The argument could be made that Joe McKeehen is the most successful World Series of Poker Main Event champion of the modern era. The 2015 WSOP Main Event champion added a second bracelet in 2017 and has nearly $9 million in live earnings outside of his Main Event victory. Early Wednesday morning, McKeehen added to that resume when he took down Event #14 ($3,200 High Roller) of the 2020 WSOP Online.

The event, the biggest buy-in on the 2020 WSOP Online events on WSOP.com, drew 328 unique players who accounted for an additional 128 total reentries to build a prize pool of $1,507,840.

McKeehen earned the bracelet after coming to the final table third in chips and was responsible for eliminating just one player.

The first elimination of the final table came 10 minutes after it began. David ‘newjerz05’ Jackson raised to 120,000 from middle position with before ‘SoccerDJ‘ re-raised to 450,000 from the button with . Jackson moved all in for 1,248,229 and ‘SoccerDJ’ called. The board ran out to give ‘SoccerDJ’ the pot and Jackson was out in eighth place.

The slow pace of the final table continued for another 20 minutes for the next elimination. ‘SoccerDJ’ raised to 160,000 with after action folded to them in the small blind. Nathan ‘innate9’ Russler moved all in for 1,312,269 from the big blind with and ‘SoccerDJ’ called. Russler was unable to get any help through the runout and he was out in seventh.

The final six players played for another 25 minutes before another blind versus blind battle ended with an elimination. Action folded to Clayton ‘nevarlucky’ Maguire in the small blind and he jammed for 1,266,984 with only to have Frank ‘thewholefunk’ Funaro call from the big blind with . The flop missed Maguire. The turn gave Maguire a pair to extend his lead and the river paired Maguire but it wasn’t good enough to avoid a sixth place elimination.

The two players responsible for all of the final table eliminations clashed ten minutes later resulting in one of them going home. Funaro moved all in for 5,443,009 from the small blind with and ‘SoccerDJ’ called off his last 1,749,327 with from the big blind. The board gave ‘SoccerDJ’ no relief and they were eliminated in fifth.

Funaro was back to work eliminating opponents a few minutes later. From the cutoff, Funaro raised to 240,000 and ‘Jaydestar17‘ called from the big blind. After the flop ‘Jaydestar17’ check-raised all in after Funaro bet 120,000. Funaro called and tabled while ‘Jaydestar17’ showed for a pair of fours. Funaro stayed ahead through the turn and river to eliminate ‘Jaydestar17’ in fourth place.

Funaro wasn’t done and it took him just three minutes to send the tournament to heads up. After McKeehen folded his button, Roland ‘prngls12’ Isrealshvili shoved for 2,090,325 with from the small blind and Funaro called from the big blind with . The board ran out to eliminate Israelshvili in third place for his 95 career WSOP cash and fifth of the 2020 WSOP Online.

Thanks in large part to the string of eliminations he was responsible for, Funaro began heads-up play with a 2.8-1 chip lead. Over the course of the next 15 minutes, however, McKeehen’s championship pedigree allowed the 2015 WSOP Main Event winner to claw his way back before ending Funaro’s tournament. McKeehen min-raised to 320,000 with and Funaro responded by moving all in for 2,759,541 with . The flop gave Funaro an gutshot straight draw and a backdoor flush draw to go with his six existing outs. The turn was a blank as was the river to eliminate Funaro in second place and give McKeehen the victory and $352,985.

Final Table Payouts

1. Joe ‘fanofdapoker’ McKeehen – $352,985
2. Frank ‘thewholefunk’ Funaro – $219,089
3. Roland ‘prngls12’ Israelashvili – $148,975
4. ‘Jaydestar17’ – $103,136
5. ‘SoccerDJ’ – $72,979
6. Clayton ‘nevarlucky’ Maguire – $52,624
7. Nathan ‘innate9’ Russler – $38,601
8. David ‘newjerz05’ Jackson – $28,951

Faces in the Crowd

Two nights after winning his first career bracelet in Event #12 ($500 NLHE The Big 500), Ryan Depaulo posted another deep run, finishing 16th for $11,459.58. Other notables who earned a paycheck on Tuesday included Ryan ‘sych0sId’ Hohner (13th – $14,022.91), Blake ‘CheeetahGirl’ Bohn (15th – $14,022.91), Yong ‘LUCKYSPEWY1’ Kwon (23rd – $9,650.17), Ryan ‘protential’ Laplante (29th – $8,293,12 ), Tenzin ‘tc_ownz’ Chakdor (45th – $7,237.63) and for the second night in a row, David ‘Twizzlers’ Prociak (49th – $6,483.71).