Joe McKeehen wins 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event — PHOTOS

Joseph McKeehen is a terrible mover.

McKeehen is so bad, in fact, that when he tried to help his uncle's friend move about 10 years ago, McKeehen's only job was to hold the door open and fill up the ice trays.

As a result, he earned the nickname "Joey Ice Cube."

"When I was in high school, like a freshman or something, I wasn't very good at life," McKeehen said.

He grew up to be a pretty good poker player.

McKeehen, a 24-year-old professional poker player from North Wales, Pa., won the World Series of Poker Main Event on Tuesday, going wire to wire at the final table to take down the $7.68 million first prize and his first WSOP gold bracelet.

"It was pretty smooth," McKeehen said. "Just the way the cards came out, it didn't seem like I had too many tough decisions, and I think when I did I generally made the right one. It was definitely easier than facing adversity and battling, that's for sure.

"It was just my days for three days in a row."

McKeehen defeated Joshua Beckley of Marlton, N.J., on the 13th hand of heads-up play to end the proceedings shortly after 8 p.m. Beckley, a 25-year-old professional poker player who started the final table Sunday seventh in chips, earned $4.47 million for finishing second.

On the final hand, Beckley shoved his final $19.4 million in chips into the middle with pocket fours, and McKeehen, with nearly a 9-to-1 chip advantage, called holding ace-10 offsuit. With chants of "Joey Ice Cube" ringing out, McKeehen hit a 10 on the flop to take the lead, and Beckley was unable to improve on the final two cards.

"I ended up playing pretty aggressive to get into second (place)," Beckley said. "Joe ran really well, and it's really hard to beat that. I couldn't really do much with the short stack. I couldn't really make too many moves; that was difficult. I just had to be patient."

The 46th annual $10,000 buy-in No-limit Texas Hold 'em World Championship attracted 6,420 players from 80 countries and all 50 states, generating a total prize pool of $60,348,000. The top 1,000 places were paid.

McKeehen is one of the most accomplished winners of the Main Event in recent history. He won two WSOP Circuit rings in 2013 and was second in last year's WSOP $1,500 buy-in No-limit Hold 'em "Monster Stack" event for more than $820,000.

McKeehen, sporting an Allen Iverson jersey for the final day, is the first player since Jonathan Duhamel in 2010 to win the Main Event after entering the "November Nine" with the chip lead. McKeehen had almost 33 percent of the chips in play when the final table resumed Sunday after a 117-day layoff and ended play Monday with two-thirds of the chips.

"It's really nice to just have all the chips at all times," McKeehen said. "I was never at risk, of course. A lot of my chips were never even in play."

McKeehen won a big pot early in three-handed action Tuesday when he caught Neil Blumenfield trying to bluff and then eliminated the lone amateur remaining in the field approximately an hour later.

Blumenfield, 61, was bidding to become the second-oldest winner in Main Event history. The retired computer software executive from San Francisco pocketed almost $3.4 million for his third-place finish.

McKeehen was one of the chip leaders throughout the Main Event in July and was never at risk for his tournament life until Day 6 when he came from behind against Beckley to make a straight and avoid elimination. McKeehen ultimately knocked out eight of the final 10 players.

"Once I won that, I just ran good the rest of the way," McKeehen said. "I didn't really encounter much adversity at all. That was just very fortunate to happen to me. It was definitely a big thing. I made the most of my second chance."

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ

TUESDAY'S PLAY-BY-PLAY

McKeehen wins Main Event

Joe McKeehen won the World Series of Poker Main Event on Tuesday at the Rio's Penn & Teller Theater.

McKeehen, a 24-year-old professional poker player from North Wales, Pa., collected $7.68 million and his first WSOP bracelet.

McKeehen dominated the action from the start of the "November Nine" final table and defeated Joshua Beckley of Marlton, N.J., during heads-up action.

Beckley, 25, earned $4,470,896 for second place.

On the final hand, Beckley went all-in for his remaining 19.4 million and McKeehen quickly called. Beckley turned over a pair of fours and McKeehen showed ace of heart, 10 of diamonds.

McKeehen hit a 10 on the flop (Qs-5s-10c) to take the lead. The five of diamonds on the turn and jack of clubs on the river didn't improve Beckley's hand.

-posted 8:05 p.m.

