Poker Pros React To 2015 WSOP Main Event Winner Joe McKeehen

Philadelphia pro Joe McKeehen entered the 2015 WSOP Main Event final table with almost $2 million in career earnings, making him one of the most experienced players in contention, together with Pierre Neuville, 72, and Max Steinberg, 27. The US pro also had the advantage of starting proceedings with 32.7% of the chips in play, which he managed to extend to 66.8% going into Day 3, where he eventually eliminated Neil Blumenfield (3rd), then Josh Beckley (2nd) to claim the most sought after title in the whole of tournament poker. Following one of the most dominating WSOP Main Event performances ever witnessed, the 24 year-old pro explained; “It was just my days for three days in a row.”
Allen Kessler, a multiple WSOPC winner, seemed to agree with McKeehen’s modest assessment, tweeting:
“Nice to get AK every other hand, but still a well deserved victory by @dude904 . Congratulations Joe!”
Meanwhile, Antonio Esfandiari, a 3-times WSOP bracelet winner who was commenting on the game for ESPN, chose to highlight the combination of good luck and fine play exhibited by the new WSOP champion, stating:
“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.”
Ultimately, however, Joe McKeehen was generally acknowledged as putting in the best performance by any of the 2015 November Nine, and as poker pro Eric Wasserson tweeted:
“But for real @dude904 played pretty flawlessly and was by far the best player at the FT..so well deserved and congrats to him!”
WSOP superstar Daniel Negreanu, on the other hand, chose to focus on the shortcomings of McKeehen’s rivals, in addition to the one-sided nature of this year’s Main Event, tweeting:
“McKeehen playing really well but they are make it quite easy on him! This is the most lopsided WSOP main event performance since Stu Ungar dominated the table in 1997.”
Finally, a number of pros took the opportunity to tweet a few of their comical observations, including the following gems:
Gabe Kaplan
“Congrats to Joe McKeehen and I really applaud you for using some of the extras from The Deer Hunter as your rail.”
Matt Glantz
What u did will be remembered forever @dude904. So well deserved. Nobody is happier for you my friend. It’s your time. Now plz – enjoy it! The Phillies might suck. The Flyers also. & yeah sixers are pathetic. Unsure about the Eagles But I think Philly did pretty damn good today!”
Christian Harder
“That’s not a bracelet, that’s a mini belt.”