• 4^th place: $47,279
• 5^th place: $35,518
• 6^th place: $28,531