Blumenfield eliminated; McKeehen, Beckley battling for bracelet

Neil Blumenfield of San Francisco was eliminated in third place at the World Series of Poker Main Event on Tuesday.

The 61-year-old Blumenfield was bidding to become the second-oldest winner of the Main Event in its 46-year history and the first amateur since 2007 to take home the gold bracelet.

Blumenfield earned $3,398,298.

Blumenfield, who lost a big pot against chip leader Joe McKeehen soon after play started Tuesday, went all-in for his final 12 million chips holding pocket twos and was quickly called by McKeehen, who had pocket queens.

The board of 7h-4c-10h-4s-Ks was no help to Blumenfield.

McKeehen holds more than 155 million chips and will have a 4-to-1 chip advantage on Joshua Beckley (37 million) when heads-up play starts.

-posted 7:39 p.m.

McKeehen holds commanding lead over Beckley, Blumenfield

Joe McKeehen increased his chip lead on the fifth hand of play Tuesday at the World Series of Poker Main Event.

McKeehen, a 24-year-old professional poker player, is now up to 143.9 million chips, approximately 75 percent of the chips in play and holds a commanding advantage over Joshua Beckley and Neil Blumenfield.

After Blumenfield raised out of the big blind, McKeehen called and the two saw a flop of 10d-6c-3c. Blumenfield bet and McKeehen called for 2.2 million.

Blumenfield fired 3.5 million after the seven of diamonds came on the turn and McKeehen called. The 61-year-old from San Francisco then bet 7 million after the five of clubs hit the river.

McKeehen thought for several moments before calling and showed king-10 for the winning hand. Blumenfield flipped over queen-8 and was left with a little less than 20 million chips after the bluff went awry.

-posted 6:39 p.m.

Here's a look at final 3 players at WSOP's Main Event

The World Series of Poker Main Event resumes Tuesday at the Rio's Penn & Teller Theater. Here is a closer look at the three players remaining in the Main Event:

JOE MCKEEHEN (128.825 million)

McKeehen is the overwhelming leader with two-thirds of the chips in play. The 24-year-old professional poker player from North Wales, Pa., has more than $3.5 million in career live tournament earnings and will look to add a WSOP bracelet to his two WSOP Circuit rings. Prior to this final table, his biggest cash came in June 2014, when he finished as runner-up in the WSOP's inaugural $1,500 buy-in No-limit Hold 'em "Monster Stack" tournament and pocketed in excess of $820,000. McKeehen has bossed the tournament in its latter stages, as he entered the final table with almost 33 percent of the chips in play and started play Monday with nearly half of the chips. He has been responsible for six of the past eight eliminations.

NEIL BLUMENFIELD (40.125 million)

The 61-year-old San Francisco resident has become the fan favorite thanks to his fedora/scarf/sunglasses combination and entertaining play. Blumenfield, a retired computer software executive, is looking to become the second-oldest winner of the Main Event (Johnny Moss was 67 in 1974) and the first amateur to take down the biggest prize in poker since Jerry Yang in 2007. For poker trivia buffs, Blumenfield, at 61 years, 5 months and 2 days, is two weeks older than Noel Furlong, the 1999 winner at age 61.
Blumenfield is a successful small-stakes tournament player in California and Reno and entered the Main Event with a little less than $45,000 in lifetime WSOP earnings, thanks mostly to his 285th-place finish in the 2012 Main Event. "I'm a little bit behind the chip leader," he joked Monday night. "The goal is to get to heads-up."

JOSHUA BECKLEY (23.7 million)

Beckley, a 25-year-old professional poker player from Marlton, N.J., has been the biggest mover at this year's final table after he started the "November Nine" seventh in chips. Beckley has remained patient throughout - he has been widely praised for folding his pocket jacks during four-handed play Tuesday when facing a sizable four-bet from McKeehen (holding pocket queens). A key double-up with pocket aces against Ofer Zvi Stern helped get him to the final three. Beckley, a pot-limit Omaha specialist, had lifetime live tournament winnings of almost $220,000 prior to this final table. This is his fifth cash at this year's WSOP, and he also won a WSOP Circuit event in September.

PAYOUTS
1st - $7,683,346
2nd - $4,470,896
3rd - $3,398,298

Blinds will be at 500,000-1,000,000 (150,000 ante) when play in Level 39 resumes.

-posted 3:00 p.m.