The 2015 WSOP Main Event winner Joe McKeehen took the title in the last event of the PokerGO Tour PGT Sprint series in Vegas last night, as PokerStake seller Brandon Wilson finished in seventh place for $21,200. With other finalists such as Martin Zamani and Patrick Leonard all inside the money places too, the penultimate PGT series of the season ended in style at the PokerGO Studio.

Double Bubble No Trouble

There was a total field of 53 players in the final event of the series, with players such as PokerStake’s Kristen Foxen and Brock Wilson both going close but ultimately missing out on the money places. With only eight players being paid, there were ten left in the tournament when two players busted simultaneously, earning $10,600 each, a profit of $100 on their buy-ins.

Martin Zamani lost a flip to Joe McKeehen to bust at one table, with Patrick Leonard taken out at the other. Having lost with pocket aces to Darren Elias’ queens, Leonard lost out soon after, his micro-stack being claimed by Elias too as the four-time World Poker Tour Main Event winner started climbing the leaderboard.

With seven players left, Darren Elias had a marginal lead from both Daniyal Gheba and the eventual winner McKeehen. Brandon Wilson (below) was easily the shortest player in chip terms, and soon bowed out for a score of $21,200. The long-time PokerStake seller lost his stack with against the of Jamie Dwan as the British poker star chipped up.

Dwan and Out in Las Vegas

With six players left, Neil Warren followed up on his strong finish in Event #6 with another cash in the final tournament of the series. All-in with , Warren was bettered by the belonging to Nicholas Schulte, who sent Warren home in sixth place for a score of $31,800.

Soon, the previously powerful Jamie Dwan was on the rail himself. Going from second in chips to out in fifth, the Brit endured a miserable end to his deep run as his couldn’t hold against the of Daniyal Gheba, as the Vegas player flopped a queen to eliminate Dwan for $42,400.

Schulte ran short again, shoving for his final 560,000 chips with pocket sevens. Called by Gheba with , the board looked safe for Schulte to double-up only for a king to fall on the river and send a dismayed Schulte to the rail with $53,000. Gheba’s stack rose to 2.6 million chips, as his power in the event only grew.

World Champion Wins at Last

Gheba’s influence on the event continued to grow as he took over the lead and control over the table.  Darren Elias moved all-in with and was in good shape to get back into the match when Gheba called with . A flop of changed all that, and Elias (below) was on his feet and shaking hands long before the river card fell, drawing dead to his departure from the tournament in third place for $74,200.

Gheba had a lead of 4.67m to 1.96m chips heads-up, but McKeehen, who had largely avoided confrontations at the felt until the final duel, clicked into gear. An innocuous looking pair of fours brought the 2015 world champion back into the hunt, and when he won two more pots without going to showdown, McKeehen took the lead for the first time.

Soon, McKeehen had all the chips. Gheba four-bet all-in with , but ran into McKeehen’s pocket kings, and while a nine-high board did give Gheba the shot at the nut flush heading to the river, he bricked hearts to finish as runner-up for $111,300, while McKeehen won $174,900 as the tournament champion.

PokerGO Tour PGT Sprint $10,500 NLHE Event #7 Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Joe McKeehen	United States	$174,900
2nd	Daniyal Gheba	United States	$111,300
3rd	Darren Elias	United States	$74,200
4th	Nicholas Schulte	United States	$53,000
5th	Jamie Dwan	United Kingdom	$42,400
6th	Neil Warren	United States	$31,800
7th	Brandon Wilson	United States	$21,200
8th	Martin Zamani	United States	$10,600
9th	Patrick Leonard	United Kingdom	$10,600