Joe Mckeehen
LAS VEGAS (AP) The latest from the final day of the World Series of Poker main event championship (all times local):
Joe McKeehen is an American professional poker player. He was born on June 28th, 1991 in the state of Pennsylvania. He’s best known for winning the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2015. He bested a 6,420-player field and won $7.683 million. Joe McKeehen has won 3 bracelets and 3 rings for total earnings of $11,226,926. See all events where they placed in-the-money.
8:10 p.m.
Pennsylvania poker pro Joe McKeehen is this year's World Series of Poker champion and $7.68 million richer.
McKeehen won with an ace-10 and got lucky when the community cards revealed a second ten, ensuring his victory in a face-off with Joshua Beckley of New Jersey who went all in with a pair of fours.
McKeehen held an overwhelming lead in poker chips coming into the finale and the entire three-day event.
World Series of Poker tournament events began in May and continued for 51 days with 68 events, culminating with the annual Main Event. It's a grueling multi-day poker marathon that whittled down the competition from 6,420 entries at $10,000 each to nine players, all already guaranteed at least $1 million each.
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7:35 p.m.
61-year-old Neil Blumenfield won't be the oldest player to win the World Series of Poker Main Event since 1974.
The former tech executive and fedora-wearing poker player from San Francisco goes out in third place as the seventh player eliminated in three days of gameplay.
Blumenfield was already in last place having failed at a bluff against chip-leader Joe McKeehen earlier in the night.
He put all of his remaining chips on the line - 12.1 million - on a pair of twos going head to head with McKeehen.
McKeehen, the 24-year-old poker pro from Pennsylvania, had a stronger pair of queens.
And as the community cards were laid out on the table, prayers from Blumenfield's friends and family for another deuce went unanswered.
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7:20 p.m.
Joe Beckley isn't bluffing, at least in a single showdown with chip-leader Joe McKeehen at the World Series of Poker final table.
The 25-year-old poker pro from New Jersey had the cards to back up his ever increasing bets, first raising 3.6 million when he knew he had had three sixes then raising again to 6.29 million after the final card was turned.
McKeehen swiveled his chair to face Beckley who wore sunglasses and sat unmoving with his arms crossed before paying the price to see Beckley's winning cards.
McKeehen didn't show his.
It put Beckley in second with 45 million chips. McKeehen still held a healthy lead with 128.8 million chips.
Neil Blumenfield was hanging on in third.
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6:45 p.m.
61-year-old Neil Blumenfield momentarily found himself in third place after some aggressive bluffing in a face-off with chip-leader Joe McKeehen at the World Series of Poker final table.
With all the cards laid out on the table - a three of clubs, six of clubs, 10 of diamonds and seven of diamonds - Blumenfield followed up an earlier 3.5 million chip raise with another 7 million.
After much deliberation, staring and literal hand-wringing as McKeehen shuffled 7 million worth of chips in his hands, McKeehen called showing he held a pair of kings. It was more than enough to beat Blumenfield's queen-high hand.
The hand cost Blumenfield second for a moment, briefly pushing Joshua Beckley of New Jersey into the spot until Blumenfield regained his standing during another McKeehen showdown. That time, the chip-leader folded, giving up the pot of chips to Blumenfield.
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6:10 p.m.
It's day three of the World Series of Poker's Main Event, and it's down to three players out of 6,420 who initially tried to win poker's championship title and a $7.68 million top prize.
Joe McKeehen, 24, of North Wales, Pennsylvania, is leading the pack, having held the most poker chips since play broke last July with the final nine players. Neil Blumenfield, 61, a former tech executive from San Francisco who has a fedora-wearing cheering section, is in second. Joshua Beckley, 25, a professional poker player from Marlton, New Jersey, is in third.
The runner-ups don't go away empty-handed. All nine won $1 million in July. Second place wins $4.47 million total. Third place wins $3.4 million.
Fourteen players remain on Day 7 of the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event. Daniel Negreanu, for the fourth day running, has a seat at the feature table. Chip leader Joe McKeehen, Justin Schwartz, and four others surround the Poker Hall of Famer. There are two open seats at the table, but there is not an empty seat in the house. The Thunderdome is at capacity and all eyes are on Kid Poker.
Joe Mckeehen Wsop 2015
There are other characters, but the feature table might as well be Daniel Negreanu and six others to those watching live and following online around the globe. They’re watching to see history, to see Negreanu make the final table and punch his ticket for the November Nine. Since the two table redraw though, there have been some tense moments. Negreanu has to protect and maneuver his short stack and has done so for 45 hands.
Daniel Negreanu, the fans watching and following online, and the other players still in the Main Event don’t realize it, but Hand 46 will decide the tournament. Joe McKeehen is about to flop a set of sixes, Justin Schwartz is about to flop a set of threes. The next Main Event champion is about to be crowned.
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Joe Mckeehen Twitter
The cards are exposed and The Thunderdome erupts. McKeehen is called a “disgusting human,” Negreanu is heard saying, “Sick one.” off-camera, and Justin Schwartz declares that he doesn’t do handshakes. While the crowd moans and groans for maybe one of the biggest coolers in Main Event history, Schwartz quietly tells McKeehen, “You better win this f****** tournament.”
McKeehen quickly smiles and, for a split second, you almost expect him to say, “I’m going to.” He doesn’t, but McKeehen and Schwartz seem to have an unspoken understanding. Schwartz knows that he was likely the only player capable of stopping, even slowing, McKeehen. McKeehen knows that, too.
As Schwartz exits the Main Event in 14th place, Alexander Turyansky, who correctly folded pocket queens against both sets, innocently tells McKeehen, “I was scared of you.” Little does Turyansky know, it’s only going to get scarier.
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When Hand 46 begins, Joe McKeehen has just under 28 million chips. When the hand concludes, McKeehen is up near 38 million and he moves above 40 million before the Day 7 dinner break. Play resumes with 13 players remain and McKeehen is behind 134 big blinds, equal to the combined stacks of his five table mates. Four players hit the rail over the next 87 hands, Daniel Negreanu included, and McKeehen bags over 63 million for the final table. McKeehen has nearly a third of the chips in play and more than double the stack of his nearest competitor.
How did Joe McKeehen more than double his stack from Hand 46 on? Ruthless aggression, made possible by the elimination of Justin Schwartz. Outside of Daniel Negreanu, the feature table post-Schwartz was about as inexperienced as it gets on Day 7 of the Main Event. Add that inexperience, pay jumps worth Super High Roller buy-ins, and the fact that six of the eight smallest stacks left in the tournament surrounded McKeehen and it is not hard to see why Schwartz’s elimination was so consequential.
Joe Mckeehen Hendon
With stealthmunk dismissed, McKeehen turned the usually marathon-esque journey to the November Nine into a drag race. McKeehen had the green light and he sped towards the checkered flag. He waited more than three months to officially cross the finish line, but that was just a formality.