The Railbird Report

This article first appeared in the Jan/Feb 2016 issue of WGM.

Images: Jayne Furman/WSOP

Martin Jacobson’s triumph in the 2014 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event may well be considered the most flawless final table performance in the tournament’s recent history, but when it comes to sheer dominance none compares to new champion Joe McKeehen’s 2015 stampede.

A clear chip leader heading into the November Nine with more than double the stack of his nearest rival, the 24-year-old was certainly considered a strong favorite to go all the way given he already boasted almost US$2 million in career tournament winnings. Yet no one quite anticipated the clinical manner in which he would cruise to victory without a fright in sight.

McKeehen had already showed his intent a few months earlier when he relentlessly attacked his opponents as the final table neared and it was the Philadelphia native who ended the hopes of crowd favorite Daniel Negreanu in 11th as well as the final table bubble boy Alexander Turyansky in 10th.

He quickly picked up where he left off once November arrived, sending short stack Patrick Chan to the rail in just the second hand of play when his A4 held up against Chan’s KQ.

This year’s November Nine was contested over three days for the first time – with six players returning on Day 2 and three on the final day – so McKeehen took it upon himself to eliminate all three players on the opening day’s play as well as the dangerous Max Steinberg in fourth the following evening.

By the time the last three returned to play down to a winner, McKeehen’s chip stack had grown to a massive 128.8 million with Neil Blumenfield on 40 million and Josh Beckley just 23.7 million.

It came as no surprise to anyone that it was McKeehen finishing the job off in style.

Exactly 90 minutes into three-handed play, Beckley opened with McKeehen 3-betting as he had done so often. Blumenfield then shoved his dwindling stack holding 22 but found a caller in McKeehen whose QQ had Blumenfield needing a miracle to survive. It didn’t come and the 61-year-old hit the rail.

Heads-up play began with McKeehan holding a better than 4-1 chip advantage with 155.6 million to Beckley’s 37 million, but any thoughts of a dazzling comeback were quickly put on ice. Having won eight of the first 11 hands of heads-up play, the 12th hand would also be the winning one for McKeehen as Beckley shoved his pocket 4s and was snap-called by McKeehen holding AT. True to form, a T on the flop sealed the deal and McKeehen had completed his ruthless journey to glory to become the WSOP’s new Main Event champion. He also took home almost US$7.7 million for his efforts – a fitting reward for his impressive performance throughout.

In an incredible display of patience and persistence, McKeehen only finished outside the top four on the leaderboard once from Day 3 onwards and was end of day chip leader on Day 4, Day 7, Day 8 and Day 9.

This was also the fewest hands played at the WSOP Main Event final table over the last decade and the second fewest heads-up. Nice work if you can get it!