Joe McKeehen Triumphs At 2015 WSOP Main Event

Joe McKeehen is this year’s WSOP Main Event champion, after defeating a field of 6,420 players over ten days, including Josh Beckley heads-up, to claim the most prestigious title in tournament poker. Following a dominating performance which saw the 24-year-old poker pro walk away with the competition’s huge $7,683,346 top prize, McKeehen commented “It was just my days for three days in a row.” Elaborating further on McKeehen’s dominating performance, ESPN analyst and 3-times WSOP bracelet winner Antonio Esfandiari explained:
“I thought it was the Joe Show. He played great, he ran great, and you can’t overcome that combination. He did exactly what he needed to do to not give up the chip lead ever.”
After the WSOP Main Event final table resumed following a four month break, McKeehen eliminated three of his fellow November Niners on Day 1, followed by one player on Day 2, and then his final two competitors on Day 3 to clinch the world title. During those three days, McKeehen managed to increase his stack from 32.7% of the chips in play, to 47.5%, then 66.8% going into the last day of play.
From there, McKeehen (Q-Q) sent Neil Blumenfield (2-2) to the rail in 3rd, before taking a 5-1 chip lead against Josh Beckley into the heads-up phase of the tournament. Twelve hands later, and Beckley opened shoved with pocket fours, only to get a call from McKeehen holding A-10. The dealer subsequently laid out a Q-10-5-5-J board to consign Josh Beckley to a runner-up finish worth $4,470,896, while Joe McKeehen became the 2015 WSOP Main Event champion.
Final Table Results:
1 Joe McKeehen $7,683,346
2 Josh Beckley $4,470,896
3 Neil Blumenfield $3,398,298
4 Max Steinberg $2,615,361
5 Ofer Zvi Stern $1,911,423
6 Tom Cannuli $1,426,283
7 Pierre Neuville $1,203,293
8 Federico Butteroni $1,097,056
9 Patrick Chan $1,001,020