Rafi Amit, born and raised in Holon, Israel, is one of the most successful Israeli professional poker players. The fame and fortune came to him overnight, after he took the 1st place, a WSOP bracelet and a prize of $511,835 in the WSP Pot Limit Omaha, on July 2nd, 2005. This winning made Rafi Amit a phenomenon in the professional poker world, as it was his first cash winning in a live tournament ever.
During the final table of the WSOP Pot Limit Omaha tournament, which he won, Rafi Amit was suspended from the game for ten minutes as a penalty for swearing. He was the first player ever (and the only one so far) to incur such penalty in the final table of a WSOP tournament. Yet, even with ten minutes wasted, Rafi Amit proved himself to be a real winner and took the prize, the bracelet and the grand cash prize of half a million dollars. By the morning of July 3rd the picture of Rafi Amit appeared in the headline of USA Today, with an article that discussed both the winning and the "F-word incident".
After winning the WSOP bracelet, Rafi Amit kept a low profile and only reappeared in the next WSOP, where he participated in no less than four tournaments of various Omaha styles, and managed to win a total of $179,698. His best score was the 4th place in the WSOP Pot Limit Omaha on July 9th, 2006. Once the 37th WSOP was over, Rafi Amit disappeared from the live poker tournaments for yet another year before reappearing and making the impossible for the second time.
The poker game Rafi Amit likes to play most is Omaha – No Limit, Pot Limit, Hi/Lo, you name it. But as much as he favors Omaha games, he won his second WSOP bracelet in a tournament of WSOP Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball, on June 29th, 2007. The tournament was rough, long and exhausting, but once more Rafi Amit won the 1st place, the bracelet and the $227,005 prize.
But there's more to the story of the 2nd WSOP bracelet. When Rafi Amit played the WSOP Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball tournament, he also played his all favorite game, in the WSOP Pot Limit Omaha Championship. Since these two events were taking place at the same time, Rafi Amit had to play both tournaments and run between the tables in order to make it to the games. Once he won the 1st place in the Omaha tournament, he immediately went to the Omaha table and continued the tournament. He made it only to the 16th place in that Omaha tournament, but considering the circumstances, it is a highly respectable achievement.
Growing in Israel, where professional poker is less known and played, Rafi Amit's family did not approve his desire to become a poker star at first. On his interview in USA Today, Rafi Amit was quoted saying: "In Israel, if you're a poker player, it's like you're a drug dealer". After realizing that a career in professional poker wasn't as bad or insane an idea as they thought, the family came around. These days, when his father calls, he asks his son about his "business". All in all, things look good for Rafi Amit in the poker field. We'll surely hear from him again pretty soon.
Rafi Amit Quick Facts
Cashes: 7
Total Winnings: $934,623
First Place Finishes: 2
WSOP bracelets: 2
