Eliahu Ilan Elezra (; born 24 November 1960, in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

) is an Israeli professional

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player and businessman, now living in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. With five

WSOP The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...

bracelets and a WPT win in the post Moneymaker era, he is one of the most successful players since the

poker boom The poker boom was a period between 2003 and 2006, during which poker, primarily no-limit Texas hold 'em, but also other variations, became considerably more popular around the world. During the boom years, the online poker player pool at least dou ...

. Since moving to

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Elezra has had more than 70 money finishes in the

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

Texas Hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is the most popular variant of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, community cards ...

and

Draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn most commonly refer to: * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Draw (tie), in a competition, where competitors achieve equal outcomes * Draw ...

events. In July 2004, Elezra won the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown, where he collected $1,024,574 for his efforts. Elezra has played in " The Big Game" in Vegas for many years. He appeared in the second and third season of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament. Elezra came known to the big public when he played in seasons 1–6 of the legendary GSN series ''

High Stakes Poker ''High Stakes Poker'' is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ran f ...

'' and has appeared on several episodes of ''

Poker After Dark ''Poker After Dark'' is an hour-long poker television program that originally aired on NBC, premiering on January 1, 2007.

''. He also was a Full Tilt Pro. Elezra won his first bracelet by winning the World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi-Low in the

2007 WSOP The 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) began on June 1, 2007. The $10,000 ( US) no-limit Texas hold 'em Main Event began on July 6 and was completed on the morning of July 18th. All events were held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las ...

after defeating

Scotty Nguyen Thuận B. "Scotty" Nguyễn (born October 28, 1962) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player who is a five-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, most notably as the winner of the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event an ...

heads-up. Before the event, Elezra had made a side bet with

Barry Greenstein Barry Greenstein (born December 30, 1954, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American professional poker player and former mathematics postgraduate student. He has won a number of major events, including three at the World Series of Poker and two on th ...

laying 10:1 odds that he would win a World Series bracelet in 2007. He bet $25,000 and collected $250,000, resulting in more money than the first place prize in the event that he won. As of 2022, his total live tournament winnings exceed $5,000,000. His cashes at the

account for over $3,000,000 of those winnings. Elezra released a biography about his life and career in poker in March 2017 entitled ''Poker Legend''. The book was co-written by professional Israeli poker players Matan Krakow and Yoav Ronal. The book was translated into English by Robbie Strazynski and published by

Two Plus Two Publishing Two Plus Two Publishing is a private company established and owned by statistician and poker player Mason Malmuth. The company publishes books on poker and gambling written by professionals in the field such as David Sklansky, Dan Harrington, Bill ...

under the title ''Pulling the Trigger'' in January 2019. Elezra was inducted into the

Poker Hall of Fame The Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker in the United States. Founded in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the w ...

in 2021.

World Series of Poker bracelets

Personal life

Eli Elezra served in one of the Israeli Defense Force's Golani Brigades. During his time in the army, he served time in an Israeli prison for disobeying military orders. He was discharged after he sustained a leg injury in the 1982 Lebanon War. Later, he moved to the USA where he first began to work in the fish industry in Alaska, before making his way to Las Vegas to become the owner of a successful film-developing business in 1988. It was thanks to this venture that he started to enter the poker scene.

References

External links

Eli Elezra Interview (video + transcript)Card Player profileHendon Mob profilePokerNews profileWPT profileWSOP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elezra, Eli 1960 births Living people 21st-century American businesspeople American poker players Israeli businesspeople Israeli emigrants to the United States Israeli Jews Israeli poker players People from Jerusalem World Poker Tour winners World Series of Poker bracelet winners Businesspeople from Las Vegas Poker Hall of Fame inductees