Joseph Hebert wins WSOP Main Event domestic tournament

The heads-up matchup for the 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event has been set after Joseph Hebert took down the WSOP Main Event domestic tournament in Las Vegas.

Hebert was the last man standing from a 705-player field that began online at WSOP.com. The final nine met up at the Rio All-Suite in Las Vegas on December 28 and played down to the winner – Hebert.

The first player was eliminated in the domestic tournament before the first card was even dealt. Upeshka De Silva was disqualified from the event after testing positive for COVID-19. He was awarded ninth place and $98,813.

The first player sent to the rail when play began was Gershon Distenfield. He was sent packing when his Kc-Jc failed to improve against Ron Jenkins’ pocket Queens. For eighth place Distenfield cashed $125,885.

Next out was Shawn Stroke. He started the day second in chips but dropped to the small stack after the first couple of hours. On his final hand he was all-in with pocket threes and crashed against Jenkins, who once again had pocket Queens. Stroke pocketed $163,786 for seventh place.

Harrison Dobin was the next to go after putting all his chips in with 5-3. He faced Hebert’s K-2 who flopped two pair to eliminate Dobin. For sixth place Dobin received $215,222.

Ye Yeun was knocked out next in fifth place, followed by Ryan Hagerty in fourth place. Yeun’s Ah-10h was no good against Hebert’s pocket fours, while Hagerty ran into Jenkins A-J while holding A-8. Yeun cashed $286,963 for fifth place and Hagerty cashed $387,130 for fourth place.

Bowing out in third place was Michael Cannon. He got all-in with Kc-Qd but was in trouble against Hebert’s pocket Aces. For third place Cannon pocketed $529,258.

It came down to Hebert and Jenkins heads-up with Hebert starting out with a 2-to-1 chip lead. Heads-up ended up being incredibly short as Hebert knocked out Jenkins on the first hand.

On the final hand Hebert four-bet all-in with pocket Queens and Hebert called with Ac-Qs. The flop decided it after it showed Ad-Kd-7c to give Hebert top pair. The turn was the 4h and the river the 8c giving Hebert the win. For second place Jenkins received $1,002,340.

Hebert will move on to the 2020 WSOP Main Event heads-up final against international main event winner Damian Salas. The pair will face off at the Rio on January 3 with the winner claiming the 2020 WSOP Main Event title and the WSOP bracelet. The heads-up final was originally schedule for December 30, but was moved to January 3 due to travel difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.