Jason Wheeler Wins His Maiden Bracelet and $202,274

Jason Wheeler is a World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion after the man from Chicago walked away with the $202,274 top prize in the $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack event in Las Vegas. The victory takes Wheeler’s live poker tournament winnings to more than $4.3 million.

Wheeler is a popular poker pro who is best known for his online poker prowess. He is a regular in the biggest tournaments and has more than $8.1 million in earnings. However, this latest victory ranks as his favorite achievement.

He first found himself at a WSOP final table in 2009 in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. Wheeler finished second to Tony Veckey that day. He came close again in 2015 but fell in fifth place in a $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament. Wheeler now has the maiden bracelet he has fought so hard to win.

Wheeler Wins the $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack

The $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack attracted 1,921 players, who created a $1,352,384 prize pool. Dozens of superstars finished in the top 289 places and saw a return on their $800 investment.

Everyone at the nine-handed final table secured a prize of at least $18,968. Robert Hill received that sum when he busted as the final table action began. Hill open-shoved for 7.5 big blinds with Ac-Jd, and Julian Velasquez called with Ks-Kc. The 9s-Qs-7s-5d-Jc did not help Hill and he fell in ninth.

John O’Neal was another short stack who did not last long. He committed his last five big blinds with Ac-Kd, and Antoine Goutard looked him up with Js-Jd. The 7d-4c-3h-2h-Qs board kept Goutard’s jacks as the best hand, therefore, reducing the player count by one.

Ralph Massey’s wait for a bracelet continues after he bowed out in seventh. Velasquez was his executioner, called Massey’s 6.25 big blind shove with Ac-Qd and beating the Ad-6c. Velasquez turned a full house on the 7h-Ah-As-Qc-4c run-out.

Action Hots Up At Short-Handed Final Table

The players played aggressively with the final table now short-handed. Formats like this suit Wheeler who has vast experience in the online poker world.

However, it was Velasquez who claimed another scalp when he busted Shelok Wong in sixth. Wong was all-in for only 2.5 big blinds with Ah-7h and ultimately lost to Kc-4h.

Fifth place and $52,943 went to Goutard in a battle of the Europeans. Portugal’s Diogo Veiga raised to 2,200,000 with Qd-Qc, Goutard shoved for 3,600,000 with Th-Ts, and Veiga snap-called. The board ran Ah-Kc-Jd-3h-5d, and Goutard crashed out.

Then came the elimination of the popular Garry Gates. Gates is a member of the poker media who finished fourth in the 2019 WSOP Main Event for $3 million. Gates finished fourth here, too, when his Kc-Qh could not get there against the Ac-8s of Velasquez.

Wheeler had accumulated chips through the final table without eliminating an opponent. That last part changed when he sent the dangerous Veiga to the showers. Veiga min-raised to 2,400,000 with Ac-6c, and Wheeler defended his big blind with Kh-9s. Wheeler checked on the Kd-Jc-9c flop before check-raising all-in when Veiga continued for 4,100,000. Veiga called off his 20,000,000 stack, and lost when the turn and river came 3d and 3h.

Big Heads-Up Lead For the Champion Elect

Wheeler went into the heads-up clash with Velasquez holding a 54,140,000 to 22,700,000 lead. The chip counts were almost reversed when Velasquez’s Qh-Jh beat Wheeler’s Ah-4s.

The champion elect won a key pot with 6d-6c versus Ac-4c when the five community cards fell 3d-2s-5s-Kc-4d. The tournament ended soon after.

Wheeler limped in before instantly calling when Velasquez jammed for 13,000,000. Velasquez’s Ah-2c needed some help because it was up against As-Ac. The dealer fanned the Qc-7d-5d-Ad-Qs board, and Wheeler became a WSOP champion.