A year on from Martin Jacobson’s November Nine masterclass came one of the least popular winners in WSOP Main Event history. Along the way, the Brat would run clear of the chasing pack, four players would each bag two bracelets in a year peppered with multiple winners, and perhaps the best-known player in poker would hit the deck… literally.
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Early Events See The Poker Brat Pull Away
In the pantheon of poker winners at the WSOP, no one comes close to the 1989 world champion, Phil Hellmuth. The Poker Brat, as he became known, won his record-extending 14th WSOP bracelet in 2015 when he won his second Razz bracelet and 14th overall WSOP title in the $10,000 Razz Championship for $271,105.
While ‘Big Phil’ moved four bracelets clear of his nearest rival, other poker players bagged a double. Brian Hastings took down the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud and $1,500 Ten-Game Mix bracelet events, Italian sensation Max Pescatori won two mixed gold bracelets in the $1,500 Razz and $10,000 Seven-Card Stud 8 Championship and the 2010 WSOP Main Event winner Jonathan Duhamel claimed victory in the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop and €25,600 High Roller No-Limit Hold ‘Em at WSOPE. American Kevin MacPhee, a former EPT Berlin winner, took home gold in the $5,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold ‘Em before winning the WSOP Europe Main Event for his second.
Four players took home a WSOP bracelet as the first winners from their countries, with Moroccan William Kakon topping 660 players in the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event for $196,055, Argentina’s Ivan Luca winning the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for $353,391 and Uruguayan Alex Komaromi wrapping up the WSOP Europe €2,200 8-Game Mixed Event for $74,747. Greek player Makarios Avramidis also won on the WSOP Europe circuit, taking home $207,558 after triumphing in the €3,250 No-Limit Hold’em event. Avramidis’ victory, the first for Greece, came just 6 days before Pavlos Xantopoulos won a second bracelet for the country, and the third bracelet, won by Georgios Sotiropoulos, was just 2 days later.
And the Player of the Year is…
None of those players won the WSOP Player of the Year honors, however, as consistency became something of a buzzword. Poker legend Mike Gorodinsky cashed an incredible eight times, reaching three final tables along the way. In the Poker Player’s Championship, he converted that final table appearance into a gold bracelet, winning $1,270,086 to overcome Jonathan Duhamel for the WSOP Player of the Year title.
Kid Poker is Chopped Down
A total of 6,420 players took on the WSOP Main Event of 2015, with an increase from 10% to 15% of the field being paid. That meant the top 1,000 players made it into the money, with no fewer than five former champions all banking profit. The reigning champion, Martin Jacobson, crashed out on Day 1c, but others were much more successful, with 1998 winner Scotty Nguyen (713th), Jonathan Duhamel (565th), Phil Hellmuth (417th), Joe Hachem (298th), and 1993 winner Jim Bechtel (121st) all making the money places.
If there’s one event that Daniel Negreanu wishes he had a better record in, it’s probably the World Series of Poker Main Event. Other ‘Mount Rushmore’ poker players including Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth have won the World Championship. Even Phil Ivey has both a final table and a near final table bad beat story to tell. A grand total 14 years after his first Main Event cash in 2001, Kid Poker survived all the way to 11th place, he was back in action in the Main Event and running deep.
By the time there were 11 players left this time, Joe McKeehen was the big chip leader. McKeehen, a quiet character who looked less accustomed to the limelight than any previous champions in poker history, had a huge chip lead and, on a flop of A-K-T with two diamonds, was happy to call off Negreanu’s shove.
McKeehen held jack-three of diamonds for a flush and gutshot straight draw while Negreanu had already paired the ace. It was almost a 50/50 shot for McKeehen to hit, but the three of hearts of the turn was no help. Another heart fell on the river, but it was the queen. McKeehen rivered a straight and Negreanu dropped to the deck, falling backward onto the Rio floor before rising and shaking hands. Kid Poker once again missed out on the final table, finishing in 11th place.
The November Nine
McKeehen’s dominance was such that heading into the final nine, he had a massive 32.8% of the chips in play with a stack of over 63 million chips. That was some way clear of his closest challenger, Zvi Stern of Israel with 29.8 million. McKeehen supremacy continued throughout the final table. Since he’d taken the lead on Day 4 of the event, McKeehen had looked like the man to stop, and now, with only eight opponents between him and immortality, he seemed unstoppable.
Joshua Beckley had come into the action as the third shortest stack, with just 6.1% of the chips at the final table. Yet somehow, he survived all the way to the final heads-up battle, outlasting stronger players such as the talented Belgian Pierre Neuville (7th for $1.2m) and Neil Blumenfield, whose tournament ended in third place for just under $3.4 million when his pocket deuces ran into McKeehen’s pocket queens.
Heads Up Ends Before It Ever Really Began
Heads-up was a short and brutal affair, with McKeehen using a 5:1 chip advantage to cage Beckley and never let him stretch his poker legs. Winning the first few hands without a challenge, it was in the 13th hand of heads-up play that Beckley shoved with pocket fours. McKeehen made the call with ace-ten, and a flop of Q-T-5 left Beckley needing a two-outer. Another five landed on the turn, and when a jack dropped on the river, McKeehen became the world champion.
After 184 hands in which he never relinquished the chip lead, Joe McKeehen was the Main Event winner, taking home $7.68 million as he raised two fists in the air before celebrating with his family. While McKeehen proved a successful winner, going on to win much more in the game, his introverted personality meant he was never fully embraced by the poker public who craved excitement, daring, and a character who courted controversy all the way through a dramatic Main Event.
They didn’t have long to wait for all those things to arrive in the 2016 WSOP Main Event, which would never be forgotten for the drama it provoked.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Joe McKeehen | United States | $7,683,346 |
| 2nd | Joshua Beckley | United States | $4,470,896 |
| 3rd | Neil Blumenfield | United States | $3,398,298 |
| 4th | Max Steinberg | United States | $2,615,361 |
| 5th | Ofer Zvi Stern | Israel | $1,911,423 |
| 6th | Tom Cannuli | United States | $1,426,283 |
| 7th | Pierre Neuville | Belgium | $1,203,293 |
| 8th | Federico Butteroni | Italy | $1,097,056 |
| 9th | Patrick Chan | United States | $1,001,020 |
2014 WSOP Main Event 2016 WSOP Main Event
About the Author: Paul Seaton has written about poker for over 10 years, interviewing some of the best players ever to play the game such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Over the years, Paul has reported live from tournaments such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the European Poker Tour. He has also written for other poker brands where he was Head of Media, as well as BLUFF magazine, where he was Editor.