Badih “Bob” Bounahra has put Belize on the spotlight and is giving Belize international fame as he is the first Belizean to compete at the World Series of Poker Hold ‘Em Championship. Belize is gaining great publicity as Badih Bounahra who was one of over 6,000 players who signed up for the tournament and now finds himself in the top nine for the championship game.
The World Series of Poker Championship will be held at Las Vegas from November 6 – 8 and Bob will be representing Belize and has a chance of winning the top prize of $8.71 million US dollars. The following is some excerpts from an article we found online about the World Series of Poker.
The game still is Texas Hold ’em. Top prize of $8.71 million will be in U.S. dollars. But a record seven countries will be represented among nine players for Sunday’s start of the final table at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
This year, three players from the USA are joined by others from Germany, Great Britain, Ukraine, Ireland, Belize, and leader Martin Staszko (40.18 million chips) is from the Czech Republic.
The final table has players in their 20’s where Staszko is 35 and Badih Bounahra of Belize is 49 but all of rest are in their 20s.
The amateur in the field is Badih “Bob” Bounahra of Belize. He’s sixth with 19.7 million. During the initial phase of play in July, Bounahra was down to 425,000 chips when he pushed all-in with 8-7 suited. He was up against pocket kings, but he won with a straight on the flop (4-5-6).
Originally from Lebanon, Bounahra is a businessman in Belize City, Belize (the northernmost country in Central America, with a population of about 320,000). He is the first player from Belize to make the final table at the Main Event. On ESPN.com, the father of three described his return home.
“It was the best feeling you can ever have,” Bounahra said. “The minute I landed home here, everybody was excited. … Everybody was watching the television all hours of the morning. … It is something really good for Belize.”
The Main Event began in July with 6,865 players at a buy-in of $10,000. After being played down to the final nine, it was recessed until this weekend.
The TV coverage Sunday (ESPN2 and ESPN3) starts at 3:30 p.m. ET. The nine will be played down to the final three. On Tuesday, starting at 9 p.m. ET, the final three will finish the tournament (ESPN and ESPN3).
The November Nine & Chip Counts
Martin Staszko, 35, Trinec, Czech Republic, 40,175,000
Eoghan O’Dea, 26, Dublin, Ireland, 33,925,000
Matt Giannetti, 26, Las Vegas, Nev., 24,750,000
Phil Collins, 26, Las Vegas, Nev., 23,875,000
Ben Lamb, 26, Tulsa, Okla., 20,875,000
Badih Bounahra, 49, Belize City, Belize, 19,700,000
Pius Heinz, 22, Cologne, Germany 16,425,000
Anton Makiievskyi, 21, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine 13,825,000
Sam Holden, 22, Sussex, Great Britain, 12,375,000
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