2015 WSOP - Joe McKeehen well prepared for final table

October 20, 2015

Last year, Billy Pappas entered the World Series of Poker main event final table already a world champion … in foosball. His attempt to become a two-time world champion in two different games came to an abrupt end when the Massachusetts native was eliminated by the Netherlands’ Jorryt Van Hoof in fifth place.

This year, another player has the same distinction. Pennsylvania native Joe McKeehen was the 2010 Risk World Champion and although he owns the title, he doesn’t remotely compare the experience to the WSOP main event.

“My mother introduced me to strategy games like Risk, but I don’t play Risk often," said McKeehen. "I really only just played once a year, and that year only 50 to 60 players played in the event. The last game just worked out perfectly and I won. The world championship aspect is a little overblown. And the feeling would be nothing compared to winning the WSOP main event.”

Nevertheless, the 2015 WSOP main event chip leader recognizes some similarities between the two games.

“You play tight in both games and pounce on your opponents when the opportunity presents itself, especially when they are weak. You shouldn’t force any action until you think it is correct to do so. Finally, there is a certain amount of luck involved in both games, one with cards and the other with dice.”

McKeehen started playing poker in high school, becoming interested when he saw poker on television. After seeing his first show, he dedicated himself to watching almost every poker show possible and began playing hours upon hours of poker live and online.

Although he majored in mathematics and graduated from Arcadia University, located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, poker was McKeehen’s primary focus. During 2010 to 2011, he traveled to play in tournaments at Turning Stone and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure where 18-year-olds were allowed to play.

At the beginning of 2013, heading into his last semester in college, McKeehen had already netted 24 career cashes for over $250,000. His young resume was comprised of an impressive 18 final tables with four wins including the 2012 $2,150 no-limit turbo at PCA for $116,230. He was fairly confident that he wanted to try his hand at professional poker after graduation, but was unsure if he had enough of a bankroll.

Then, during the spring break of his last semester in March of 2013, McKeehen won the first major event of his career, capturing the 2012 WSOP Circuit main event at Caesars in Atlantic City. His victory over 540 entries earned him a six-figure payout of $174,147.

“I had already made that decision to play poker, but was unsure if I had enough money to play," he said. "But after the WSOP Circuit win, I was pretty sure that I had a solid bankroll to give it a shot.”

Additionally, the early success helped relieve any concerns his parents may have originally had about his chosen profession.

“Initially, they were cautiously optimistic as they didn’t understand what being a professional poker player entailed. If I struggled right out of the gate, they might have pushed me toward a real world type of job. But fortunately, I had enough success early on that it was never an issue.”

After his win, McKeehen continued to have success on the felt, cashing an impressive 37 times in 13 months, earning over $465,000 heading into the 2014 WSOP. The 24-year-old captured five additional titles during that stretch, including another WSOP Circuit ring in New Orleans.

The summer of 2014 was filled with success. First came his third career six-figure score when he captured the $2,100 no-limit event at the Venetian’s DeepStack Extravaganza, then a bigger score in the inaugural WSOP Monster Stack tournament. McKeehen finished runner-up out of a field of 7,862 entries for $820,863.

“It was so much money it was hard to be sad," he said, reflecting on the runner-up effort. "I was very happy since up to that point it was the biggest moment in my career. But looking back, it was a little disappointing that I didn’t win. However, now that I did that, I’m really looking for the win in the main event.”

Money and experience added, McKeehen was ready for this year’s WSOP.

“The Monster Stack tournament was the first time I was on any semblance of a TV type of table as it was streaming live online. During the event, I remember that the action was much slower in general near the end. Having gone through this, I was expecting this during the main event and I didn’t get impatient in my play.”

Between the 2014 and 2015 WSOP, McKeehen continued his success cashing in 13 more events, winning another title and earning over $100,000 more. He headed into the 2015 WSOP, planning to play a full schedule and with no expectations.

“I went into this summer just seeing what happens," he said. "I figured that if I played my best, something good would happen.”

In the preliminary events, he only had moderate success, garnering three cashes for $22,789. McKeehen didn’t feel great about his game heading into the main event.

“I wasn’t at the peak confidence in my game. I was kind of getting fed up with poker and decided to take a couple of days off before the main. But there was no question whether I was going to play in the main event or not.”

Once the cards were dealt, McKeehen settled into the zone. He was among the leaders throughout most of the entire tournament. After Day 3, he was second in chips out of 661 players and after Day 4, he was the chip leader with 237 players remaining. On Day 6, the tables turned and he was all-in and behind for his tournament life.

“I was having a pretty bad day, everything I was doing wasn’t working and I got a little short, down to about 22 to 23 big blinds. Josh Beckley opened in late position and I was in the big blind with A-Q and decided to shove on him. He called me with A-K. The flop came K-J-4, turn 6, river 10. And at that point, I was completely invigorated to still be in the tournament and have a lot of chips again. Fortunately, after that point, every big pot I was in, I ended up winning. At the end of the day, I once again had a lot of chips and a reinvigorated mindset ready to get myself to the November Nine.”

McKeehen was fourth in chips entering Day 7 and everything went his way as he steadily chipped up to become the runaway chip leader. With 14 players remaining, he was the recipient of a massive pot when he hit set over set versus Justin Schwartz right before dinner break to push his chip stack to 37.9 million.

When everyone returned from dinner, his initial strategy was to put pressure on his opponents, but not go overboard. However, after receiving no resistance on the first few hands, he scrapped the somewhat conservative strategy and put the pedal to the metal, leading the way to his massive chip lead.

“Everything went my way on Day 7, it was such a fun experience. I also noticed that everyone really wanted to make it to the final table. The pay jumps were really big as well and I figured that I would punish people for waiting out those pay jumps.”

Down the stretch, McKeehen played the big stack to perfection. He had imagined this scenario before with his friends, but never imagined that he would be in the actual position.

“Me and my buddies have been talking for years about theoretical situations and one of them was being the chip leader on the November Nine bubble. In this spot, we all thought that you should try to win every hand. I tried this strategy and it worked out pretty well.”

Amazingly, even with such a massive chip lead with 11 players remaining, all eyes were on another player – Daniel Negreanu. The entire poker world hoped that Kid Poker would make the 2015 November Nine, generating colossal interest in this year’s WSOP main event final table. However, McKeehen dashed the hopes of the collective poker community, eliminating Negreanu with a rivered gut-shot straight.

“The entire crowd in the Thunderdome was rooting for him," said McKeehen. "Every time he won a pot, the crowd would blow up, even if he just won the blinds and antes. However, for me, he was just another player at the table so I had to treat him like any other player. When I eliminated him, it was a made-for-TV moment. After he fell to the ground, he got up and shook everyone’s hand and waved to the crowd. It was a very classy exit.”

Shortly thereafter, McKeehen sealed the deal when his pocket queens outraced Alex Turyansky and his A-K. This elimination set the 2015 November Nine and McKeehen as the largest November Nine chip leader in history with 63.1 million. His nearest competitor, Ofer Zvi Stern, has less than half with 29.8 million.

As McKeehen plans his return to the Penn and Teller Theater guaranteed his first seven-figure score, he realizes that only Jonathan Duhamel has won the WSOP main event bracelet as the final table chip leader. Although being a massive chip leader, McKeehen is not taking anyone lightly at this final table.

“I know they are all very good and I can’t take any of them lightly. All of them have a lot of talent," he said. "I'll try to put pressure on them and hopefully will end the final table with all the chips and the bracelet.”