Kevin MacPhee Wins 2015 WSOPE Main Event for €883,000

Day 5 of the 2015 WSOP Europe saw six finalists return to the Spielbank Berlin to play down to an ultimate champion, and after five intense hours of action, emerging as this year’s victor was Kevin MacPhee, who walked away with a second career bracelet and €883,000 ($1,001,577) for his hard-fought efforts. Following an impressive win which now pushes his live career earnings to $5,283,382, the US pro said:
“It feels pretty good obviously. It was a goal of mine just to win one bracelet let alone win two in the same year. I’m not the greatest mixed game player. I’m more of a no-limit tournament specialist, so it’s very difficult for me to win two bracelets in one year. It’s pretty cool.”
After the final table got underway, David Lopez (A-8) eliminated a short-stacked Felix Bleiker (Q-J) in 6th (€130,000), before Kevin MacPhee (A-K) did likewise to Kilian Kramer (A-10) in 5th for €175,000. Next, MacPhee (Q-Q) sent Andrew Lichtenberger (Q-10) to the rail in 4th (€225,000), and after David Lopez (A-Q) took care of JC Alvarado (A-K) in 3rd (€315,000), heads-up play got underway between Kevin MacPhee and Spain’s David Lopez for the title.
As the final battle commenced, MacPhee had a more than 2-to-1 chip lead over his remaining opponent, but it would still take a further 3 hours before the deciding hand was played. Both players had moved all-in preflop with MacPhee’s A-4 up against the K-K of Lopez. The dealer subsequently laid out a 7-5-2-3-J board to make MacPhee a straight, and so secure him the title of 2015 WSOPE Main Event champion. In addition to two WSOP bracelets, MacPhee also won the EPT Berlin back in 2010 for €1,000,000 ($1,356,429) , and commenting on his trilogy of victories, said:
“I felt validated when I won the EPT, and yeah, the bracelet was really nice. This is just the icing on the cake. Now I can start to cement my legacy. It sounds kind of douchey to say it like that, but I think this starts to secure my reputation as an elite player. There’s a lot of players with one bracelet. Two bracelets, you thin out a lot of people. Two bracelets and an EPT title, there’s not too many people that have that.”
Final Table Results:
1 Kevin MacPhee €883,000
2 David Lopez €475,000
3 JC Alvarado €315,000
4 Lichtenberger €225,000
5 Kilian Kramer €175,000
6 Felix Bleiker €130,000