This Week’s Big Winner: Josh Adkins Takes Down WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event

Joshua Adkins has won the 2019 World Poker Tour bestbet Bounty Scramble. The 26-year-old poker pro outlasted a field of 349 total entries who came out to bestbet Jacksonville for the $5,000 buy-in main event.

Adkins managed to come away with the title despite this being the first WPT event he ever played in, securing the top prize of $331,480. The Tallahassee, Florida resident focuses primarily on cash games as a professional player and had just $25,405 in prior tournament scores before coming out on top in this event.

“Playing my first WPT and to win it, I don’t have words,” Adkins told WPT reporters after emerging victorious. “This means a lot to me, obviously, not because of the money, but just for me. I’ve worked really hard at this game for the last seven years, and to just have this win and how tough this field was – it’s just incredible. It’s a funny story, I kind of called my shot in this. I have text messages of me saying, ‘I’m going to go win the $5K in Jax.’ And now it just happened. It’s indescribable.”

The Action

At the nine-handed final table, Cunningham raised to 65,000 from middle position and Adkins three-bet to 210,000 from the button. Cunningham called and then check-called a continuation bet of 175,000 on a flop of 6 6 3. The turn was the 8 and Cunningham checked again. This time, he called a bet of 325,000 from Adkins. The river was the Q and Cunningham checked for a final time. Adkins bet 450,000, and Cunningham made the call. Adkins showed J 10 for a turned flush, and Cunningham mucked his hand.

The Action

With seven players remaining, Adkins limped in from the small blind and Cronin checked his option from the big blind. The two players checked a flop of 8 5 2 and then Adkins bet 40,000 when the 6 hit the turn. Cronin called, and the river was the 8. Adkins bet 65,000, and Cronin raised to 200,000. Adkins though it over for a bit before reraising to 650,000, and Cronin called with 4 3 for a turned straight. Adkins, however, held pocket sixes and rivered a full house.

The Action

The action folded to Kay in the small blind and he moved all-in, having Adkins covered in the big blind. Adkins looked down at a weak ace, which was enough to call off his last 15 big blinds or so and saw he was up against pocket queens. Unfortunately for Kay, the board ran out 10 9 5 A 10 and Adkins doubled up, virtually evening out their stacks.

The Action

With three players left, Kay raised to 360,000 from the small blind and Adkins called from the big blind. The flop fell 8 5 2, and Kay made a continuation bet of 360,000. Adkins raised to 1,100,000, and Kay responded by shoving for 3,620,000. Adkins immediately called all-in for a bit less, tabling pocket aces. Kay could only show K 10 for a bluff, but he picked up some outs with the J on the turn. The 6 on the river was a brick, however, and Adkins doubled up into the chip lead. Kay was left with less than one big blind, and was eliminated in third place a short while later, earning $155,340.

The Action

Down more than 2:1 in chips, Nguyen raised to 300,000 on the button and Adkins three-bet to 1,300,000 from the big blind. Nguyen then moved all in for his last 4,145,000, and Adkins made the easy call with A Q. Unfortunately for him, Nguyen had him dominated with A K. According to the Card Player Poker Odds Calculator, Nguyen had a 69 percent chance of doubling up to the chip lead. Instead, the flop came down Q J 2, leaving him with just seven outs to stay alive. The turn and river fell 2 9, and Nguyen had to settle for the $210,988 runner-up payout. With his fortunate queen on the flop, Adkins dragged the last pot of the tournament, and with it, the $331,480 first-place prize.

Final Table Results

1. Josh Adkins — $331,480
2. Tan Nguyen — $210,988
3. Josh Kay — $155,340
4. Jason Lee — $115,691
5. Jonathan Cronin — $87,170
6. Jeffrey Cunningham — $66,457
7. Carlos Guerrero — $51,274
8. Dana Cowles — $40,039
9. Joe McKeehen — $31,648