On Monday night, the WSOP.com leg World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 buy-in Main Event saw the final eight players out of a strong 705-entry field return at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to play down to a winner. Louisiana native Joseph Hebert started the final table, which was played live, with an overwhelming chip lead of 13,052,534 and continued his momentum, eventually winning the title for $1,553,256 and a heads-up shot at the bracelet and another seven-figure score.
Hebert who works as a part-time waiter had qualified to the main event through a $300 satellite on WSOP.com. Talking about his grand win, he said, “I was just really confident. I was excited to play and it was just a battle. It wasn’t easy, I tell ya that much. The guys played great. It was just a battle the whole way through. He will now be competing against GGPoker leg Main Event champion Damian Salas on January 3 for the bracelet, the 51st WSOP world champion title and an additional $1 Million.
Final Table Action
It was the 9-handed final table but began eight-handed as three-time bracelet champion Upeksha De Silva was disqualified after testing positive for COVID-19. He will receive ninth-place money of $98,813. That left just eight players vying for a $1.5 million top prize and the opportunity to play against International leg winner Damian Salas for the bracelet and additional $1 million prize.
The first elimination from the 8-handed FT came in Gershon Distenfeld who had stared with the third smallest stack. He got eliminated on the sixth hand of play after his king-jack ran into Ron Jenkins’ pocket queens. The seven-handed play slowed down and it took about 55 hands before the next elimination come in Shawn Stroke. Following him was Harrison Dobin who was down to four BBs and was eliminated by the eventual champion Hebert in sixth place just two hands later.
11 hands later, Hebert was responsible for the next elimination.Tony Yuan moved all in for 2,830,000 with Ah 10h and Hebert made the call with 4d 4h. With no help from the board for Yuan, Hebert raked in the pot and busted Yuan in fifth place. Next up was Ryan Hagerty falling in fourth place after he ran his Ah 8d into Jenkins’ As Jd that improved to a pair of jacks on the board.
Six hands later, it came to the heads-up after Hebert sent yet another player to the rail. Hebert opened to 600,000 with Ac Ah and Michael Cannon shoved all-in for 4,800,000 with Kc Qd and Hebert snap-called. With no help from the board, Cannon was knocked out in third place.
Hebert began the heads-up play with a 2:1 chip lead over Ron Jenkins and it took just one hand for him to claim the title. On the final hand, Hebert raised to 700,000 with Ac Qs before Jenkins raised to 2,300,000 with Qc Qd. Hebert went all in and Jenkins called with his tournament life on the line. The board ran out Ad Kd 7c 4h 8c, giving Hebert a pair of aces to eliminate Jenkins in second place.
Final Table Payouts
1- Joseph Hebert – $1,553,256
2- Ron Jenkins – $1,002,340
3- Michael Cannon – $529,258
4- Ryan Hagerty – $387,130
5- Ye “Tony” Yuan – $286,963
6- Harrison Dobin – $215,222
7- Shawn Stroke – $163,786
8- Gershon Distenfeld – $125,885
9- Upeshka De Silva – $98,813