WSOP Main Event: Joseph Hebert Wins WSOP.com-Leg Main Event For $1.553 Million, Heads-Up vs. Damian Salas on Jan 3 

We have a champion for the WSOP.com leg of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 buy-in Main Event and it is none other than Joseph Hebert (cover image) !!

Hebert was the strongest contender for the top honors since he had navigated past the 705-strong field and come onto the final table with an overwhelming chip lead of 13,052,534. The final table was hosted live at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Vegas on December 28 and Hebert certainly rode his momentum to the finish line, claiming the title in under four hours of play!

If the 38-year old Louisiana native who works as a part-time waiter had entered the event by qualifying through a $300 satellite on the site, he has added a whopping $1,553,256 paycheque to his bankroll with the win.

“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,” said Hebert. He will now be playing against GGPoker leg Main Event champion Damian Salas on January 3 for the glory of becoming the 51^st WSOP world champion and the additional $1 Million up for grabs.

In his post-win interview, an emotional Hebert shared that he had played the event I the memory of his mother, Linda who passed away this summer due to pulmonary embolism. “I texted her, ‘Man, one day I hope I can win a bracelet. It’s something I always dreamed of and I just don’t know how many more chances I’m going to have to do that.’ She texted me back and said, ‘I keep hoping and praying that what will be, will be. Things will work out.’ That was our last text, she passed away three days later.”

He added, “I really felt like I was dreaming. And I thought about my mom, and I know that she was here and this was for her. She would be so excited to see it, so I’m just so happy I got it for her.”

Despite his enormous chip lead Hebert didn’t go firing the salvos right from the start of play. In fact, he admitted later that it took him some time to adjust to the live poker environment after such a long gap. That said, he eventually began the heads-up with a 2:1 chip lead against Ron Jenkins and closed it out for himself in the very first hand.

The final table was marred by hiccups right from the start. Three-time bracelet champion Upeksha De Silva tested positive for COVID-19 and was disqualified from playing on the FT. Had he played on the FT, De Silva would have started play as the second shortest stack. As per the tournament rules, he was accorded the ninth place payout worth $98,813.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Joseph Hebert – 13,050,000
2. Shawn Stroke – 5,250,000
3. Ryan Hagerty – 5,075,000
4. Tony Yuan us – 4,825,000
5. Michael Cannon – 4,400,000
6. Gershon Distenfeld – 3,475,000
7. Ron Jenkins – 2,475,000
8. Harrison Dobin – 1,575,000

Final Table Recap

The eight-handed final table witnessed its first elimination on the sixth hand of play. Gershon Distenfeld hit the rail in eighth place when his king-jack ran into Ron Jenkins’ pocket queens.

Play slowed down, and the next elimination did not happen before the next two-and-half hours. Shawn Stroke got entangled in a three-way confrontation where his all-in move with pocket treys was met by a 3-bet jam by Harrison Dobin who held ace-king and a call by Ron Jenkins. Jenkins who had pocket queens found a higher two-pair on the board, eliminating Stroke in seventh place.

Harrison Dobin was down to four big blinds and was booted out by Hebert in sixth place just two hands later.

Around 20 minutes later, Hebert dispatched Ye ‘Tony’ Yuan in fifth place after his pocket fours held up against Yuan’s ace-ten.

Next up, it was Ryan Hagerty falling in fourth place after his ran into Jenkins’ that had improved to a pair of jacks on the board.

Within 10 minutes of Hagerty’s departure, Michael Cannon found his dominated by Hebert’s pocket aces. With the board offering no help, Cannon was knocked out in third place.

Hebert began heads-up play with a 2:1 chip lead over Ron Jenkins and claimed the title in the very first hand. Hebert had opened for 700K and Jenkins popped it to 2.3 million. Herbert went all-in holding , Jenkins called for his tourney life with .

The board ran giving Hebert a pair of aces on the flop to eliminate Jenkins in second place.

Talking about the heads-up play, Hebert later said – “The gentleman had been raising a lot and three-betting a lot, so I went with it. It was definitely my mom [that brought the ace]. Hashtag for Linda. I know it was.” He will now join Argentina’s Damian Salas (winner of the international leg of the WSOP Main Event) in the heads-up finale on January 3 for the gold bracelet and an additional $1 million prize.

Final Table Results

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

Content & Images Courtesy: WSOP.com & PokerNews

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