Joe McKeehen Crowned 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion

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Friday, November 13th, 2015 | Written by Stephen Smith

This week, the November Nine returned to Las Vegas to decide the 2015 WSOP Main Event champion, and following three days of action it was Pennsylvania resident Joe McKeehen who would ultimately triumph over his fellow competitors to claim the title, as well as the event’s massive $7,683,346 first place prize. The 25-year pro had been the chip leader going into the final table, holding a commanding 32.7% of all the chips in play, and after successfully closing out the tournament the customary modest player commented: “It was just my days for three days in a row.”

The Final Table

On July 5th, the $10k WSOP Main Event got underway, with a total of 6,420 players entering its three starting days to create a prize pool worth $60,355,857. Seven days later, and the final table of nine had been reached, with the players then taking an extended four month break until returning to the Rio Casino on November 8th.

There were to be few surprises, though, with Joe McKeehen never relinquishing his lead throughout the whole final table. Instead, he managed to boost his share of the chip from 32.7% to 47.5% by the end of Day 1, then to 66.8% by the end of Day 2, before eventually holding 82% of the chips in play going into the heads-up phase against Josh Beckley for the title. Twelve hands later, and it was all over with Daniel Negreanu later tweeting:

“McKeehen playing really well but they are make it quite easy on him! This is the most lopsided WSOP main event performance since Stu Ungar dominated the table in 1997.”

Final Table Results:

1 Joe McKeehen $7,683,346
2 Josh Beckley $4,470,896
3 Neil Blumenfield $3,398,298
4 Max Steinberg $2,615,361
5 Ofer Zvi Stern $1,911,423
6 Tom Cannuli $1,426,283
7 Pierre Neuville $1,203,293
8 Federico Butteroni $1,097,056
9 Patrick Chan $1,001,020

McKeehen No One-Hit Wonder

While Joe McKeehen has largely managed to stay under the poker radar, that does not detract from the fact he was an accomplished poker pro prior to his WSOP victory, with his accomplishments including $1,995,070 in live tournament winnings since 2010, in addition to $1,173,693 won online pre-Black Friday. Even a few weeks before the WSOP final table, McKeehen beat a field of 267 players at the $1,500 Wynn Fall Classic to add a further $90,125 to his bankroll.

Despite referring to himself as just an “average Joe”, needless to say he is anything but an ordinary poker player, as all but a small percentage, maybe 1%, of players are able to make a living from the game. Following his triumph in Las Vegas, Joe McKeehen now has $9,772,256 in live winnings to his name, ranking him 39 on poker’s ‘All Time Money List’.

Must Pay Roughly 44% in Taxes

While $7,683,346 is obviously a huge payday, McKeehen will not be holding onto all his winnings as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will also get its hands on at least $3,073,240 of that amount. The taxes McKeehen will have to pay include self-employment tax, federal income tax, state income tax, as well as local township Earned Income Tax. All told, he will keep just 56% of his winner’s fee, or $3,385,952, according to taxabletalk.com.

Similarly, Josh Beckley, who earned $4,470,896 as the runner-up, will relinquish 46.56% of his winnings in taxes, or $2,081,719, while a third placed Neil Blumenfield will keep roughly 53%, or $1.8 million of his $3,398,298 in winnings, with the rest collected by the IRS. Its not just US players who are liable for huge tax bills, though, as Italy’s Federico Butteroni will keep just $571,566 of his 8th place $1,097,056 in winnings, with the Italian government collecting 47.9% in taxes. Belgium’s Pierre Neuville, on the other hand, will hang on to all of his $1,203,293 for finishing 7th, as his country does not levy taxes on gambling winnings.

Impact on WSOP.com Traffic

Since launching in Nevada, WSOP.com has settled on an average of around 170 cash game players over a 7-day period. The World Series of Poker, however, naturally has the potential to give the site’s traffic a much-needed boost as thousands of players from the US and around the world descend upon Las Vegas for around six weeks each year. Just like in 2014, this year’s WSOP was no exception, with traffic surging by 24%, before maintaining a steady 13% increase as the tournament series progressed. The WSOP Main Event final table, however, seemed to have a marginal impact on the WSOP.com’s Nevada operation, with traffic up by 8%, whilst for the site’s New Jersey operation that figure was mostly flat during the final table.