This Week's Big Winner: James Mackey Wins WPT Choctaw Main Event

James Mackey has won the second running of the World Poker Tour Choctaw $3,500 no-limit hold’em main event, defeating a field of 1,066 entries to win his first WPT title and the first-place prize of $666,758.

The 30-year-old from Missouri was one of online poker’s biggest American stars, playing under the screen name “Mig.com” and finding plenty of success, including a huge win in a PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) event for more than half a million dollars. He is also a World Series of Poker bracelet winner, having taken down a $5,000 no-limit hold’em event in 2007. The new WPT champion now has more than $3.5 million in career live tournament earnings, along with another $3.8 million won online.

Here are the five biggest hands that propelled Mackey to the win.

Tournament: WPT Choctaw Main Event
Buy-In: $3,500
No. of Entries: 1,066
Prize Pool: $3,619,070
1st Place Prize: $666,758

The Action

Sitting at the unofficial final table of ten players, Bastian Fischer raised in early position to 140,000 and was called by Jonathan Lewis in middle position and James Mackey from the hijack. The flop fell 4 4 2 and Fischer checked. Lewis bet 250,000 and Mackey called. Fischer folded and the turn was the 9. Lewis bet 500,000 and again, Mackey called. The river was the 8 and Lewis moved all in for his last 1.16 million. Mackey instantly called and Lewis showed K K for the overpair. Unfortunately for him, Mackey held A Q for the rivered nut flush. The pot was enough to catapult Mackey into second place overall, but it also sent Lewis to the rail in tenth place, good for $52,980.

The Action

With nine players left at the final table, James Mackey raised to 175,000 from early position and was met with an all-in raise on the button from Everett Carlton for his last 645,000. Mackey felt priced in and called with A 3, which was behind Carlton’s pocket queens. The flop brought the A, however, followed by the 9 and 8, putting Mackey in the lead. Carlton needed one of the two remaining queens in the deck or a runner-runner straight or flush to stay alive. The 10 on the turn gave him some hope with a gutshot-straight draw, but the river was the 5, ending his tournament run in ninth place. He earned $65,738 for his finish.

The Action

With five players remaining, Jack Duong raised to 400,000 from the small blind and James Mackey called from the big blind. The flop was K 5 4 and Duong continued with a bet of 425,000. Mackey raised to 900,000 and Duong thought it over for about 30 seconds before he moved all in. Mackey called all-in for a total of 3.4 million with K J and Duong showed A J for the nut-flush draw. According to the Card Player Poker Odds Calculator, Duong had a 45 percent chance of winning the pot with his flush draw and overcard, but the turn and river fell 6 4 to ship the double-up to Mackey. Duong was left with less than two big blinds and was eliminated on the next hand, banking $175,122.

The Action

With just three players remaining, James Mackey raised on the button to 600,000 and Craig Varnell three-bet from the small blind to 1.825 million. Ben Zamani folded his big blind and Mackey moved all in, having Varnell covered by just five big blinds. After 15 seconds, Varnell surprised everyone by calling all in with A 7. Mackey happily turned over pocket nines, seeing that his opponent only had one overcard. The board ran out K 8 6 J 2 and Varnell took home $306,346 for his third-place finish. Mackey picked up the pot and took a nearly 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play.

The Action

After 37 hands of heads-up play, James Mackey had widened his lead to more than 3:1. Ben Zamani limped in from the button and Mackey raised to 1 million. Zamani then moved all in for 7.4 million and Mackey quickly called with 8 8. Zamani was in terrible shape with 5 5, but the flop gave him some hope with 8 7 6. The turn was the J, giving Zamani some hope for a chop, but the 6 on the river gave Mackey the winning full house. Zamani earned $412,234 for his runner-up finish, while Mackey picked up his first WPT title, the trophy, a $15,000 seat into the WPT Tournament of Champions and the $666,758 first-place prize.

Final Table Results

1. James Mackey — $666,758
2. Ben Zamani — $412,234
3. Craig Varnell — $306,346
4. Bastian Fischer — $230,300
5. Jack Duong — $175,122
6. Matthew Smith — $134,720
7. Olivier Busquet — $104,842
8. Eric Rivkin — $82,533
9. Everett Carlton — $65,738