McKeehen sitting on huge stack
Joe McKeehen was accused of committing a serious crime early Wednesday.
And the 24-year-old from North Wales, Pa., practically confessed right there at the scene.
"Someone joked that I already murdered poker," McKeehen said. "Hopefully, I can bring it back."
McKeehen will carry a decided chip advantage when the World Series of Poker‘s $10,000 buy-in No-limit Texas Hold ‘em World Championship reconvenes in November. But even if he goes on to win the Main Event, McKeehen might best be remembered as the player who crushed poker fans‘ — not to mention ESPN executives‘ — hopes that superstar Daniel Negreanu would reach the final table.
Negreanu was eliminated in 11th place in excruciating fashion by McKeehen and would have provided a much-needed boost to the "November Nine" at a time when some in the poker community are questioning whether it is an outdated concept.
"You know what I think the bigger disappointment is — because again, if I don‘t come first it doesn‘t matter, right? — what I think the bigger disappointment with this specific event is all the extracurricular things I could have done by being a part of the ‘November Nine‘ to really promote the event and, sort of, up the ratings and get people really involved," Negreanu said.
"From that aspect, part of my mind is like, it‘d be great for me to make the ‘November Nine,‘ but I‘m not going to alter my play in such a way where I just squeak into the ‘November Nine.‘ I was going for the win."
The Main Event, which drew 6,420 entrants, halted at 1:23 a.m. Wednesday when Alexander Turyansky of Germany was knocked out by McKeehen in 10th place. McKeehen finished Day 7 with 63.1 million chips, about a third of the total in play, and will be the overwhelming favorite when the tournament resumes Nov. 8 at the Rio‘s Penn & Teller Theater.
For the first time, the final table will take place over three days, rather than two. ESPN2 will air the first two days, then the heads-up match for the $7.68 million first prize will be shown live on ESPN.
All nine players are guaranteed a minimum payout of $1,001,020.
Negreanu‘s run in the Main Event gained momentum as the tournament moved along, and by Day 6 he was the main talking point. The six-time WSOP bracelet winner attracted a huge crowd to the Rio Convention Center on Tuesday for Day 7 and drew loud cheers every time he raked in chips.
"It was electric. The Thunderdome was rocking," Negreanu said. "We had a lot of people in there really excited for me. I felt the energy. It felt like it was bigger than me. It felt like there‘s a lot of people that were identifying with me and wanting me to win for them. It really felt like I was playing for them."
Negreanu was one of the shortest stacks for much of Tuesday and appeared to be in good shape against McKeehen on his final hand with top pair holding ace-four. But McKeehen made a winning straight on the final card as Negreanu collapsed in disbelief and the audience packed around the featured table let out an audible groan.
"If I win that pot," Negreanu said, "all of a sudden, hello, guess who‘s got 15 million in chips and then we‘ll see you in November?"
The scene was reminiscent of last year‘s $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop when Negreanu, also holding ace-four, went out in second place as Daniel Colman similarly came from behind to make a straight.
Negreanu collected $526,778 and tied his best-ever finish in the Main Event. When Negreanu finished 11th in 2001, he took home $63,940.
"I think the final hand we both flopped pretty good hands, and he didn‘t have a lot of chips, so the way it went in I think is pretty standard," McKeehen said. "I had a little trouble with him. I think I might have misplayed a couple hands against him actually because of who he was and it got in my head a little bit."
Without Negreanu, the final table is bereft of a big-name player yet again. McKeehen has two WSOP circuit rings and was second in last year’s $1,500 buy-in "Monster Stack" No-limit Hold ‘em tournament from a field of 7,862 entrants. Max Steinberg, a Las Vegas resident originally from Oakland, Calif., is the lone WSOP bracelet winner still alive.
Belgium‘s Pierre Neuville, a 72-year-old former vice president with Hasbro, became the oldest player to qualify for the final table since the "November Nine" concept was introduced in 2008. He will be joined by Neil Blumenfield, 61, of San Francisco.
Steve Gee, who was 57 in 2012, had been the oldest member of the "November Nine."
Negreanu, who believes every "Rocky" movie has a connection to his life, said this Main Event run most closely resembled the final installment of the series.
"This is ‘Rocky Balboa,‘ No. 6, where he put in a good effort," Negreanu said. "He didn‘t win the fight, but he won the hearts of everybody."
Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.
WSOP‘s "NOVEMBER NINE"
1. Joseph McKeehen (North Wales, Pa.) 63,100,000
2. Zvi Stern (Herzilya, Israel) 29,800,000
3. Neil Blumenfield (San Francisco) 22,000,000
4. Pierre Neuville (Knokke-Heist, Belgium) 21,075,000
5. Max Steinberg (Oakland, Calif.) 20,200,000
6. Thomas Cannuli (Cape May, N.J.) 12,250,000
7. Joshua Beckley (Marlton, N.J.) 11,800,000
8. Patrick Chan (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 6,225,000
9. Federico Butteroni (Italy) 6,200,000
