Only two Belgian poker players have ever won gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker, and now, each of them own three bracelets a piece. Michael Gathy, a former med student turned poker pro, earned his third WSOP title Thursday night in Las Vegas by topping a field of 541 in the $5,000 six-max no-limit hold’em event.
The 27-year-old Brussels native earned $560,843 for his win and joined fellow countryman Davidi Kitai in the three-win club. Gathy’s previous wins came in 2012 and 2013, also in no-limit hold’em events. Gathy also finished runner-up in the $1,500 razz event earlier this summer, and now has more than $1.8 million in career tournament earnings.
“We don’t have that many Belgian poker players, but the ones we have are great,” said Gathy.
The tournament drew 179 international players and the nations represented at the final table included Belgium, the United States, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
Other notables who made deep runs in the event included Jason Koon (9th), Jonathan Little (13th), Jake Schindler (15th), Martin Finger (16th), Pratyush Buddiga (17th), Felix Stephensen (19th), Lee Markholt (25th), Max Greenwood (26th), Mark Herm (27th) and Eric Wasserson (28th).
Ryan Laplante also made the money, finishing in 56th place. It was his ninth overall cash this summer. Laplante is trying to break the current record of 12 for most cashes in a summer, which was set by Konstantin Puchkov in 2012. The record for most cashes in a year, including international WSOP events, is 13 by Ismael Bojang in 2014.
This was one of the youngest fields of the summer, with the average age being just 34. T.J. Cloutier, at 76, was the oldest player in the tournament.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points |
| 1 | Michael Gathy | $560,843 | 1,680 |
| 2 | Adrien Allain | $346,632 | 1,400 |
| 3 | Manuel Saavedra Nunez | $229,990 | 1,120 |
| 4 | Blake Eastman | $155,762 | 840 |
| 5 | Scott Margereson | $107,723 | 700 |
| 6 | Thi Nguyen | $76,112 | 560 |
For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2016 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.
Winner photo courtesy of the WSOP.
