PokerStars North American Poker Tour -- Joe Tehan Wins LA Main Event

When the final table of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour Los Angeles $5,000 no-limit hold’em main event began it appeared that a heads-up showdown between chip leader Christopher DeMaci and Team PokerStars pro Jason Mercier was imminent. Joe Tehan had other ideas though, and by the end of the night he had eliminated both DeMaci and Mercier, as well as every other player at the final table.

It was an impressive performance from the 30-year-old professional poker player and he took home the top prize worth $725,000. He now holds more than $3 million in career earnings, and he adds an NAPT title to his trophy case, which already holds a World Poker Tour title that he captured in 2006 at the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship.

The final table began slow, but Tehan took the chip lead after taking out Jake Toole in eighth place, and he increased it to more than 9 million after busting Mercier in seventh place. Tehan was looking like a lock after he scored a double elimination and took out both Ray Henson (fifth place) and Team PokerStars Canada pro Anh Van Nguyen (fourth place) in one hand. He still had to battle for a while against DeMaci in a heads-up match that began after the dinner break, but he eventually claimed his seventh elimination of the night to become an NAPT champion.

Here were the chip counts at the start of the final table:

Seat 1: Jake Toole — 1,975,000
Seat 2: Joe Tehan — 1,907,000
Seat 3: Michael Binger — 1,670,000
Seat 4: Anh Van Nguyen — 1,058,000
Seat 5: Jason Mercier — 3,800,000
Seat 6: Al Grimes — 982,000
Seat 7: Ray Henson — 3,268,000
Seat 8: Chris DeMaci — 6,283,000

Here are the elimination hands from Card Player’s live updates from the final table:

Jake Toole Eliminated in Eighth Place ($60,000)

Jake Toole raised to 115,000 and Joe Tehan reraised to 300,000. Toole then moved all in for 1,455,000 and Tehan called.

Toole showed pocket jacks, but he was racing against Tehan’s A Q. The board fell A 10 8 9 2 and Toole was eliminated. Tehan now has the chip lead with about 5,400,000.

Jason Mercier Eliminated in Seventh Place ($84,857)

Jason Mercier started the day second in chips and for the most part, kept his stack intact leading up to his elimination hand.

Jason Mercier min-raised to 120,000 and Ray Henson called. So did Chris DeMaci in the small blind. Joe Tehan then reraised to 515,000 from the big blind, which was met by a reraise to 1,100,000 from Mercier.

Henson mucked, as did DeMaci, but Tehan moved all in. Mercier made the call for his last 3,645,000 and the two flipped up their cards.

Mercier showed A K and he was flipping for the chip lead against Tehan’s pocket jacks. The board fell 9 6 5 3 8 and Mercier was eliminated. Tehan now has over 9,300,000 in chips. His nearest competitor, DeMaci, has 4,100,000.

Michael Binger Eliminated in Sixth Place ($114,000)

Joe Tehan raised to 125,000 and Michael Binger reraised behind him to 330,000.

Tehan then put Binger all in and Binger called for his last 1,505,000. Binger showed pocket tens, but was racing against the A J of Tehan.

The board rolled off 7 5 2 A 2 and Binger was eliminated. Tehan now has over 11,000,000 in chips.

Ray Henson Eliminated in Fifth Place ($145,000), Anh Van Nguyen Eliminated in Fourth Place ($195,000)

Joe Tehan moved all in from the cutoff and was called by not only Anh Van Nguyen, but Ray Henson as well.

Henson was the shorter stack, but both he and Nguyen were at risk for their tournament life. Tehan showed K 5, but was drawing live against the A Q of Nguyen and A J of Henson.

The flop came 9 9 4, bringing some chop outs for the two all-in players, but the turn was the K, vaulting Tehan into the lead.

The river was the 2 and Tehan took the pot, sending both Nguyen and Henson to the rail.

Al Grimes Eliminated in Third Place ($250,000)

Joe Tehan raised to 165,000 and Al Grimes moved all in for his last 590,000. Tehan made the priced in call with J 9 and was surprisingly ahead of Grimes and his 8 7.

The board fell 10 7 3 9 K and Grimes was eliminated, leaving us with just two players.

Chris DeMaci Eliminated in Second Place ($440,000)

Joe Tehan raised to 240,000 on the button and Chris DeMaci called. The flop came down K53 and Tehan continued with a bet of 375,000.

DeMaci moved all in for 2,650,000 and Tehan immediately called, tabling K 10 for top pair. DeMaci showed K 4 and needed some help for his kicker.

The turn was the 5, pairing the board and giving DeMaci outs for the chop, but the river was the 4, giving the pot to Tehan with kings and fives with a ten kicker.

Final-Table Results:

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