Heading into Wednesday’s World Series of Poker Online event, Ireland’s Toby Joyce had cashed in 11 previous WSOP events this year but had only found himself anywhere near a final table once. That was in Event #35 ($5,000 PLO Championship) back on July 21 when he finished 13th.

Joyce not only made the final table of Event #66 ($800 PLO) on Wednesday night, but he navigated his way from a middle-sized stack when the final table began all the way to the title.

It was 15 minutes after players first got seated at the final tabel that one of the final nine was required to give up his seat. Wilder Brito raised to 350,000 from the hijack and Ruslan Nazarenko re-raised to 1,150,000 from the small blind. Brito called all in and showed while Nazarenko tabled . The flop gave Nazarenko two pair. Neither the turn and river were the only card in the deck that could save Brito and he was eliminated in ninth place.

Rahul Gupta was the next to go. The India-based grinder raised to 420,000 from UTG and action folded around to Mark Herm, who called from the big blind. The flop came and Herm fired out 900,000. Gupta responded by moving all in for 2,228,900 and Herm called. Gupta showed and Herm flipped over . The turn gave Herm top set and left Gupta drawing to one of two kings. The completed the board on the river and Gupta was out in eighth.

Seven-handed play went on for nearly 90 minutes before losing a player. Maksim Fomin raised to 700,000 from the hijack, Grzegorz Derkowski moved all in fro 1,410,572 from the cutoff and Fomin called. Derkowski showed which put him ahead of Fomin’s . The flop reversed Derkowski’s fortune and the turn and river sealed his fate with a seventh place finish.

Just a few minutes later, one of the short stacks was shown the exit. Jonas Kronwitter raised to 420,000 from late position before Giorgiy Skhulukhiya moved all in for 468,589 as the next to act. Nazarenko folded the small bilnd before Fomin moved re-raised to 4,925,767 from the big blind. Kronwitter folded. Skhulukhiya turned over while Fomin tabled . The flop gave Fomin top two pair. Neither the turn or river were able to save Skhulukhiya from a sixth place result.

Skhulukhiya’s elimination allowed Nazarenko to ladder up one spot before being shown the door. Fomin raised to 459,999 from UTG and Nazarenko moved all in for 1,464,648 form the big blind. Fomin called and showed while Nazarenko had . The board ran out to give Fomin a pair of sevens to eliminate Nazarenko in fifth.

A battle of the blinds 15 minutes later lead to the next bustout. Mark Herm raised to 720,000 from the small blind and Kronwitter re-raised to 2,160,000 from the big blind. Herm clicked back to 6,480,000 and Kronwitter took just over a minute before moving all in for 6,543,972. Herm called and showed which put him in control against the of Kronwitter. Neither player improved on the runout and Kronwitter was eliminated in fourth place.

For the next 45 minutes, Joyce, Fomin and Herm battled before Joyce sent the tournament to heads up. Fomin raised to 736,000 and Joyce called from the big blind. Joyce checked the flop and Fomin bet 1,632,000. Joyce raised to 5,344,000 and Fomin called all in. Joyce had while Fomin showed . The turn was the and Fomin remained in front with two pair but the river gave Joyce trip nines and eliminated Fomin in third place.

Thanks to that pot, Joyce held 56% of the chips in play when the heads-up battle began. Herm briefly held the lead but Joyce battled back to regain the lead and after 16 minutes of play, eliminated his final opponent. Joyce opened with a raise to 2,400,000 and Herm re-raised to 7,200,000. Joyce re-raised to 16,400,000. Herm called of the last of his stack and showed while Joyce tabled . The flop gave Joyce two pair. The turn gave Joyce a full house and the river made Herm’s runner-up finish official.

Final Table Payouts

1. Toby Joyce – $139,452.91
2. Mark Herm – $109,908.88
3. Maksim Fomin – $79,760.85
4. Jonas Kronwitter – $57,882.52
5. Ruslan Nazarenko – $42,005.21
6. Giorgiy Skhulukhiya – $30,483.23
7. Grzegorz Derkowski – $22,121.61
8. Rahul Gupta – $16,053.71
9. Wilder Brito – $11,650.21