The earliest World Series of Poker events were contested by the likes of Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim Preston, Johnny Moss and other legendary ‘road gamblers’, who were known as such due to the fact that they traveled from town to town chasing poker action. None of those greats of the game likely ever suspected that a WSOP gold bracelet would one day be won from the inside of a car.
Incredibly, that is precisely what happened during the early hours of July 13, as Ryan ‘joeyisamush’ Depaulo defeated a field of 2,427 entries to win the 2020 WSOP Online ‘Big 500’ no-limit hold’em event from the parking lot of a Whole Foods grocery store in New Jersey. The New York native and poker vlogger earned his first bracelet and $159,563 for the win. This was the second-largest cash of Depaulo’s career, behind his third-place finish in the 2019 WSOP ‘Colossus’ event for $208,643.
Depaulo made several social media posts while playing from inside his parked car, including the following:
What WSOP Final Tables look like in 2020 pic.twitter.com/my9kQ4GbK8
— Ryan Depaulo: Degenerate Gambler (@depaulo_ryan) July 13, 2020
This $500 buy-in event attracted a total of 1,624 unique players who collectively rebought 803 times to build a final prize pool of $1,092,150. The top 371 finishers made the money in this event, with a min-cash being worth $765.
Among the big names to make deep runs in this event were James ‘meatsweats’ Carroll (221st – $983), Daniel ‘DNegs’ Negreanu (205th – $1,092), Kevin ‘ImaLuckSac’ MacPhee (144th – $1,311), Max ‘MaxSparrow’ Pescatori (108th – $1,420), Katie ‘katelin’ Lindsay (57th – $2,403), Nick ‘duckflush’ Pupillo (19th – $5,242.32), and James ‘mig.com’ Mackey (15th – $8,300.34)
When the final got underway Depaulo sat in the chip lead with more than 8.4 million. Hayden ‘Luckbox89’ Fortini (7.1 million), Terry ‘mrterry007’ Fleischer (6.3 million), and Jack ‘EarlGrey’ Salter (6.2 million) had the next largest stacks.
The first elimination at the final table took place when Erick ‘Givmeaction’ But called all-in with AQ and was up against the 66 of Sean ‘FilthyDiaper’ Ruane, who had shoved from under the gun. Ruane flopped a set and held from there to knock But out in ninth place ($13,543).
Dominic ‘rgdoc’ Ricciardi was the next to fall. He moved all-in from the button with A7 only to run into the AQ of Depaulo from the big blind. Depaulo paired his queen on the flop and was able to maintain the lead through the river to send Ricciardi to the virtual rail in eighth place ($17,474).
Depaulo secured his second knockout of the final table with KK. Shannon ‘Aulophobia’ Shorr got his last chips in with A9. Depaulo flopped top set and Shorr was drawing dead by the turn. He earned $22,826 as the seventh-place finisher.
The reign of terror continued as Depaulo moved all-in after a 433 flop after raising from under the gun preflop with J10. Terry ‘mrterry007’ Fleischer had defended his big blind with 52 and picked up an open-ended straight draw. He called for his tournament life and the K hit the turn. The 7 on the river completed the board and Depaulo’s J-10 high was enough to secure the pot. Fleischer cashed for $30,143 as the sixth-place finisher.
Depaulo scored two more eliminations, busting Jessica ‘Jessyboo’ Lanto (5th – $40,082), and Hayden ‘Luckbox89’ Fortini (4th – $53,625) to take a massive stack of 32 million into three-handed action. That meant that he had roughly twice as many chips as his two remaining opponents combined.
English poker pro Jack ‘EarlGrey’ Salter broke Depaulo’s streak by securing the next bustout. He shoved all-in from the small blind with 44 and Sean ‘FilthyDiaper’ Ruane called out of the big blind with AQ. The board improved neither player and Ruane was awarded for $72,410 for his third-place showing.
Heads up play began with Depaulo holding 27.7 million to Salters 20.8 million. Salter was able to overtake the lead by winning a big pot with a turned straight, but Depaulo doubled up with Q8 beating out Salter’s K10 to regain the ascendancy. In the final hand Salter min-raised from the button with AJ and Depaulo three-bet shoved with QQ. Salter called all-in and the board came down 102233. Depaulo’s pocket queens held up to secure him the pot and the title, while Salter cashed for $98,621 as the runner-up.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:
Place | Name | Earnings |
1 | Ryan’joeyisamush’ Depaulo | $159,563 |
2 | Jack ‘EarlGrey’ Salter | $98,621 |
3 | Sean ‘FilthyDiaper’ Ruane | $72,410 |
4 | Hayden ‘Luckbox89’ Fortini | $53,625 |
5 | Jessica ‘Jessyboo’ Lanto | $40,082 |
6 | Terry ‘mrterry007’ Fleischer | $30,143 |
7 | Shannon ‘Aulophobia’ Shorr | $22,826 |
8 | Dominic ‘rgdoc’ Ricciardi | $17,474 |
9 | Erick ‘Givmeaction’ But | $13,543 |